MAVROMATIC » CES 2007

Lagotek Home Automation

Danny Mavromatis — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 03:45:12 +0000

I’ve been meaning to post about Lagotek since I found out about them at CES. I spoke with one of the founders (if I remember correctly) and had a great conversation about UI’s and automation control. I have seen many home automation controllers and pretty much all user interfaces suck — with exception, Lagotek. Their home automation interfaces are some of the best I have seen thus far! Their offices are located near me and I will probably be meeting with them soon to find out more details about their products — once I do, I’ll post it here.

From what I know so far (taken from Wikipedia):

- Lagotek developed a wireless home automation system that allows homeowners a complete control of lighting, temperature, entertainment, surveillance, security, irrigation and other home appliances in any room from any location of their home

- based on any number of touch-screen controllers, mounted into a standard 2-gang switch boxes of a new or a remodel home; these controllers communicate through Wi-Fi with Z-Wave power outlets, dimmers, switches and other devices; each controller acts as a server, enhancing the system’s reliability, while devices also act as repeaters, increasing the systems range to infinite

- Software running on top of Microsoft Windows CE system

Looks like a promising system, plus it was founded by ex-MSFT employees — which is a plus in my book.

AMD/ATI TV WONDER Digital Cable Tuner

Danny Mavromatis — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 20:10:57 +0000

AMD/ATI had the TV WONDER Digital Cable Tuner on display at CES. The OCUR device comes in an external version (pictured), about the size of a cable modem and an internal version for OEM use. Sony will be using the internal version in their XL3 MCE while Dell will be using the external. Both versions connect via USB 2.0. Reps from ATI/AMD said that the tuner will be shipping with Dell’s Home Media Suite — Foundation System starting Jan 30th (public release of Vista) and would be available also as a standalone upgrade as well. There was no mention that the box you connect the tuners to need to be CableLabs certified as reported previously, which means good news for us that build our own MCE’s (I’m hoping this is true). The TV WONDER Digital Cable Tuner is in productions right now but no firm pricing has been released yet. Rumors indicate they will be in the $250-$299 (each) range. Up to two tuners can be connected to a Vista MCE, so you can record and watch up to two channels at once. The tuner is uni-directional so onDemand content will not work.

Vista Sideshow – Remotes

Danny Mavromatis — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 01:33:29 +0000

One of the technologies I really wanted to see in person at CES was Vista Sideshow enabled devices. I spent some time playing with them and as you can see, they come in all sizes. The Ricavision Vista Media Center Remote with Sideshow Technology is my favorite. MSI also had a prototype of a “SideShow Companion” device which is a small little screen with touch sensitive controls — this will be great for controlling a Home Automation system.

Channel Vision iBus — Wall Dock for iPod

Danny Mavromatis — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 00:43:55 +0000

The iBus is a single gang wall dock for distributing your iPods video and audio throughout your home audio system. It’s compatible with all Channel Vision’s A-BUS systems as well as other multiroom audio system like Russound’s CAV 6.6. The iBus also charges the iPod (excluding shuffle). The iBus can be added to your system for less than $200. When will they come out with a zBus for the Zune?

- iBus Instruction Manual (PDF)

Dell Home Media Suite — Foundation System

Danny Mavromatis — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 22:56:12 +0000

Dell will be offering a new package soon (preorder maybe as early as next week), called the Dell Home Media Suite — Foundation System. Based on a Dell XPS 410, the system runs Vista Ultimate and includes 1tb of disk space. The best part is that they will be offering dual AMD/ATI TV WONDER Digital Cable (OCUR) tuners. I have no pricing information, but I was told that DELL will be offering the AMD/ATI TV WONDER Digital Cable (OCUR) tuners as a separate upgrade option as well.

Digeo Moxi Goes Retail

Danny Mavromatis — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 22:45:13 +0000

Digeo had a prototype of their retail DVR at CES. Aimed at competing with Tivo’s Series 3, the stand-alone Moxi HD DVR not only has your standard DVR capabilities, but gaming, information and on-demand capabilities as well. I was pretty impressed with the interface and the feature set. I can see this being something I buy my parents. Digeo also had an “extender” on display which uses standard coax cable for distribution — great for home that don’t have Cat5 between rooms. Expect to see Digeo’s products in retail stores Q2 of 2007.

HD-PLC = 190Mbps over Powerlines

Danny Mavromatis — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 22:34:35 +0000

Panasonic was displaying their HD-PLC (High Definition Power Line Communication) technologies. It seems like a viable option for homes that don’t have network connections near power outlets. Since the 190Mbps speed is the theoretical, I would expect it to be a bit less due to overhead, however, it still is faster than the current wifi 802.11 a/b/g (but not h) standards.

Ego Otazu Diamond — The $350,000 Laptop

Danny Mavromatis — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 21:42:05 +0000

I just realized that I touched a $350,000 laptop. The folks from Ego had the Otazu Diamond laptop on display (in the open) at the AMD/ATI booth. The laptop features 480 flaweless diamonds in tulip, heart, and Otazu logos. The top cover is wrapped in 100% Ostrich leather while the rest of the case is finished in high gloss black with plastic chrome plated acents.

Samsung Q1P-SSD — Running Vista MCE on SSD

Danny Mavromatis — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 21:03:51 +0000

Samsung had their 32gb SSD (Solid State Disk) Q1 on display. What caught my attention was that these UMPC’s have enough CPU and GPU power to playback HD content and run Vista. These devices are great for controlling your home automation system. The Samsung Q1P-SSD will run $1999 when released.

Viewsonic V212 — with Z-Wave

Danny Mavromatis — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 20:48:48 +0000

Z-Wave seems to be getting some traction in the home automation space so it makes sense that the Viewsonic V212 now supports it. The 520MHz Intel Bulverde based Windows CE v5.0 wireless touchscreen also features integrated networking support for 802.11b/g wireless LANs. At CES, Viewsonic was demonstrating how a V212 can be used to control lighting via the Z-Wave module. The V212 pricing starts at $1499.