Microsoft and friends team up to study potential connected home applications
Those looking to better unify your lighting, security, HVAC and home theater are in luck, as a new team has just been formed to investigate what you want, what you need and how to deliver it. Whirlpool, Bell Canada, Cisco, Direct Energy, HP, Legrand, Leviton, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Zensys and the Z-Wave Alliance have all come together to "conduct an in-depth study about the state and future of the smart home." More specifically, the crew will be asking consumers what types of connected home applications could be created or improved upon, with a few examples consisting of TV-based Caller ID screens, remotely controlled temperature / lighting and the ability to crank your home stereo to 11 when a crook breaks in. Yeah, we're totally bluffing on that last one, but you never know.
Filed under: Industry, Displays, Other hardware, Others
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Aaron @ Apr 27th 2008 6:35PM
just my opinion but zwave has a whole lot of potential and almost noting to show for it.... insteon has better and cheaper products out on the market now.
And both of those already work with media center via mcontrol. I doubt whatever comes of this will be better than what mcontrol already does.
hmurchison @ Apr 27th 2008 10:58PM
Sounds cool if it's something that delivers easy installation. The problem with Home Automation is the lack of good DiY stuff. There are a lot of good options now but after going through the "specialist" who's certified to install and getting the custom hardware you're looking at $30-40k. As the poster above said..a lot of this stuff can be done now so they're going to have to bring something new to the table.