Life|ware Finds Its First Retail Home At Magnolia

Homeowners in CA will be the first to glimpse what the future of digital living looks like.

October 26, 2006

The new Magnolia stores opening TOMORROW, October 27, in Santa Monica and Santa Clara, CA will be the first consumer retail showcase for the Life|ware™ digital entertainment and automation solution. Inside the state-of-the-art store will be a fully integrated home designed with Life|ware to create an entertainment experience that allows consumers to control how they enjoy their digital content, wherever and whenever they want, as well as control their lighting, HVAC, security and other subsystems through a single interface using Media Center. The age of proprietary technology is fading, and systems like Life|ware, which do not tie homeowners into a single-branded solution but enable control of home subsystems from a wide variety of manufacturers, are the future. Life|ware is bringing digital entertainment and refined home control together into one seamless package. What Life|ware represents is a glimpse into a homes’ all-digital future, one in which all content can be enjoyed over a network in a variety of ways. “Magnolia represents a truly unique market segment that includes high end retail A/V sales, combined with design and installation services. The presence of Life|ware in the retail locations provides an opportunity for homeowners to test drive home automation and distributed digital entertainment in the perfect environment. Magnolia’s commitment to Life|ware has offered us a great platform for the retail launch of our products,” said Steve Cashman, Exceptional Innovation’s vice president of sales. At the new Magnolia stores, consumers will have the opportunity to interact in a number of different Life|ware experiences representing multiple zones throughout the home. Life|ware will be controlling the stores’ Media Room, Media Bar, Home Office, Equipment Closet and Front Door experiences. The integration centers around HP Digital Entertainment products, including the new Life|ware Ready HP z565 digital entertainment center, as well as Life|ware Connected partners such as Lutron, B&K, SpeakerCraft, Aprilaire, GE Security, and Panasonic. The stores are the first to sell and display the new Life|point™ family of all-digital, 16:9 widescreen touchpanels, capable of 720p high definition display and used in Life|ware home automation networks. Life|point is available in both 12.1” and 8.9” in-wall models. Whether a homeowner is looking to update a single room, remodel an existing floor plan or build their dream home, or whether they are simply searching for a home automation solution that simply makes more sense, the new Magnolia stores will offer good, better, best packaged Life|ware automation solutions. In addition, Magnolia will provide customized solutions to meet the size and scope of any home installation. "Studies have shown more and more homeowners are looking for home automation solutions on varying levels. Here at Magnolia, we strive to deliver the products and services customers are looking to integrate into their homes. We are evolving our retail and installation business model to incorporate the next phase of digital living. Together with new industry partners like Life|ware and HP complementing our existing supplier group, we intend to be a full-service retailer that offers homeowners an entirely new array of solutions and services,” said Lou Kings, Magnolia’s convergence solutions manager. The two Magnolia stores are located at: 2800 Wilshire Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90403 310.309.5000 52 North Winchester Boulevard Santa Clara, CA 95050 408.423.5100 For more information on Exceptional Innovation, please visit www.exceptionalinnovation.com. About Exceptional Innovation Based in the Westerville suburb of Columbus, Ohio, Exceptional Innovation produces Life|ware™ home control software and hardware for digital living. Life|ware creates a lifestyle experience that allows consumers to enjoy their digital entertainment, wherever and whenever they want, as well as manage their lighting, multi-room audio, HVAC, security, appliances and other subsystems, through a single interface by integrating the digital entertainment functionality of Media Center with whole-house automation and control. Led by software industry professionals with extensive experience with distributed computing based on open standards and open architecture, Exceptional Innovation combines Microsoft development expertise with years of home control experience to deliver simple, seamless, life-enhancing solutions for the digital home.

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