Ultra-wired homes are on their way - honest

BILL GATES' pad in Medina might feature an underwater music system for the swimming pool and a 22 foot wide video display but the cost of high-tech home automation is coming down. According to Smartlabs, that is.

It's selling products that work over mains power lines or home WiFi networks, and is bringing costs down by making installation easier.

Smartlabs is selling a range of home automation products through its online store, Smarthome.com. The Web site offers around 7,000 products and continues to add circa 30 new products a week to its inventory.

SmartLabs even estimates that there will be about 20 billion home-control capable products in the marketplace by 2015.

"Historically, the ultra-wired home has been limited to the wealthy who typically spend upwards of $20,000 for a basic system, " claimed Joe Dada, founder of SmartLabs. "But with advances in technology, creating the ultra-wired home is much less complex, making it affordable for all consumers."

Home automation was, of course, being discussed back in the 80s. Imagine what a disgruntled ex-partner might do? Phone the house and switch on absolutely every electrical appliances at 3.30AM in the morning, naturally. µ

L'INQ
Forbes
Smarthome