Run everything in your house from your iPad

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.