Home & Office

Control4 Introduces $499 Home Automation Controller

Home automation has been the wave of the future for what seems like forever, but it's been more of a gentle wave than something tsunami-strength. But the ability to control lighting, security, and other home systems from a centralized unit is slowly making inroads, and that trend will continue with affordable products like Control4's $499 HC-200 controller, which was announced last week at the 2008 CEDIA Expo and will be available this November.

Written by Sean Portnoy, Contributor Sept. 10, 2008 at 12:13 a.m. PT

The HC-200 can serve as the hub of your home automation system, controlling your other devices through a number of different protocols, including the ZigBee wireless spec. While it can handle unsexy tasks like climate control through its on-screen interface, the HC-200 can also manage your home theater setup, including multi-room audio. The unit includes the SR-150 remote control (which Control4 also sells separately), which can function as a universal remote at a price close to that of some hyper-complex universal remotes sold by themselves. The HC-200 also comes with a USB port, which can accept Wi-Fi adapters and turn the device into a wireless access point.

While the HC-200, and the benefits of home automation, are pretty compelling, a lot of us still don't have it on our to-do list for our houses. (I'm as guilty as anyone.) What do you think it will take for home automation to really take off as a mainstream phenomenon?

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Control4 Introduces $499 Home Automation Controller

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