Darryl Wilkinson

I really like the look and simplicity of ELAN's new ole' Film Interactive Touchpad (F.I.T.), and at $390 it's priced more like a keypad than a touchpad. The new in-wall controller uses predesigned thin film overlays on top of the touchpad surface. Since the button layouts are preset, it's extremely easy to program the pad to control the gear in your system. When installed in a full-blown ELAN multizone system, the pad displays system status info on an OLED window near the top of the pad - but it can also be used as a standalone touch pad controller in any system. (You won't get system status info, though.)

In a 2,000 square foot house filled with HP gear and PCs that was built specifically on the parking lot outside the convention center, Exceptional Innovation demonstrated the company's Life|ware 1.0.2 home control software that's designed to create a fully integrated electronic home based around Media Center PCs. The new Life|ware software builds on Media Center features and, based on direct connection with Life|link Devices-enabled devices, can control things like motorized shades, motorized mounts for plasma or front projection TVs, lighting, and even your oven. You can even schedule things by astronomical time.

Two new Architectural Speaker Series (otherwise known as in-wall and in-ceiling speakers) models are coming from Definitive Technology this fall. The Reference Ceiling Speaker UIW RCS II is designed for use as in-ceiling front main left, center, and right speakers or as rear or side speakers. Built like a brick house, the RSC II uses a non-resonant, sealed, medite enclosure. The sealed enclosure helps the speaker to provide nearly identical performance regardless of the available air space above the ceiling. The new model is a serious in-ceiling offering. With outer dimensions of 15.5 inches by 15.5 inches (and 5 7/8 inches deep), the RCS II is large enough to hold a forward-angled D'Appolito driver array using two 5.25-inch bass/midrange drivers and a one-inch pure aluminum tweeter plus a pair of 6.5-inch pressure-coupled planar low-bass radiators.

Bang & Olufsen has come out with another electronics-with-style product - this time in the form of a 23-inch LCD TV. The Danish manufacturer says the new BeoCenter 6-23 incorporates a 23-inch 16:9 TFT LCD panel with an "anti-reflection coated and high-glare" screen that is designed to improve contrast and brightness - especially in day lit rooms. The new screen also offers a wider viewing angle, a feature that B&O says is especially important in a TV placed in a kitchen or hallway, which are typical locations for a home owner's secondary television.