Clipsal have recently unleashed the new CBUS Wiser unit which appears to offer a great deal of potential to home automaters with CBUS to expand their CBUS network with logic features and an out-of-the-box touchscreen centric control system.

In essence, the Wiser unit combines the functions of a couple of existing CBUS units that you may already own, and additionally adds functionality not previously available in a hardware based unit.  The Wiser performs the following functions on a CBUS network...

The UBL-MMR from Mk1 Studio is a 19 inch rackMount Shelf for your Mac mini server.  Automated Home reader Ben McCormack reviews the hardware and shows us more photos of his home automation rack project...

Here's one Automated Home readers account of how he powers various systems around his home from special UPS supplied sockets.  This allows him to keep not only his PCs up during power outages, but also his Home Cinema System, TVs, Phones etc...

Apple's diminutive infrared remote control was replaced a few weeks back (along with a raft of other new hardware).  The new unit leaves the old white glossy plastic look behind and adopts the brushed aluminium finish of the rest of the modern Mac range...

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to just glance at your doors and tell if they were locked or unlocked. This Automated Home reader has done just that and can tell the status of each door from the colour of the LED.  Read on for the photos and the circuit details...

It's hard to believe, but its four and a half years since we built our first proper rackmount media server for the Automated Home.  Our tutorial for the MkI is still one of our most popular articles and it's easy to see why.  It's something that people are doing every day as they realise they need to move all their digital media to a central server that can be accessed by the many IP devices we have now come to rely on.  But nothing lasts forever and this week we've pulled the old girl out of the rack ready for a heart transplant...

We've just had a play with the new S5 Zoneplayer, thanks to Sonos' UK distributor.  Watch the video after the jump and read on for the new social networking features coming in the new software version next week..... 

Could this be the "X Smart Home Utopia" we've been waiting for?  The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has approved a new technical standard called 'G.hn' which could finally lead the way to a workable standard by providing a set of protocols and profiles to enable a diverse range of devices to communicate with each other around the home...