Automated Home

UK specialist Custom Controls recently undertook one of their most ambitious projects. Read on for all the photos and details… This project saw Custom Controls using and integrating just about every piece of automated control kit available including advanced audio, video, lighting and heating controls. This project covered a total area of 10,000 square meters, including [...]

  UK Distributors RGB, have just opened a Savant Experience Show Home to demonstrate how Savant has brought the familiarity of the Apple user interface to home automation. The system powering the central London Show Home is based on a Savant SmartMediaPro12 modular matrix switch/controller fitted with cards for 8 zones of audio and 10 zones of [...]

Logitech have announced two new universla remotes.  The Logitech Harmony Ultimate is a £229 touchscreen and hard buttoned offering and the Logitech Harmony Smart Control at £109 provides a smartphone interface to your home cinema and other equipment   Both units employ the new Harmony Hub.  Check out the videos below… Today, Logitech announced the expansion of its Harmony [...]

Kai Kreuzer updates us on the progress of the open Home Automation Bus (openHAB) software project… Only 8 months after our 1.0 release we have reached release 1.2 – what sounds like an unimportant change in the version, means in reality that openHAB has now spread out to many areas of home automation. This is noticable by looking [...]

Ah the Raspberry Pi and Home Automation, a match made in heaven.  Now a new software project “RaspLogic” aims to provide a smart home controller offering a simple interface to build powerful macros. The project – RaspLogic is a software that want to make a simple, user friendly and cheap way to control things in [...]

Keene have just launched a new IR Distribution amplifier to their range… Designed and manufactured in the UK the Keene Pro4 has some powerful features for demanding installations. It has four IR Receiver inputs, and uniquely all four receivers can be located in the same room if needed. Normally multiple IR receivers will cause timing issues [...]

Here’s another video from Apple based Home Automation company Savant Systems.  This latest tour of their Soho apartment shows the technology integrated across the home.  Using the iPad to control itunes for whole house audio plus extensive lighting control too.  ’True Image’ provides a photo of the apartment and touching the lamp in the photo controls that lamp. [...]

Control4 have announced a new Lithium-Polymer rechargeable battery and recharging cradle for their SR-150 and SR-250 System Remote Controls.  The ‘Remote Recharging Station’ will be available in April 2013 for $130 from Control4 dealers.  Check out the video and PR below… Control4, a leading innovator in IP-based residential and light commercial automation systems, announced today a new Recharging [...]

HomeAutom8 and iAutom8 from Tristan Phillips are a cloud service and mobile app combo home automation system.  The software works with RFXCom transmitters and smart home devices like HomeEasy, LightwaveRF, ByeByeStandBy, DomiaLite and X10. HomeAutom8 has a Free in-cloud scheduling service and a cross platform, cross browser online version, plus a £9.99 universal iPhone / iPad iOS App, as [...]

  Data Robotics have announced that a new Plex Media Server app is ‘coming soon’ for their Drobo 5N.  So as well as hosting all your media files, the Plex enabled NAS will be able to natively run PMS too, eliminating the need for a computer to be running the server. More details from the PR extract [...]