© 2004
Door & Access Systems
Publish Date: Spring 2004
Author: Tom Wadsworth
Page 74
CLIPPINGS
Garage Doors and Openers in the Media
The “Martha Stewart of Garage Doors”
| Source: |
Inman News,
01/23/2004 |
| Article: |
Make-Up Artist
Redesigns Garage Door |
| Author: |
Jessica Swesey |
“Jennifer Maher, a make-up artist for ABC News in Washington
for the last 16 years, believes nothing should be unattractive,
including garage doors,” writes reporter Swesey.
FrenchPorte, Maher’s Rockville, Md.-based company,
makes garage doors patterned after interior French doors.
Maher has worked for five years to secure eight patents for
her designs.
Swesey quotes Maher as saying, “I’m sort of the
‘Martha Stewart’ of garage doors. I got tired
of looking at old garage doors. The women really get it. They
like pretty things.”
FrenchPorte doors reportedly cost $2,000 to $3,000 and are
made of aluminum and polycarbonate. Maher reportedly partnered
with a venture company from China to lower manufacturing costs.
Voice-Activated GDOs?
| Source: |
PR Web, 01/22/2004 |
| Article: |
Integration
Associates Announces Strategic Partnership Agreement With
Sensory, Inc. |
| Author: |
(Press Release) |
This release says the alliance of two high-tech firms “brings
together for the first time speech recognition and wireless
connectivity at a breakthrough price/performance ratio for next
generation … consumer electronics.”
The partnership of Integration Associates and Sensory hopes
to result in “voice-controlled garage door openers …
and biometric keyless entry through speaker verification.”
Editor’s Note: Could this be “the next big
thing” in GDO remote controls?
Garage Door Teaches DIYer Lesson
| Source: |
Cleveland Plain
Dealer, 01/16/2003 |
| Article: |
Best of the
Week |
| Author: |
(Unspecified) |
A Cleveland columnist tells his frightening tale of trying to
fix his sticking garage door. He thought the task would be simple:
“Just whip that baby off, straighten out a few rails,
reinstall, and you’re good to go.” However, “I
nearly decapitated myself,” he writes. “Turns
out the spring in a spring-loaded garage door is strong enough
to retract Duluth.”
He soon called his fix-it buddies to the rescue. When they
arrived, “The panels of the door had crossed into an
X, and I was on the floor blithely wondering how many beers
THIS was going to cost me.”
Editor’s Note: Instead of calling your beer-drinking
buddies, call your local garage door professional.
Open the Door in a Flash
| Source: |
Motor Cyclist
Magazine, 12/12/2003 |
| Article: |
Gear Box: Open
the Damn Do’! |
| Author: |
Unspecified |
This motorcycle magazine tells of a new product, “the
ingenious BIGDO (Built-In Garage Door Opener) from MotoFX.”
Thanks to this novel idea, bikers no longer need to dig in their
pockets for the garage door remote control.
“The BIGDO lets you open your garage do’ with
a simple flash of the headlights (or turn signals, your choice).”
The product (www.motofx.com) reportedly costs less than $75,
installs in minutes with no tools, and can open automated
gates, too.
“Digital Ghosts” Multiplying
| Source: |
Los
Angeles Times,12/01/2003 |
| Article: |
Digital Ghosts
Haunt Crowded Airwaves |
| Author: |
Jube Shiver
Jr. |
This story describes the million-dollar high-tech house of Alvin
Cowans, a former NFL player. “He had barely plugged everything
in when the ghosts appeared. Cowans heard them over his cordless
phone … and they played with the automatic garage door,
sending it up and down when no one was home.”
With all of today’s wireless devices, “digital
poltergeists” seem to be lurking everywhere. The report
says the FCC “has seen the number of complaints about
interference jump to more than a half-dozen a day from almost
none in the 1970s.”
The problem seems to stem from all the “signals that
travel in limited frequencies on the radio spectrum, like
cars driving side-by-side on a multilane highway.” FCC
Chairman Michael K. Powell believes that manufacturers of
wireless products will find ways to minimize interference.
Vaseline Tip for Garage Door Seals
| Source: |
WANE
(Ft. Wayne, Ind.), 01/30/2004 |
| Article: |
Experts Offer
Advice on Protecting Car, Garage from Cold |
| Author: |
(Unspecified) |
On a cold wintry morning, a customer calls and says his garage
door keeps freezing to the floor. What do you say?
“Rub Vaseline on the bottom of your garage door seal,”
says Dave Gelzleighter in this Fort Wayne news report. Gelzleighter
is 26-year veteran garage door technician.
“The ice is still … going to freeze, but it’s
not going to stick to the seal itself if you have something
in between.” |
