NetStreams TLA250 Touchpads Feature Customizable Capacitive Glass

The dilemma: You crave NetStreams touchscreens to go along with your DigiLinx IP-based A/V distribution system, but you don't have the budget.

The solution: NetStreams' new TouchLinX TLA250 touchpad.

A small OLED window on the TLA250 displays metadata from audio sources and feedback for home control.

Most of the real estate, though, is consumed by a sexy glass faceplate with capacitive touch controls. Beneath the glass … the consumer's choice of colorful slicks that can blend with any décor.

"I can’t tell you how many times I’ve talked to a designer who has lamented the ugly faceplates that electronics provide," says Sanjay Castelino, NetStreams VP of marketing.

In the case of the TLA25, there are no faceplates.

The unit ships with black, white, almond and light-almond background options. Users can order any of over 1,000 Pantone colors if the standard palette doesn't fit the bill.

"This gives the architect or designer the ability to match pretty much any paint sample," Castelino says.

For the ultimate in customization, customers can provide their own designs or send in a physical sample "that we can scan and then match as closely as possible," Castelino says.

"This will allow end users to actually do what we show in our ad, in fact we’ll have a TLA250 that matches the ad at the booth." (See image above.)

You know, for clients who want chameleons on their touchpads. It's not all about pretty amphibians, however. There are electronics, too.

Behind the Glass

The touchpad includes a built-in 50-watt-per-channel amplifier and offers many of the features of NetStreams' TouchLinx TL430 and TL700 touchscreens.

In addition to controlling networked subsystems including lighting control, thermostats and A/V gear, the TouchLinx includes a built-in intercom system. (UPDATE 9/3 - lighting and thermostat control will not be available in the first release of the TLA250.) The system enables whole-house paging, room-to-room paging, and room monitoring.

The LCD screen displays information about the automation and communications functions, as well as metadata (song, artist, album) from a connected PC or server.

Furthermore, the TL250 features the audio networking functionality of a NetStreams SpeakerLinx, enabling compatible IP speakers to connect directly to the touchpads.

At only 1 1/2- inches deep, the TouchLinx mounts in a double-gang box.

Pricing has not been determined, but the product will retail for less than $2,000.


Learn more about NetStreams, Booth 930 at CEDIA Expo 2008.