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Topic: iPad

Run everything in your house from your iPad

Summary: Electronic House recently posted its Home of the Year Awards and the overall winner features a Savant home control system running from a wall-mounted iPad.

Jason D. O'Grady

By for The Apple Core |

Electronic House recently posted its Home of the Year Awards, and the overall winner features a Savant home control system -- based on the Apple platform -- and tons of other Apple-fueled A/V controls throughout the house, like this wall-mounted iPad (slide show).

I definitely need something like this in my house. I want to be able to touch my iPad and have all the lights dim, the blinds close as I say "we've been expecting you Mr. Bond..."

Savant's TruControl app ($9.99, App Store) acts as the central nervous system allowing users to control whole house audio, video, lighting, security, climate, communications and Internet from an iPad.

Before you write off home automation as gimmickry, think of the security implications alone. It's incredibly powerful to be able to view cameras installed at your home or business from a mobile device.

Topics: iPad, Mobility

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43 comments
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  • Message has been deleted.

    Tony in TLoTRS
    Reply Vote

    • Message has been deleted.

      pastorsam
      Reply Vote

      • Message has been deleted.

        Tony in TLoTRS
        Reply Vote

  • And I was wondering what to do with my first generation iPad

    Now that I have an iPad 2.

    I doubt that I would really use this but I do admit this software looks pretty cool.
    kenosha77a
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Run everything in your house from your iPad

    eeehhh... yeah. Except the people who've had the climate, lighting, A/V, security infrastructure to do this, [i]have[/i] been doing this for years... with Prontos or similar touchscreens.

    An iPad and the $9.99 app ain't gonna turn your living room into a millionaire's living room (unless you're willing to spend like a millionaire to get it there)

    What's odd is this is a no-brainer app for the iPad/2... was it just released? I would think this would be a day 1 release from Savant? did the climate, lighting, etc. components need that long to catch up to the app?
    UrNotPayingAttention
    Reply Vote

  • Old hat, really

    Two things haven't been mentioned. Firstly, all the hardware to transmit the signals around the home, plus the receivers, actuators, etc. This app is just a tiny part of the whole picture.

    Secondly, home automation with controls panels like this have been around for donkey's years. Twenty years, at least, although obviously on far less powerful hardware than the iPad. So this is nothing to get excited about.
    Thack
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Run everything in your house from your iPad

      @Thack Home automation has been around for ever, the company I work for has always focused on industrial controllers but had a line of home automation controls starting back in the mid '80s. Things have definitely come a long way in that time though.
      non-biased
      Reply Vote

    • RE: Run everything in your house from your iPad

      @Thack
      Its basically a $700 universal remote plus $9.99 for the app. then you link it to your ipad which is hackable and now a theif as full access to getting in and out of your home. Another great idea for the ipad lol
      Fletchguy
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Run everything in your house from your iPad

        @Fletchguy Wow... you ARE a tool, aren't you? How would the setup with an iPad be any more or less hackable than a similar setup with a Windows based laptop or an Android tablet? Answer is course it would not be. Another not so great post from felchguy...
        athynz
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Run everything in your house from your iPad

        @athynz

        Don't be such a sensitive fanboy. You read it as, "Apple sucks, Microsoft / Google rules!"

        I read it as: Don't hook up everything vital to your home security to one, hackable device.

        Want to argue about XBOX vs. Playstation for old time's sake?
        TryTheFish
        Reply Vote

  • RE: Run everything in your house from your iPad

    I use Indigo Touch on my iPad and iPhone to run my house via a server on my iMac. Works great, and I can put it on a schedule by flipping a setting.
    dbarto@...
    Reply Vote

    • Can you share more about your setup?

      @dbarto@... Sounds like you've got a cool setup. Any chance you could share more info about it, so others like me who are interested could better understand it?
      jscott69
      Reply Vote

  • Since I don't/won't have an ipad not an issue....

    Spiffy but it's been done better by other systems...
    Tholian_53
    Reply Vote

  • Funny how you posted this the day after

    Google announced they can do this by the end of the year with a completely wireless system (i.e. no expensive installs by big companies) and already released the SDK for controlling devices. And your apps won't require Apple approval to be able to get them in customer's hands. So yeah...
    tonymaro
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Run everything in your house from your iPad

      @tonymaro
      Google will eventually out duel Apple once again.
      Xander_Crews
      Reply Vote

    • RE: Run everything in your house from your iPad

      @tonymaro That is what I'm waiting on - I wonder if it will work with a converted NookColor?
      athynz
      Reply Vote

    • RE: Run everything in your house from your iPad

      Wow! The hackers must be frothing at the mouth!
      john_gillespie@...
      Reply Vote

  • Electrosmog - What Price Convenience?

    Please read this article first: http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Revised-ElectroSmog-Piece-West-View-July-07.pdf. You might reconsider. Would it be worth cancer or autism? I think not. Trouble is with all these "great" ideas, no safety testing. We see the results in the latest autism findings - 1 out of 30 something kids born that way. We are destroying the earth, the environment and our own families and health with our tech toys. Wake up!
    ConcernedinCA
    Reply Vote

  • Run everything in your house using X10

    I have been controlling lamps and utilities in my homes for over 20 years using X10. Far more convenient than by using a tablet. With a TV type remote I can control everything without going to a controller. Set it up so that when I am traveling certain items turn on and off with knowledge of when the sun is setting or rising and with some randomness.<br>I have a wifi XOOM so have no interest in the IFruit.
    digital_ed
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Run everything in your house from your iPad

      @digital_ed

      You are comparing a control protocol to a controller device?

      OK yes there is an X10 company.

      How can you suggest that a protocol and a range of controllers is more convenient than a particular controller?
      richardw66
      Reply Vote
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