CEDIA Expo’s BEST Product Winners Are In
CE Pro announced this year’s BEST Product Awards live from CEDIA Expo in Denver, judged on innovation, functionality and value to the installer. Sony’s BRAVIA 9 II took TV Displays, Josh.ai’s AI X OS won User-Facing App/UI, and Brilliant NextGen’s Power over Ethernet system took Whole-Home Control, among dozens of category winners spanning audio, lighting, security and installer tools.
- The winners list is a fast way to see what the industry itself rates as genuinely new this year, not just marketing.
- Control and installer-tools categories both went to AI-first products this year, a real signal of where the platforms are heading.
- Brilliant NextGen winning Whole-Home Control with a Power-over-Ethernet system is worth a look if you are still wiring low-voltage the old way.
Home Assistant Finally Draws You a Matter Network Map
Home Assistant 2026.9 shipped September 2nd with a visual Matter network map, a new active-alerts security dashboard, and the start of a proper UI-based path for Modbus devices like solar inverters and heat pumps.
- A visual Matter map turns diagnosing connection problems into something you can actually see on site.
- UI-based Modbus setup, starting with Fronius and Sofar inverters, means solar and heat pump jobs no longer require hand-written register maps.
Read more on the Home Assistant blog
Josh.ai Will Now Write Your Automations For You
Josh.ai announced ProStudio at CEDIA Expo, including an Automations tool that turns a plain-English description like “open the shades each morning only when it’s sunny” into working programming. Josh claims it cuts programming time from hours to minutes.
- The first pro-channel control platform to bring AI automation authoring to installers rather than just consumers.
- If it works as claimed, junior team members can handle more minor automation work, freeing senior programmers for complex jobs.
Ring Will Stop Holding the Keys to Your Videos
Ring introduced TAKE, short for Throw Away the Key Encryption, which becomes the default for all customers worldwide as it rolls out in phases starting this month. Ring holds the decryption key only long enough to power features like Smart Alerts, then deletes it.
- A genuinely useful talking point for privacy-conscious clients wary of cloud cameras.
- Full Ring feature set stays intact, a rare case of better privacy with no functionality trade-off.
Worth a Read This Week
- Philips Hue’s IFA 2026 lineup: New Play Screen Sync, Liane 360° rope light, Custom AI Behaviours for the Bridge Pro, and a surprise Nanoleaf Shapes partnership.
- Apple’s smart home display, latest details: two hardware versions now expected, tabletop and wall-mounted, both with facial recognition.
- CEDIA Expo’s full 2026 awards programme: Home of the Year, Smart Home Awards and the new Best Booth Awards.
- SmartHomeScene’s latest sensor and lock reviews: hands-on testing of Zigbee sensors, RF cloners and dimmer switches.
- An honest look at smart home installer training options: a good moment to revisit certification and training with CEDIA’s education track running this week.