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« March 2005 |
| May 2005 »
NECA raises the bar on educational opportunities for all electrical
contractors with the launch of the new Conference on Lighting Education
September 17-20, 2005 in New Orleans. The first annual event will run
concurrently with the NECA Convention and trade show. ¡°This event is
for all electrical contractors and NECA invites the industry to take
advantage of this unparalleled opportunity,¡± said NECA CEO John Grau.
¡°This Conference can teach contractors how to learn to turn lighting
projects into more lighting profits.¡± Recent industry research clearly
identified the electrical contractor¡¯s specification power in the area
of lamps, ballasts, fixtures, and controls in both new construction and
in renovation/retrofit projects. NECA is assembling the finest roster
of lighting industry experts to focus on specific contractor needs.
Mary Beth Gotti, Manager, of GE¡¯s Lighting Institute will present
the Conference Keynote Address ¡°Opportunities in the Lighting Market
Today.¡± Earl Print, recently retired Director Sales Development &
Lighting Education for Lightolier, and Illuminating Engineering Society
of North America (IESNA) Board member, will talk on ¡°Improvements in
Lighting Systems Technologies: Lamps, Ballasts & Luminaires¡± and
¡°The Cost of Light¡±. Lithonia Lighting / Acuity Brands Vice
President, Cheryl English will present ¡°Lighting Codes Update¡± and
¡°Neighborhood Friendly Outdoor Lighting¡±. Ms. English is also the
Vice Chairwoman of NEMA¡¯s Lighting Division. Randy Burkett, President
of Randy Burkett Lighting Design, and former President of the
International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) will present
¡°Substitution: Value Engineering with Quality¡± and ¡°Make More $$$ Up
selling than Substituting¡±. The Conference on Lighting Education will
feature an eight-hour workshop on ¡°Lighting Design Basics¡± led by
Fred Oberkircher, of Texas Christian University¡¯s Center for Lighting
Education, also an IESNA Board member. Mark Lien, Manager of Cooper¡¯s
Lighting Center, the SOURCE, will present ¡°The 5 Forces of Change in
the Lighting Industry¡± which will include an energy crisis update, the
globalization of lighting products, the effects of light on life forms,
energy and environmental legislation, and radical new technologies. All
these issues have a tremendous effect on how we conduct our business.
Lighting industry expert Craig DiLouie will lead a panel discussion
among members of the Lighting Controls Association, a division of NEMA.
They will discuss energy efficiency innovations in controls. Panel
members include representatives from Lutron, Leviton, Advance
Transformer, and Square D. Additional topics include; Lighting for
Safety and Security; LED Lighting; Health Care Lighting, The Aging Eye,
and more.
NECA will offer lighting technical workshops on the expanded exhibit
show floor. Topics such as Best Practice for Installations,
Residential, Commercial and Industrial which are joint NECA / IESNA
developed documents; What¡¯s Happening in Compact Fluorescent Lamp
Technology; and High-Intensity Discharge Update.
The Conference on Integrated Building Systems (formerly VDV
Conference & Expo) will also take place concurrently with the NECA
Convention and Trade Show in New Orleans. Attendees will have the
opportunity to purchase a discounted Conference Hopper pass, which
allows contractors to register for both events.
New Orleans is a truly unique American city. The Big Easy knows how
to entertain visitors of every description. Visitors will find a
festival of lights, Dixieland jazz, Cajun cooking, voodoo, lazy
antebellum mansions framed in Spanish moss and world famous
hospitality. The Conference will take place at the high-tech Ernest N.
Morial Convention Center September 17-20, 2005. Full details are
available at www.necaconvention.org . The conference cost is $300 and
registration will open the beginning of June. For exhibit information,
call Beth Ellis at 301-215-4507.
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The National Electrical Contractors Association, founded in 1901, is
the leading representative of a segment of the construction market
comprised of over 70,000 electrical contracting firms. The industry
employs over 650,000 electrical workers and produces an annual volume
of over $95 billion. NECA includes 120 U.S. chapters in addition to
others in countries around the world. The association sponsors the NECA
Show, renowned as the industry¡¯s premiere event, which features
cutting-edge technologies, highlights new trends, and provides courses
to help contractors broaden their knowledge and skill. NECA is
dedicated to enhancing the industry through continuing education, labor
relations, current information and promotional activities. To learn
more about the industry or NECA¡¯s services, please visit www.necanet.org .
OTTAWA, ON – April 19, 2005 – Centrepoint Technologies, a leading
designer and manufacturer of innovative telephone systems for small and
multi-location businesses, today confirmed its commitment to meeting
its customers needs through the development of the TalkSwitch ®
telephone system which offers both Voice over IP and traditional
telephone connections.
Centrepoint’s TalkSwitch is available in configurations as small as
2 incoming lines with 4 extensions, up to systems that include 16
incoming lines, 16 VoIP trunks, 32 local and 32 remote extensions. The
TalkSwitch system was designed to grow and evolve with a customers
business, so up to four units per location can be networked together.
“Customers care about having reliable telephone service and features
that enhance their business,” said Jan Scheeren, President and CEO,
Centrepoint Technologies. “As long as it meets those needs, it doesn’t
matter whether that service is delivered over IP or the traditional
telephone network. Both networks have unique strengths and asking
customers to choose between the two is unnecessarily constraining.”
By using TalkSwitch, small and multi-locations businesses can for
the first time, realistically take advantage of the benefits of VoIP
telephony. Many of those businesses though are reluctant to completely
give up their published telephone numbers and lines. They understand
that they can save money and access advanced network services using
VoIP, but they like the reliability they have from their public
switched telephone network (PSTN) lines.
With a VoIP-equipped TalkSwitch system, customers don’t have to
choose. They can experience VoIP for themselves while at the same time
retaining at least one of their traditional connections to the PSTN.
“Telephone service is evolutionary,” said Scheeren. “The move to
VoIP isn’t going to happen over night, it’s a progression. People still
need the PSTN. There are a host of issues including the ability to
access emergency services like 911, availability when there is a power
failure, quality of service and universal connectivity that today can
only be effectively addressed by the traditional telephone network.
TalkSwitch users get a fully featured telephone system that improves
the way they do business, but also positions them to take advantage of
next generation services like VoIP.”
TalkSwitch is the ideal telephone solution for small, multi-location
and home-based businesses with up to 32 phone users per location. The
VoIP-equipped TalkSwitch 48-CVA sells for $1795 US, and is available
from Centrepoint Authorized Resellers or online at www.talkswitch.com
TalkSwitch systems without VoIP start as low as $695.
About Centrepoint
Centrepoint Technologies has set the standard for innovative telephone
systems that provide small and multi-location businesses with
affordable, yet powerful communications solutions. Designed to be
installed and configured by the end user, the TalkSwitch is a hybrid
PSTN/VoIP PBX that gives customers unparalleled flexibility and value.
Built on a SIP-based architecture and uniquely scalable, the TalkSwitch
is a good investment both today and tomorrow. Established in 1990,
Centrepoint is focused on the global telecommunications market, and is
headquartered in Ottawa, Canada. For more information call (888)
332-9322 or visit the Centrepoint website at www.talkswitch.com.
For more information, please contact:
Chris Brennan
Public Relations Manager,
Centrepoint Technologies
613.725.2980 x 136
888.332.9322 x 136
cbrennan@talkswitch.com
May 12, 2005, New York—Celebrating the dawn of a new era in
entertainment, game fanatics across the globe came together tonight for
the televised unveiling of Xbox 360™, the future-generation game and
entertainment system from Microsoft®. An audience of millions watched
MTV: Music Television as celebrities, professional athletes, musicians,
and Xbox® officials took the wraps off the much-anticipated system,
ending months of intense speculation and satiating consumers worldwide.
The new Xbox 360 places players at the center of powerful
next-generation games and entertainment experiences. The elegant design
features a breakthrough wireless controller and an array of "Faces,"
interchangeable faceplates that let gamers personalize their console.
The unveiling spotlighted some of the groundbreaking Xbox 360 games in
development for the new system, advancements for Xbox Live™—the runaway
leader in online gaming services—, and new digital media experiences
that only Xbox 360 can deliver.
"With the first generation of Xbox, our ambition was to change the
way people think about video games," said Robbie Bach, Microsoft's
chief Xbox officer. "Starting today with Xbox 360, our ambition is to
revolutionize the way people think about fun."
Xbox 360 will unleash the greatest game lineup in the history of
video games when it launches in North America, Europe, and Japan this
holiday season. The games that captured the color, drama, and fun of
high-definition gameplay at the MTV unveiling included 2K Games' NBA
2K6; Activision, Inc.'s Call of Duty™ 2, QUAKE 4™, and Tony Hawk's
American Wasteland™; Electronic Arts' Madden™ NFL 06, Need For Speed™
Most Wanted, and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 06; Majesco Games' The Darkness,
Microsoft Game Studios' Perfect Dark Zero™, Kameo™: Elements of Power™,
Project Gotham Racing® 3, and Gears of War®; THQ®'s Saint's Row; and
Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon™ 3.
Platform and Partners Power the Portfolio
Xbox 360 ignites a new era of digital entertainment that is always
connected, always personalized, and always in high definition. It is
the only system designed with a singular platform vision that combines
the most-powerful hardware with intelligent software and services.
Every Xbox 360 game is optimized for a minimum of 720p
high-definition output with anti-aliasing. Regardless of the TV that
Xbox 360 connects to, gamers will experience smooth, cinematic
experiences that far exceed anything they've seen or felt in games
before.
Xbox 360 also features software so smart it remembers what gamers
have achieved. The Xbox Guide Button is the launch pad that connects
gamers to their games, friends, and music from the wireless controller.
With more than one teraflop of system-floating point performance, a
three-core PowerPC-based CPU for the most-advanced artificial
intelligence and physics processing, a custom ATI graphics processor,
and more than 512 megabytes of memory for the ultimate in visual
fidelity, the Xbox 360 hardware is a perfect blend of power, elegance,
and balance. When combined with unrivaled XNA software development
tools, game creators can produce truly believable, thriving worlds.
Fabled game studios such as BioWare, Bizarre Creations, Bungie
Studios, and Rare® as well as legendary Japanese game creators Hironobu
Sakaguchi, Tetsuya Mizuguchi, and Yoshiki Okamoto are harnessing the
powerful Xbox 360 platform to create exclusive games for Microsoft Game
Studios. Equally commanding, game-changing publishers like 2K Games;
Activision, Inc.; Capcom; Electronic Arts; Tecmo®; Namco Hometek, Inc;
Rockstar Games; SEGA®; THQ; and Ubisoft—just to name a few—are flocking
to Xbox 360.
"Xbox 360 marks the beginning of a renaissance in video games," said
Don Mattrick, president of Worldwide Studios for Electronic Arts. "The
unbelievable Xbox 360 games in development at Electronic Arts will
accelerate the industry's mission to make video games the preeminent
form of entertainment."
"With Xbox 360, a new chapter in video game history is being
written," said Kathy Vrabeck, president of Activision Publishing. "The
platform liberates us to achieve new levels of graphics and gameplay so
our audiences connect emotionally with more riveting stories, more
believable characters, and more open, living worlds."
Xbox Live—New Levels of Service Get Everyone in the Game
Connect Xbox 360 to a broadband connection, and it's on. With a free
level of Xbox Live™ service, players can share their Gamer
Profile—comprised of user-generated information such as Achievements
(rewards players have earned in games), Gamerzone (style of play), and
a custom-created Gamertile (a visual icon to represents the gamer
online)—with their friends in the community. And, with the free level
of Xbox Live, players can send and receive text and voice messages to
friends, as well as engage in Xbox Live voice chat anywhere, anytime,
even if one person is playing a game while the other is watching a
progressive-scan enabled DVD movie. Also available is the Xbox Live
Marketplace, a one-stop shop to download demos and trailers along with
new game levels, maps, weapons, vehicles, skins, community-created
content, and more to the detachable Xbox 360 hard drive.
Xbox Live members who subscribe to the premium service can
experience the thrill of multiplayer online gameplay. Gamer Profiles
will provide a foundation for intelligent matchmaking, so players of
similar skill levels and interests can quickly and easily connect, and
the Xbox Live Camera peripheral will let gamers add their own faces
into games and see their friends while they play. Other Xbox Live
features for premium members include video messaging, online
tournaments and ladders, and exclusive, original programming such as
playing with celebrities online and joining sponsored tournaments to
win prizes. And all Xbox 360 owners who sign on to Xbox Live for the
first time can kick-start their experience with a free month of the
full subscription service, which will let them experience the full
power of Xbox Live.
Unlock a New World of Digital Entertainment
With Xbox 360, gamers are always on. At its core, Xbox 360 is an
amazing game machine with a wide selection of titles. But it is also an
entertainment system that lets people power new experiences. Every Xbox
360 system has built-in progressive scan DVD movie, CD music, and photo
playback support. The integration of Xbox Live into the system lets
players receive game invites from friends while they're watching movies
or listening to music. And every MP3 player, digital camera, and
Windows XP PC can plug right into the Xbox 360 USB 2.0 ports to stream
music and photos through any home entertainment system.
Additionally, with built in Windows Media Center Extender
functionality in every system, Xbox 360 players can access recorded TV
and digital movies, music, video, and photos stored on Windows XP Media
Center Edition 2005-based PCs.
Xbox 360 also opens the door to incredible new high-definition
entertainment. In addition to optimizing all Xbox 360 games for high
definition, Xbox 360 will stream high-definition TV and movies stored
on Windows Media Center Edition PCs starting this holiday. As
high-definition entertainment becomes more pervasive, Microsoft will
offer more ways to experience high-definition TV and movies in any room
in the house, any way people want it. Whether through dropping an
optical disc in a drive, streaming to Xbox 360, or broadband
distribution, Xbox 360 will let players choose how to light up their HD
content.
"Xbox 360 is a revolution that promises to ignite new levels of
creativity, community, and competition," Bach said. "Tonight's
unveiling is a signal to the world that this is our industry's greatest
moment."
About Xbox 360
Xbox 360 is the future-generation video game and entertainment system
that places you at the center of the experience. Available this holiday
in North America, Europe, and Japan, Xbox 360 will ignite a new era of
digital entertainment that is always connected, always personalized,
and always in high definition.
#########
Microsoft, Xbox, and Xbox Live are either registered trademarks or
trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other
countries.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
New York, NY—May 11, 2005—The Home Entertainment 2005 Show, held
April 28–May 1 at the New York Hilton in Manhattan, was a highly
charged four-day event filled with live music, education, and the
latest in convergence technologies combining the worlds of computers,
music, home theater, and gaming.
More than 13,000 consumers attended HE2005 along with 2500 members
of the trade and 612 journalists from all over the globe. Over 250
brands were represented at the Show, and new products were in abundance
from Acoustic Research, Body Sonic, Gini Systems, Hewlett-Packard,
Manley Labs, Polk Audio, Simaudio, RCA, Thomson, Samsung, Goo Systems,
VTL, Yamaha, and more. Outstanding demos with standing room only were
found at the Bosendorfer, Dolby, CinePro/Silicon Optix, Kaleidescape,
Manley Labs, Outlaw Audio, and Paradigm exhibits.
Highlights of HE2005 included a variety of informative educational
seminars with topics relating to current issues surrounding home
theater, audio and convergence; daily live musical performances by
classical, jazz, funk, and blues artists in XM Satellite Radio’s
Digital Music Lounge; a DLP movie screening courtesy of Samsung and
Texas Instruments; and a well-attended auction and benefit concert for
the Elf Foundation, sponsored by XM Satellite Radio. Medeski Martin +
Wood—the main act—and special guests torch singer Holly Palmer with
Mojo Mancini had the crowd up off their seats during a two-hour jam
session! More than $11,000 was raised for the Elf Foundation, which
brings music and movies to children who are experiencing extended stays
in hospitals all over the country.
The Home Entertainment 2005 Show is sponsored by PRIMEDIA’s Home
Technology and Photography Group: ConnectedGuide.com, Home Theater,
Petersen’s PHOTOgraphic, Stereophile, UltimateAVmag.com, and
Shutterbug.
Location and dates for HE 2006 will be announced in the near future.
UNION CITY, CALIFORNIA — May 3, 2005 — Runco International, the
world leader in high-end home theater video display technology, is
sending its experts on the road to show custom installers the keys to
designing a world-class home theater. The company is partnering with
CEDIA Regional Education to host the “Elite Home Theater” course
throughout 2005. Runco International joins coNEXTion Systems, Inc.,
Genelec, and Stewart Filmscreen to show attendees what it takes to
design a home theater with an amazing picture and a look that fits any
contemporary décor. The next course is set for Monday, May 16 at the
Stamford, Connecticut regional education event at the Stamford Marriot.
“At the CEDIA Regional Education in Stamford, we’re going to show
what some of our new products are capable of, and how they integrate
with other high-performance theater components to create a
next-generation home theater,” said Bob Hana, president of Runco
International. “Runco projectors and flat-panel displays are designed
to meet the challenges custom installers face in designing high-end
theaters for clients who demand the finest performance. Any installer
who attends our ‘Elite Home Theater’ course will come away with some
new insight on specifying a theater that makes the most of the viewing
environment and integrated systems.”
At the “Elite Home Theater” course, attendees will get to see a
number of high-definition Runco International projectors in action on a
variety of screen types. The demonstration will highlight the need for
different imaging technologies as a function of installation size and
type. Runco will demonstrate the Reflection™ Series CL-510, CL-710, and
VX-5000d, as well as the Video Xtreme™ VX-2c 3-chip Projection System
with the DHD Digital Video Controller.
The Stamford CEDIA Regional Education runs from Saturday, May 14 to
Wednesday, May 18 with the Runco-sponsored course scheduled as follows:
Elite Home Theater
Presented by: Runco International, Stewart Filmscreen, Genelec, and coNEXTion Systems
(CEDIA CEU Value: .375 Credits)
Monday, May 16, 2005:
10 am - 11:30 am
12:30 pm – 2:00 pm
2:30 pm - 4 pm
4:30 pm - 6 pm
Tuesday, May 17, 2005:
8:00 am – 9:30 am
10:00 am – 11:30 am
12:30 pm - 2 pm
2:30 pm - 4 pm
For more information, or to sign up for these courses, please visit www.cedia.net .
About Runco International, Inc.
Founded in 1987 and currently headquartered in Union City, California,
Runco International, Inc is a market leader in state-of-the-art
projection systems, flat-panel plasma monitors, video processors and
other components for the consumer market. Runco’s innovations have won
numerous awards and citations from the world press. Runco was the first
company to introduce and market a line doubler with a multi-frequency
projector in 1990 and also introduced the first multiple-aspect-ratio
controller, the ARC-IV, to the Home Theater market. Recently, both of
these features have become essential for the new digital high
definition capable televisions. For more information on Runco
International, Inc. visit the web at www.runco.com.
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