Nokia Enters Home Automation Market
Nokia has demonstrated a system that could eventually control heating, home security cameras and draw curtains.
The Nokia Home Control Center is a wireless router that can interface with equipment around the home, also known as home automation.
Nokia has partnered with European energy company RWE to manage heating systems and is hoping other firms will sign up soon.
The new gadget by the Finnish firm was showed off at Nokia World in Barcelona and is expected to be on shelves towards the end of 2009.
The Nokia Home Control Center is based on an open Linux platform and includes a raft of wireless technologies which allow users to connect remotely via a PC or smartphone.
Third parties will integrate their own services as Nokia vies for a slice of the "networked home" market.
It will have a 6GB storage capacity, necessary if it is to act as a storage device for video from security cameras.Â
The system will be able to recognize when weather conditions change, giving it the ability to recognize cold weather when the home owner is gone and properly set the heat setting to avoid freezing pipes on their return.
"We believe that the mobile device is the ideal interface to control home intelligence, especially when the user is not at home," said Teppo Paavola, vice president of business development at Nokia.
"The rate at which gadgets, features and services are being incorporated into the mobile phone is astonishing," said mobile phone expert Thomas Newton from independent comparison mobilephones.co.uk.
"Two or three years ago it would have seemed a bit Star Trek to imagine people playing with their heating on their mobile phone – now it’s not only plausible, it’s actually in the process of being developed."
Home automation devices are not a new idea. However there is little success in creating a single device that can operate a wide range of electronic systems.
Experts predict that devices such as freezers, ovens and even kettles will soon be able to speak directly to a mobile data network.
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