Home Automation

Normally, when you spend the night sleeping on your friend’s couch, you’re usually in for a second-rate experience. I mean, the best you can hope for is that it folds out into a bed.

In the case of the Athena sofa, I could easily make it into an office. I mean, it has an LCD in each armrest that are integrated by a multimedia PC.

As you can see, these screens pop out of the armrests itself and flatten themselves out when not in use. (I wouldn’t rest my coffee cup there, though. At least not without a coaster.)

I see that one of them has a keyboard, but if they were touchscreens, then I’d have a fun time running all my operations with Windows 7.

The Athena sofa also comes with an iPhone and iPod dock, and a set of hidden speakers that include an 8-inch subwoofer.

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I have to admit that I don’t know what it is actually like to have been burglarized, but I occasionally feel the slight fear of robbery when I am away from my home for extended periods of time.

If only I had a way to check if someone has entered my home. I suppose that I could get a camera that is connected wirelessly to the Internet and point it at my front door, or I could use Kwikset’s locking mechanism.

These electronic locksets by Kwikset work with Control4 and the Schlage LiNK system to send you an email when someone enters the door (with the correct combination, of course).

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New Sole curved solar tiles promise to improve solar power generating efficiency ...

Last year, we reported on the development of solar roofing tiles which can take the place of asphalt based roofs and do double duty. But in California, many of the roofs use clay tiles which are layered onto another and give a Spanish style hacienda look. So, while solar tiles have been an intriguing (but sadly, not very efficient) solution to generating solar power, a great many in the Southwest couldn’t embrace the technology. Then came along the Solé.

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Anvil Cabinet and Mill have just introduced their fully automated “smart” kitchen cabinets. All I can say is that if I had a kitchen that looked this good, I would be satisfied with “dumb” kitchen cabinets.

What makes the cabinets think that they are so smart is that they can “automatically fold and disappear”. Apparently, these cabinet doors don’t need hinges, but rise and fall vertically, like cabinets in a science fiction movie. All it takes from the user is a wave of the hand or a tap on the sensor, and the cabinet doors slide open and closed, hopefully with a cool-sounding whoosh sound.

Another feature is that some cabinets feature biometric scanners, so you can keep other people from stealing your secret ingredients. For example, if you don’t want your kids to raid your liquor cabinet, make it so only you can access it.

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Even before the recent Star Trek reboot, we were always fascinated by the technology from that science fiction franchise. It wasn’t just the warp drives, food synthesizers, and transporters, but something all too simple: self-opening doors.

Yes, for some reason, the United Federation of Planets outlawed the doorknob sometime before the 23rd century, and all doors must open with an odd swish sound effect, provided the user is in close proximity.

This is very similar to the Blueguard, which is able to open your garage door when you get 33 feet of it. It uses Bluetooth wireless technology on your cellular phone to detect when you are close. It has the capacity to obtain a signal from 10 cellular phones.

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This is one of the more ingenious home improvement ideas that we’ve come across so far – the Kohler Flipside Showerhead. It offers unprecedented value for money, considering your $105 is stretched to bring you four showers in one. This handheld sprayer will come in a chrome-like finish, featuring a flippable inner sprayhead that offers the following shower experiences — a relaxing dense downpour, a focused, invigorating spray, a drenching, circular-pattern spray, or a standard, traditional shower. Perfect to suit a multiple-personality person in your home or at least four heads living under the same roof.

Product Page via Uncrate

For years, I have been wondering why I can do almost anything with my mobile phone, but when it comes to my television or garage door, I have to resort to another remote control entirely. Why can’t I control everything with a mobile like my BlackBerry? This is the question that Unify4Life is answering with two new devices: the AV|Shadow and the Garage|Shadow.

The AV|Shadow allows for switching channels, selecting chapters for a DVD, and even allows for adjusting the volume on the user’s audio receiver. It uses Bluetooth Technology, so the user doesn’t have to point at the screen or any other video device.

The user can customize their own settings, and the interface is set up in a circular pattern, perfect for the BlackBerry Trackball. The AV|Shadow is set up for TV, Satellite, Cable, Apple TV, TiVo, DVD, DVR/PVR, VCR, Blu-Ray, iPod, Mircosoft Media Center, even gaming consoles like the PS3.

The AV|Shadow is enough inspiration for any company, but Unify4Life also has another useful application called the Garage|Shadow. This device turns a BlackBerry into a garage door opener. It is easy to install and use, and now the user doesn’t have to worry about losing their RF remotes any more.

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Here’s another option for those of you on the lookout for cheap home security while you’re away on vacation.  It’s of course never going to be as good as a security system that’s installed into your home, however, it’ll at least help.  This little box when flipped on simulates the flickering glow of a television.  Which in most situations would be enough that burglars would move onto the next home.  Since the path of least resistance is ideal, they’re not going to want to go into a home where someone is already home.

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