Automated Home

Z-Wave Smart Utility Metering Application

Mon, 12 May 2008 08:41:41 +0100

Danish based company Modstroem have developed an interesting new Z-Wave based electricity monitoring system. The device includes a small digital camera that mounts on the meter to read energy consumption...

Refurb AppleTV's - Only �135 !

Thu, 08 May 2008 12:02:35 +0100

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 - Major Update with Extended Remote Support

Thu, 08 May 2008 11:28:52 +0100

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...

Another Dual-Core Home Server Bargain Spotted

Thu, 08 May 2008 10:06:57 +0100

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 Release Indigo v3

Wed, 07 May 2008 15:12:16 +0100

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...

SHS2008 Video 2 - Brilliant Living

Tue, 06 May 2008 00:00:00 +0100

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... cdB52keLmHECheck out our Videos Page (Videos.html) for the High Quality options

Check Out My Rack

Sat, 03 May 2008 10:17:35 +0100

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...

SHS2008 Video 1 - Schneider Electric / Clipsal C-Bus

Thu, 01 May 2008 13:00:00 +0100

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... 4HJxfK6npO4Check out our Videos Page (Videos.html) for the High Quality options

DropBox Storage in the Cloud Rocks Our World

Thu, 01 May 2008 10:59:09 +0100

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...

Wizzy Motorised Balcony

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 07:00:00 +0100

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...

Interview with the OSXBMC Developers

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 07:00:00 +0100

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...

Drobo - DroboShare In-Depth Review

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0100

We've spent may hours with Drobo and DroboShare over the last few weeks preparing our review. We've finally put down the camera, finished the text and graphics so today we can published our findings. Read on for the in-depth review including video, photos, graphs and screen grabs from Windows, Mac and Linux. Oh, and our verdict on Drobo too....

The Masked Installer�s Take on the 2008 Smart Home Show

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 09:48:01 +0100

I’ve just got my thoughts together after visiting the NEC and I thought I'd share my general view that the show (or zone) was pretty disappointing. As an installer with a business that's going ballistic it seems odd to be looking at a show that's shrinking, so I thought a bit of digging as to why was in order...

Marmitek Reveal Eye Anywhere IP CCTV Camera Range

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 08:28:42 +0100

Marmitek have just released a new range of IP CCTV cameras. As usual you can monitor the pictures and sound on your own network or arond the world via the internet. In the absence of a network some of the cameras can also record directly to a USB thumb drive. The units include Marmiteks UltraView software that supports up to 16 cameras. Four models are available, including wired Ethernet and wireless 802.11b/g devices. Prices range from 100 to 200 Euro (around £80 - £160)...

Exclusive - New Comfort to Z-Wave Interface

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:00:00 +0100

Last week at the Smart Home Show we interviewed Chiu from Cytech (video of our interview coming soon). In our chat he showed us some interesting products, amongst them the brand new Z-Wave UCM interface for Comfort...

MS Announce Live Mesh - Sync in the Cloud

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:37:44 +0100

Microsoft have just announced their new web-based Live Mesh system. Allowing you to link and sync folders in the cloud, the system also allows you to remotely control the desktops of other computers in your Mesh. It looks like an interesting new service and will allow users to share information more freely between PCs, phones (and soon Macs) whether around the home or around the world...

Modern Home Servers - Power Savings

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:00:00 +0100

The Windows Home Server Team Blog has an interesting piece on the running costs of a modern home server versus a regular PC. They found the annual running costs to be around £25 versus £295! This echoes our finding in a piece we wrote a couple of years ago on running a NAS versus a PC. Even then (in a time with lower electricity prices) our more conservative comparison found then the NAS cost around £17.00 to run for a year compared to around £145.00 for a PC...

MythTV for iPhone

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 07:00:00 +0100

Chris Carey has created a front end for watching MythTV recordings on the iPhone. Check out Chris' site for a live demo of the software and watch the video after the jump...

ITV Catchup Now on Mac with Silverlight

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:04:07 +0100

ITV's on-line TV service - Catchup - is now Mac compatible. You'll need to install Microsofts Silverlight plugin, the Adobe-Flash-like addon that's required for it to work. We've just tried it and as you can see from the screen grab above it's v1.0 but still classed as a beta...

X10 CM15 Pro Review

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 07:00:00 +0100

Owning your own home automation installation company is a bit like being a kid in a sweetie shop. You get to play with all sorts of cool gadgets and gizmos. Well the CM15 is finally here in Europe. Like many things Home Automation related it takes time to filter through from the States. So does it live up to the hype and our expectations, or is it a lame duck and nothing more than a CM11/12 with a few go faster stripes on it...