How great would it be to control everything in our homes using only iOS devices? I’ve always dreamed to fire up my Espresso machine remotely using an iPhone app, or being able to close all my windows from an iPad with live webcam feeds. I know, crazy futuristic stuff that current home automation techniques haven’t fully addressed yet, especially when it comes to security concerns and reliability. But ask Solstice Multimedia about it: the Denver-based company with a decade-long experience in telecommunications and residential services thinks that turning your house into a full-featured iPad-controlled system is totally possible. They even promote a 3,400-square- foot model home with two iPads built-in at $718,000. Okay.
Price of the model home itself aside, the iOS-based system relies on a dual-iPad setup that will cost you roughly $5,000. Optional audio, video and security equipment will take the cost to $60,000 – that’s a whole lot of equipment, right? I assume so. Apparently the system’s “brain” is built into the home’s “mechanical room” with WiFi connection to the 2 iPads, but a third device can be used to control everything without having to touch a screen on your wall. So, basically, the iPad is the engine, and mechanical parts take care of lights, motorized blinds, cameras, and other stuff. The Denver Post reports:
A model home in the Overlook neighborhood in Lone Tree’s Heritage Hills is equipped with two built- in iPads that can control all of the electronic systems in the home, including lights, motorized shades, music and television systems, baby monitors and closed-circuit cameras.
“The iPad has brought the entry-level price point down significantly, because an 8-inch in-wall touch screen before cost upwards of $3,000 or more,” Deatherage said. “Now we can get a $500 iPad and still provide most of the functionality that an in-wall touch panel can give.
I’m pretty sure Apple won’t release an iHome anytime soon, so if you’re willing to automate your living room using iPhones and iPads this might be your best chance yet. Go take a look on Solstice Multimedia’s website. [via Cult of Mac]
