Home Networking

Metz mecaHome+ home automation from the TV for USD$270

By Gizmag Team

03:49 September 6, 2009 PDT

Metz demonstrated its new home automation management system at IFA in Berlin this week and there are some highly enticing aspects to its mecaHome+ methodology, most notably that it uses the Xcomfort wireless system from electrical engineering specialist Moeller (hence no wires) and it allows control of the home’s electrical functions to be managed centrally by a Metz television. Read More

New Crestron Green Light occupancy sensors optimize energy usage

By Mike Hanlon

18:24 January 27, 2009 PST

January 28, 2009 Crestron has released a new range of occupancy sensors to enhance the functionality of its Green Light™ environmental controls, further reducing energy usage. The sensors have built-in microprocessors and photocells which continually analyze and adjust to changing conditions to significantly reduce on-time for lights. Climate and device control can also be integrated. A combination of both ultrasonic and passive infrared sensing is used to detect motion while minimizing false triggers, such as electrical noise, air currents, and temperature changes. A built-in photocell can override the occupancy sensor if ambient light levels are above a set threshold, preventing lights from turning on when there is sufficient daylight in the room. Read More

Industry leaders back AMIMON's Wireless Home Digital Interface technology

By Tim Hanlon

00:02 July 25, 2008 PDT

July 25, 2008 AMIMON, Hitachi, Motorola, Samsung, Sharp and Sony have formed an interest group to develop a standard for multi-room connectivity using AMIMON's Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI) technology. Read More

ONELink wireless, talking, networked smoke alarm

By Emily Clark

22:19 February 28, 2008 PST

February 29, 2008 When it comes to home safety, you can never be too cautious, and every second counts in the event of an emergency. The ONELink Carbon Monoxide and Smoke Detector with Voice from First Alert not only provides a wireless way to network your smoke detectors, it actually tells you what you’re dealing with. Identifying both the location and type of danger in the home, the voiceover alerts those in the house to give them the best chance of escape without harm. Read More

Logitech's Squeezebox Duet wireless home audio system

By Kyle Sherer

15:50 January 14, 2008 PST

January 15, 2008 Logitech’s Squeezebox Duet network music system integrates home audio by allowing users to access Internet radio, online subscription services and their personal music library, wirelessly, through any speaker system in their house without switching on a computer. Read More

Sleep diagnostics meets serious entertainment: the Starry Night™ Technology Bed

By Noel McKeegan

22:40 January 7, 2008 PST

January 8, 2008 It's not the first thing that springs to mind when you think consumer electronics, but this high-tech bed from Leggett & Platt is nonetheless making its mark at the 2008 International CES. The Starry Night™ Sleep Technology Bed packs in a range of entertainment hardware to play with when you are not asleep including Internet connectivity, an iPod docking station, a 1080p projector and a surround sound system with four eight-inch subwoofers. And when you do drift off, there's plenty of technology left over to help you make the most out of your rest - dual programmable temperature control, a diagnostic system that monitors body movement and breathing pattern, plus anti-snore technology which detects vibration caused by snoring and tilts the bed to encourage you to stop. Read More

Xbox 360 gets DivX/XviD playback, we put it to the test

By Tim Hanlon

17:08 December 4, 2007 PST

The Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard Update arrived overnight, and added a long list of new functionality - although the one thing most people are interested in is the relatively unexpected arrival of DivX/XviD playback. We've spent the morning messing about with it to bring you the lowdown... because we figured your boss wouldn't call watching videos "work." Read More

Sony's wall-mountable VAIO series panel PC notebook

By Darren Quick

16:38 November 1, 2007 PDT

November 2, 2007 Aiming to merge the PC with a home entertainment center, Sony has added to their VAIO notebook lineup with the release of the LM series notebooks. The LM series features an eye-catching panel PC design reminiscent of Sony’s BRAVIA LCD TV’s with its’ 19 inch screen framed by a transparent bezel to blend into the surrounding environment. For ultimate integration, the VAIO LM series can be wall-mounted and features wireless keyboard, mouse and remote control. Read More

Sony announce 200-disc, 500GB Home Entertainment Server

By Noel McKeegan

23:54 September 5, 2007 PDT

September 6, 2007 Sony has unveiled a new Home Entertainment Server featuring a full HD 1080p 200-disc changer and a 500GB hard disc drive that stores up to 137 hours of video, 40,000 songs or 20,000 digital photos. The stand-alone HES-V1000 is Sony’s first Blu-ray Disc-capable component (other than a VAIO notebook or optical PC drive) that can burn content to Blu-ray Discs as well as DVDs. Read More

Polymer Optical Fiber home network on display at CEDIA

By Noel McKeegan

16:12 August 29, 2007 PDT

August 30, 2007 For centuries one’s house has been one’s castle, it’s just that now the castle of choice is also a fully networked entertainment and communications hub. With the aim of making this easier in terms of both installation and performance, Mitsubishi International Corporation and Firecomms have announced a live home network demonstration using Polymer Optical Fiber (POF) at CEDIA Expo in Denver. The demonstration will take the form of a fully networked living room showcasing the advantages in connectivity, flexibility, and up to one Gigabit data rate capability of POF. Read More

Quadcharge universal charging station

By Shaun McKeegan

02:35 August 28, 2007 PDT

August 28, 2007 The Quadcharge is an inexpensive, all in one hub that allows you to charge four devices simultaneously whilst decreasing the number of AC adaptors that need to be connected to a power source, while at the same time cleaning up the tangled web of cords that otherwise pervade your kitchen bench-top or home office space. Read More

Centurion DiskHub storage device with DVD-RW drive

By Shaun McKeegan

22:44 August 22, 2007 PDT

August 23, 2007 Digistore Solutions is set to release a new carousel-like optical data storage hub called the Centurion DiskHub. Capable of holding up to 100 disks and including a built in dual layer DVD/CD rewritable drive (DVD-RW) for read/write functionality, the Centurion DiscHub offers a complete backup, archiving, storage and indexing solution. Read More

Netgear speeds up its networked storage solution for home users

By Loz Blain

July 11, 2007 As laptop and PC ownership rises, households are more and more frequently running wired and wireless networks between several PCs, laptops, printers, and other devices. Bulk broadband downloads and growing amounts of home media production all take up a lot of hard drive space, and external storage devices can be quite fiddly - which is why Network-Attached Storage (NAS) devices are growing in popularity. Netgear's latest NAS device aimed at the home market is the SC101T Storage Central Turbo. It's quicker than its predecessor - operating at fast Gigabit Ethernet transfer speeds - and houses up to two fast 3.5" SATA hard drives of any capacity to provide a networked storage solution for home and small business networks. Read More