UK Home Automator turned podcaster, Don McAllister, is famous for his high quality video tutorials for the Mac.  This week he comes back to his roots covering a true smart home application and an Automated Home favourite - Plex.  Like us, Don is "blown away" by the OpenSource media player / library manager and the show is a great resource for anyone setting up Plex for the first time as well as showing some of the more advanced features if you are already a Plex user.  Links to the 46 minute long Free HD video after the jump...

In his latest post our masked installer considers how he stays in love with automation and talks about managing the expectations of his clients.  How he remotely reboots flakey set-top boxes and the state of his order book in these recession hit times...

Perceptive Automation today announced the release of version 4.0 of Indigo, their intelligent home control and automation server for Mac OS X.  New with this release is support for Indigo Touch, a native iPhone and iPod touch application, which allows a user to control their home automation system from anywhere using WiFi, 3G, or Edge connectivity.  Indigo Touch is available now as a free download from the iTunes App Store.  Check out the video after the break...

Vesternet have launched what they are describing as the worlds first dedicated ZigBee eCommerce store.  With a huge range of ZigBee equipped products plus their own newly developed Zigbox Ethernet gateway and Zigbytes web-based user interface, the site is sure to be of interest to home automators.  Read on for the full release...  

Our last video podcast showed what a fantastic media player the Mac mini is when connected to your home cinema.  But the new £499 price was a bit of a shocker.  However, tonight Apple have added some of the previous generation minis to the refurb store at just £379! 

Last year we talked to Data Robotics and asked them when we could have a Drobo with more drive slots.  Today they delivered with the announcement of the 8 bay DroboPro.  Read on for all the juicy details, the photos and the prices… 

News this morning from our forums that Clipsal are going to open up access to their C-Bus protocol. This is the news many custom installers and DIYers have been waiting for as it should seemuch easier integration of C-Bus prducts with other systems.  Interestingly this comes very soon after the announcement that Philips have aquired Dynalite.  The future of lighting control is definatley going to be interesting...

Myro Control have just launched their brand new Home Automation software - Myro:Home.  Aimed at both the custom installer and the DIY enthusiast, the package suports the HAI range of home automation controllers.  The $500 package is avialable now and there's a free 15-day trail to download too...

Some big news this morning - Philips have just announced they have aquired Australian lighting control company - Dynalite.  We can't wait to see what a large consumer electronics company can do with Dynalite.  Read on for all the details...

To many people, yesterdays announcement from Apple will mean that Cut & Paste, MMS and Turn by Turn GPS is finally making it to the iPhone. Many other improvements are coming too(forward a text message anyone?), but perhaps the most interesting stuff points towards an even bigger role for the iPhone and iPod Touch in the Smart Home...