As we get ready to receive another shipment of iconRemotes to sell to the public, I wanted to get a gauge out there for some of the early reviews that were coming in from some of the bloggers and authors regarding this product.
Overall, it’s been a pretty positive experience for many of these witers, who are sharing many of the same sentiments we are at X10 regarding the iconRemote:
Hi everyone. Still no takers in my free giveaway from yesterdays post. Start sending me your Top 5 X10 Favorites and why you like each item and you can walk away with a new Video Sender Kit!
You may have noticed that I added a new article on the iconRemote to the community site today. Many of you know that we sold out on our initial allotment of 100 remotes a few weeks back, and they sold out like hotcakes!
Continue reading "New Article on the iconRemote Just Posted" »
I received a call last week from an affiliate, and we were discussing setup of X10 items. The one thing that kind of perked my interest was a quote he made that “setting up X10 products was so easy that it seemed difficult.“ I asked him to explain this to me in further detail.
In a paraphrase he was telling me that in reading the Community forums, sometimes people tend to have a tough time setting up their equipment and have problems because they expect it to be difficult. This leads to frustration on their part and uncertainty as to if they set it up correctly. He then mentions that sometimes things truly are as easy as they seem and that you really don’t need to question further or look more into detail.
I usually get a lot of requests from customers, affiliates, and contractors living overseas in 230v countries wanting to purchase X10.com products. Unfortunately, X10.com only carries products catering to the 110v market and ships only throughout the US and Canada. So to our friends abroad, I was delighted to see that X10Europe.com was back up and running. Now you have the ability to once again enjoy your X10 products!
As for our friends in countries on the 110v standard who live outside of the US and Canada, if you are interested in X10 items, I do have a contractor with an overseas distributorship who is willing to work with you. Send me your emails at affiliates@x10.com and I can refer you to this distributor.
Here is this week’s installment of answers to your emails. Thanks to Robert, Guillermo, George, Andy, and Bailey for writing in!
This weekend X10 proudly announced the release of the new X10 iconRemote. A remote control that uses television icons of your favorite tv stations making your television viewing habits a simple experience
One popular request I receive is from customers wanting to locate X10 drivers for operating systems other than Microsoft Windows. I have a lot of people ask about using our home automation softwares for Macintosh GUI’s, Linux and Unix.
I did a search to try and locate some resources and came upon some interesting links. Keep in mind that these are not authored or written by anyone at X10. These are unique individuals such as yourself who have an interest in seeing home automation succeed using other methods aside from a conventional PC. In the event you discover some interesting links that should be shared, let us know by posting the link! Now, in no particular order of relevance:
One of the most popular items in the X10 product line is the Wireless Video Sender kit, a 2-piece kit containing one video sending unit and one video receiving unit.
Each unit is about the size of a doughnut (length and widthwise). The video sender hooks up to a device such as a cable box, satellite tuner, or DVD player to re-broadcast that signal wirelessly to another device in a different room that is hooked up to the video receiver. If you don’t have a cable jack in the second room or some way to gain a reception, you now have the ability to watch TV clearly and listen in on crystal clear audio by sharing the signal from a different room.
Thanks to Hilary, Terry, Anderson, and John for writing in. Here are this week’s installment of Answers to Your Emails.
It’s our first day here at the new X10 headquarters in Renton, WA, and right now the team is adjusting to the move. There are still boxes to unpack, and things to setup as we go about our day. It’s going to take some time to settle in, and on my end I’ve already experienced a few glitches with my phone system, as several affiliates have been trying to phone in to ask questions. If you are experiencing problems trying to reach the Affiliate or Community desk the best way to reach me is through email. Send your messages to me at either community@x10.com or affiliates@x10.com. Even though things are a bit disorganized for the moment, I’m still willing to assist however I can!
It may be only a few miles away, but starting Monday, X10 headquarters will be operating from a new headquarters. No longer will we operate from our Kent facility as we will be down the road in Renton a few miles north of our current building.
It’s been an interesting year with so many changes occurring. Not only do we have a new facility, we also have a new President to head the direction of the Company, from our outgoing one who will be leaving to focus on other projects around the X10 family.
In addition, there are so many new faces when looking around, as we have new copywriters, marketers, IT Engineers, and graphic designers, with still a few more positions to fill down the road. Like most companies employees come and go, but like the current trend, X10 continues to move forward
Things at X10 headquarters are a bit scattered right now as everything is being dismantled and moved. However, the future in the new building brings a hope for a brighter future.
I received a call the other day from a customer in the West Palm Beach, Florida area needing to locate an installer to help setup her equipment. Calls like this become more frequent as more and more people buy X10 products. They need assistance in getting their equipment setup.
If you are an X10 Contractor or are a qualified X10 Installer, have your name or business added to the X10 Installer database. The cost is only $14 a year, and you have the opportunity to charge for your installation services. To add your name email us directly at contractor@x10.com or call toll-free at 888-455-5658.
Since I’ve been the Community Director, I’ve been in charge of setting up various product panels at our headquarters showcasing some of our newest products for the public to see.
Product Test panels are always fun to partake in because you get to see the reactions of the panelists as they get to view first hand the latest gadgetry and devices that the X10 Development Team come up with. Overall, people love what they see and definitely have a lot of input to provide. The added bonuses come with the rewards the panelists receive simply for showing up as they either get to take the product home to keep, receive gift certificates to the online store, or even get their fuel expenses reimbursed at a generous rate.
Here are this week’s answers to your emails. Thanks to everyone who wrote in!
Even though it hasn’t been around for quite sometime, the RoboDog alarm is still one of the most popular requested items I receive emails about on a daily basis. People want to know where to buy the RoboDog, and it’s not just people from North America but people from all around the world.
I’m sad to report that the RoboDog is a discontinued item that once the allotment was sold out was never reproduced. In fact, it was discontinued even before I arrived at X10. The problem is, that with so many websites catering to X10 products, it’s tough to get the word out to everyone to update their links to remove it from their pages, so that’s why you still see so many RoboDog ads around.
I received an email today from Sheldon, an X10 product owner. He posed a question to me, which is also one of the same questions usually popping up on the X10 forums from time to time.
He inquired about the interaction between X10 items and other wireless items such as routers and how they can sometimes negatively affect each other or cancel each other out. In addition, I’ve also heard this same question dealing with the negative interaction between X10 items and cordless phones.
Myself being an X10 product owner, I too use a wireless router at home for my Internet. Fortunately, I haven’t experienced any problems with my X10 equipment, and have continued to add components to it regularly.
However, a small number of the population does run into this issue. I wanted to seek an answer as to why this was, so I went directly to Eric at X10 Tech Support.
Continue reading "X10 Interaction Between Routers & Cordless Phones" »
There are so many knowledgeable people when it comes to X10 products in our community, and many of you have blogged about our products! So, if you have a blog or article that you authored or would like to share, we're going to post it for everyone to read! FRONT PAGE! This gives you plenty of exposure from the readers of the X10 Community!
Send me your X10 blogs or articles! Direct them to Community@x10.com with the title of your email 'X10 Community Blog Posts' and I’ll post your blogs for the world to read!
Here are this week’s installment of “Answers to Your Emails”. Oddly, most of the questions I’ve received this past week have focused on the X10 ProtectorPlus Alarm System. Thanks to everyone who wrote in!
Here is this week’s installment of “Answers to Your Emails”. Thanks to everyone who wrote in!
Hi everyone, sorry I’ve been out of touch as of late with the Blog posts. It’s been a hectic couple of weeks here at X10 headquarters, and I’ve started receiving the emails wondering why we were out of touch as of late or where the blog posts were.
I wanted to provide a quick update as to what’s been going on…
We at X10 love giving stuff away, so we decided that it’s time for another contest!
Every day during the duration of the contest we’ll be giving away our NEW & IMPROVED video sender as the prize. If you’re lucky enough where we use your video, you’ll walk away with one of these bad boys... and we've got a ton of them to give out!
So what do you have to do? It’s simple, just break out the home video camera and record yourself in a thirty second to two minute story telling us how you plan to use your new X10 Video sender then upload your video to our X10 group on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/group/x10contest!Be as creative as possible for the most interesting videos will win! We’ll judge while you just kick back hopefully awaiting your prize!
So what are you waiting for? Get the camera rolling! We’ll be posting the rules and details so stay tuned!
Thanks to everyone for writing in! here are this weeks questions followed with a response.
Here are the answers to your latest emails:
As we get ever so closer to the Christmas Holiday season, things at X10.com headquarters are starting to pick up. I wanted to provide a few resources to help make your X10.com experience more pleasant, especially when you place your orders over the phone.
I receive a lot of email from people around the world, and wanted to take the opportunity to address some of them. As many are general repeat questions, I’m not going to post the name of the sender or where they are from, as these are many of the same questions I am asked on a daily basis:
I had the opportunity to speak with one of our affiliates who runs a very interesting site. Needless to say as I was looking over his webpage, I found it hard to get back to work. I wanted to share his site with you at www.caught-on-video.com. Your “one stop” source of top quality, family friendly and porn-free website videos. Featuring many types of videos, you’ll find something to fill your fancy!
If you have the chance, check 'em out! But if you're like me, you might want to wait until you get off of work!
You spoke and we listened! In a recent survey, 90% of webcam owners polled have stressed the importance of a web camera that can zoom, pan, tilt, handle low light, and produces a great optical video quality. When asked about what was missing from their current webcam, the majority mentioned that the things that they were seeking as listed above were the things that were lacking and most important to them!
The focus this week has been on trying to provide more notice and exposure to our beloved Community Organizers (CO’s). These are the guys who help us operate our forum. None of the CO’s are employed by X10, but love X10 products enough to make a hobby out of our stuff. Many of them have so many years of experience with our products that they know them better than most of the X10 team.
Behind the scenes at X10 headquarters, the Marketing, Development, and Design team has been busy scurrying around the past few weeks. This concluding week has been a busy one to say the least, as we’ve all been running amuck. The great thing though, through all of our many hours of hard work and focus, we now can provide you with two great new products!
Continue reading "The X10 Team gets a well-deserved weekend" »
This past weekend saw me kicking back watching my beloved Seattle Seahawks beating up on the helpless Arizona Cardinals. With a cold drink in my hand and my feet propped up on the ottoman, nothing was going to get me off of that couch….except, the occasional check on the computer of my Fantasy Football score…
"Wow, if only there was a way to make laziness easier," I thought…. Well now there is! X10 is getting set to unveil the lazy man’s fantasy! Soon, in the power of your hands each “lazy man” will have the capability to monitor their fantasy football score without having to get up from the confines of that nice indent they built into the couch! What can be better than that?
Are you curious as to how this is going to be possible? Well check back soon to find out! Trust me, every "lazy man" is going to want one of these!
Editor's Note: Here's the link as to what Mike was talking about! http://x10community.com/article_fantasy_football_09192006.html
This past week has been a busy one for the Marketing and Development teams at X10.com. As you may know, we are currently engaged in the launch of a new product, and we’ve been kind of low key about things… shh! But now the new toy is about to be removed from it’s box. I’m sure you’ve most likely figured out by now that X10 Staffers are prepping for the release of what we call “The World’s Best Webcam…”
The reality of it, it’s not just a web cam… It’s a whole video calling system! I had the chance recently to engage in a little bit of video calling this past week with one of my parents. During this video conversation, my mother was totally blown away and surprised at how she was able to interact with me over the network.
This new video calling system we are unveiling comes with a camera with a 44x zoom (22x optical and 22x digital), and the clarity is amazing! In addition to the powerful zoom, the camera has the ability to pan 180 degrees around the room and tilt an amazing 70 degrees up and down! This means that you have the ability to 1) zoom into an object over half a mile away; 2) see a room from one side to the other, and view a room from top to bottom! What kind of a webcam does that? Not very many!
We are getting set to launch the new website, where you can personally take a look at the full features of this awesome new product! www.theworldsbestwebcam.com
I’m so blown away by the capabilities of this system, along with my mother that it looks like many of my family members may be getting an awesome Christmas present this upcoming holiday season!
If you are looking for that ultimate device to bring your loved ones closer together, I would recommend looking into the X10 World’s Best Webcam!
It’s been a busy week here at X10.com Headquarters! Hence, the lack of blog postings on my end. My directives this week were “Marketing, marketing, marketing…” This basically left no time for blog posting….
With my course set, and a vision of the goal, I am getting very excited about our upcoming project! It’s been a lot of hours in the making, and many many many meetings in order to get this far! If you are curious about what is happening, stay tuned!
To my many friends on the forums, I apologize for my lack of visibility on the boards! I can assure you once we get this project completed, I will be able to catch up with many of your postings….
Have a good weekend!
Today on the Blog portion of the Community Site, we added three new X10 Bloggers from our marketing Department! Now, you’ll have more opportunities to get greater in-depth knowledge into the X10 world by reading what Scott, Carrie, and Ben have to say!
I’m ready to open up the X10 Community Blogs to people willing to test it and provide feedback. I am especially looking for people who have experience with the Live Journal format or something similar. If you are interested, leave a comment on this blog post and let me know by Friday so I can provide you with the link to access the Community Blogs.
Here at X10 Wireless Technology, Inc Headquarters, many of the employees are rejoicing over the fact that today is Friday. After a good week of working hard, we’re all looking forward to a couple of days of R&R.
I wanted to provide a recap for how the week went, and also provide some insight on what happened at the office.
Today, I launched a new feature on the Community website called Meet Team X10.com, where we give you the chance to get to know the people behind the scenes at x10.com. You’ll get the chance to meet the web designers who bring you the sites, we’ll bring you up-close with the customer service team who you converse with when you call our customer service lines, we’ll even bring you up close with our company executives, to find out what makes x10.com tick! This is a great way for you to learn more about us at X10.com!
It's taken awhile, but we finally have our first winner! The X10 Community is proud to announce that YouTube user SuitmanIM is the recipient of our first up to $500 shopping spree at X10.com!
Using his creativity, SuitmanIM impressed the judges with a very good video submission showing us how he uses his X10 gear!
Continue reading "The "Insert X10 Here" Video Contest Has it's First Winner!" »
Hi everyone, I just wanted to provide an update on the community side to let you know what is/will be happening this coming week.
With the recent craze in MP3 players, and specifically the iPod, it seems like many businesses have found a way to help Apple advance its product by creating peripherals and different devices for it. Not to be outdone is the X10 iParty, a device that plugs directly into your iPod allowing you to send your music (by wireless signals) to your stereo. Now, without a ton of expensive equipment to purchase or setup, you can play your music loud and share it with your friends.
Last week I posted a blog entry announcing the upcoming Community Blogs, which would be your opportunity as a Community Member to share your thoughts regarding home automation or home security.
We have the easiest opportunity for you to earn an up to $500 shopping spree from the X10.com store! If you are willing to make a video of yourself standing in front of the camera talking about why you want X10 products, you just may be a winner! We’ve started up a group on youtube and all you have to do is upload your video to our group.
Think about it… Have you ever wanted a surveillance camera set valued at several hundred dollars? Or maybe you want to automate your house and use your computer to control your lighting. If you create a video, this may just become a reality!
We are working on adding personal blogs where each one of you as community members have the opportunity to blog with us! You’ll have the opportunity to write your thoughts or ideas down to share with the X10 Community!
Hey everyone! I spent the weekend drafting video commercials scripts, and after we get the chance to film, they’ll soon be available for your online viewing pleasure.
So far, i've been hearing many good things about the current commercials we have posted. People are definitely getting a kick out of them. It feels good to be adding a bit of humor to people's lives, as we all know, you can never get enough laughs...
Many of you may have had the opportunity to capture a great deal through the Bandit Promotion at the X10.com website.
It’s been a fun week here at the X10 Wireless Technologies HQ. We’re running a new contest in which we are giving away up to $500 of X10 gear each week, and have been generating new video commercials to get the contest going.
So far, you’ve learned the basics of home control using a remote device to talk to your transceiver, and your transceiver initiating the commands or passing off those signals to the proper modules. You also understand the concepts of how modules operate by performing a specific function.
Now it’s time to add a new twist… The personal computer…
Continue reading "How to automate your home on a shoestring budget - Part 3" »
In the previous tutorial, we introduced you to how to get started automating your home with just two devices. Now it’s time to increase our abilities for automation by adding modules.
Continue reading "How to automate your home on a shoestring budget - Part 2." »
Home Automation can be as simple as the ability to control one light source, to being as elaborate as having your computer run your whole home, even when you’re away! Many people believe that automating your home is an expensive process. I’m going to dispel this belief by showing you how you can start automating your home on a shoestring budget.
It’s a horrifying sense of feeling violated. You don’t know how to feel whether its anger, confusion or scared. I’m talking about being burglarized. A few years back, my brother had experienced several cases of burglary. The first instance his car was stolen right from the carport of his house, only to have been found six months later damaged, stripped down, and unrecognizable. The second time, the door to the shed at the carport was pried open with a screwdriver and several items taken. Burglaries can occur anywhere. In fact, these occurrences happened in nice family neighborhoods, and in an area you wouldn’t expect.
Continue reading "Affordable Home Security on a Shoestring Budget" »
I’m at work today pondering several things as I perform my daily tasks. Each day I log into my email system, and every time I have a bazillion emails waiting for me, the majority being spam. Here's a thought, imagine some type of technology where each time a spammer sends you an email you can press a button on your keyboard and send that person a shock through the computer! Now that would be the ultimate device!
It wasn’t until very recently that I had the chance to understand what x10 technology was about. I had seen this type of stuff before, but only on television. Gadgets that can turn your lights on and off while not even being in the same room, that being just the basic of things. This type of stuff has always piqued my interest, but I had never had the opportunity to try them until recently.