OK, it must be the weather, here's bargain number 2 of the day!  Refurb'd AppleTV's are now £135 (regular £199) on the Apple store.  These never last long so grab one now...

XBMC for Mac took another major step forward today with the release of v0.5.0 beta 1.  This brings extended support for the Apple Remote as well control from universal remotes and the XBox 360 remote.  It also includes a raft of other features and fixes (we've noticed that ripping movie thumbnails and info from IMDB is working much better for example) and is based on almost the latest from the Linux port code...

We've just spotted another potential Home Server Bargain.  The £129.99 + vat HP ProLiant ML115 is a 1.8GHz dual core server with 1GB of RAM (expandable to 8GB), a 160GB hard drive (plus room for 3 more), Gigibit Ethernet and a CD-RW / DVD-ROM.  An ideal candidate for Windows Home Server or your favourite floavour of Linux.  Full specs after the jump... 

Perceptive Automation have just released v3.0 of their Indigo home automation software for the Mac.  The upgrade is free for owners of V2 and there's a free 30 day trial download available...

In the second of our video interviews from this years Smart Home Show we talk to Iain Shaw, founder of the UK based integrators - Brilliant Living.  Iain talks us through a live example of a recent custom installation carried out on a holiday home on the east coast of England.  Using the beautiful AMX panel (around £3,000 worth) we see how the skill of an integrator can combine audio, video, lighting, heating, security and weather cameras into a single, easily managed interface...

We've just added three new readers racks to our Node Zero Gallery.  Some nice work here with a combination of AV components (wired for whole house distribution) as well as data and home automation duties.  Check out the details after the jump...

In the first of our video interviews from this years Smart Home Show we talk to Andrew Pemberton of Schneider Electric, the UK distributors of Clipsal C-Bus products.  We talk about the new black and white C-Bus touchscreen with its much improved contrast and we get a chance to flip off the front to see what lies beneath.  We also check out the the new blind relay and chat about some possible future modules too...

OK, we love Google.  Google search, Google reader, Google Docs, but where's our Google Drive - we need file storage in the Cloud to complete the package?   While we were waiting, a few weeks back we saw the DropBox video (check it out after the jump) and were blown away.  Well today we final got an invite to the beta and after a morning playing it appears to be just as great in real life.  So here's our 5 minute summary of what it can do...

Is this the ultimate cool for your bijou Automated Home? We can just imagine the macro that tests the weather before wakening you and opening the motorised balcony complete with the smell of coffee brewing and warm loaf from the bread maker.  Check out the video after the jump for the full effect...

OSXBMC is free open source media player for the Mac.  It's a port of the popular XBox Media Center (XBMC) that was developed over a number of years by a large group of talented programmers.  With its "plays anything" philosophy, beautiful user interface and ability to pull info for your movies and music straight off the web, it provides an unrivalled experience.  If you've ever used FrontRow you need to check this out!  In our interview with the project developer - Elan - we find out where the project is heading, we get the skinny on the new remote control features about to be released and we hear what special additions are planned for the future...