iControl Unveils Home Monitoring Products The Wired Home Weblog

Yesterday we told you about X10's home monitoring products. It seems that X10 has has new competitor in iControl. iControl introduced their home monitoring products at Demo this week. From the iControl press release:For less than $500, iControl™ offers relief for adults with busy lifestyles by enabling them to monitor their children and family members and check in on their home and business while they are away. It provides remote [...] Read More


Building a Home Power Monitoring System The Wired Home Weblog

Okay, this is definitely not a project for everyone. Have you ever wondered about the exact electricity an appliance in your house uses? Well here's a tutorial that shows you how to build a home power monitoring system that monitors each circuit. For a project like this I think it's best to start out with the warnings: A couple of warnings however... DON'T try this at home unless you know what [...] Read More


Eaton Introduces Home Heartbeat Monitoring System The Wired Home Weblog

We've mentioned the X10 and iControl home monitoring systems. Now there's a new kid on the block. Eaton has introduced the Home heartbeat Monitoring System which should be on sale this summer. According to Eaton's Press Release: Home Heartbeat operates on a new wireless networking standard, IEE 802.15.4 (also referred to as Zigbee). This standard connects small, embedded sensors and transmitters that don't need much bandwidth, but do need long battery life, [...] Read More


Wallet Friendly Home Office Makeovers Home Based Business

Lim Yesterday I showed you before and after photos of my home office makeover. Today I'll tell you where I got my great new desk and organizational supplies. I used two great retailers, Levenger and The Container Store. My amazingly cool looking 3 story file organizer came from Levenger. It's made of solid cherry wood with leather drawer fronts. It's sturdy, beautiful, and holds an amazing about of stuff without [...] Read More


Grow Your Home Business: Find Complementary Products or Services Home Based Business

When you have a home business, your money and your time are entirely your own. You are not answerable to any boss, and all you need to do is find ways to get more money and keep your business alive. You also need to market your business to as many people as possible, all without breaking a sweat or spending too much on spreading the word about your business. Lastly, [...] Read More

What is X10? The Wired Home Weblog

X10 has become a basis for many home automation projects, but most people still don't know what X10 is. Tony Northrup, co-author of Home Hacking Projects for Geeks has a great article that explains X10. He says:X10 is a communications protocol, similar to network protocols such as TCP/IP. However, X10 works across home power lines and is extremely low-bandwidth. X10 devices send about one command per second, and the commands [...] Read More


Universal Remote Control Handpieces The Wired Home Weblog

Tired of playing around with five or six different remote controls? There is the cable TV remote, the DVD remote, the television remote and so on . . . Forget about all these remote controls and get yourself a "universal remote". There is the Universal Remote FX1 which is perhaps one of the simplest remote controls to use (pictured above). This unit can be trained to turn several units off and on [...] Read More


Remote Buddy finds your lost remote The Wired Home Weblog

If you have a bunch of remote controls, then chances are you've probably lost one...or all of them at one point or another. The Remote Buddy is a remote control holder designed to hold up to four of your remote controls, as well as a refreshing beverage. If you misplace one of your beloved controllers you can buzz it from the base station in order to find it. Of course, [...] Read More


Universal Sells MP3s and Rebels From Apple P2P File Sharing

Universal Music Group jumped past rival EMI and juggernaut Apple to sell digital music without DRM (Digital Rights Management) to consumers. The files will be in open MP3 format that can be used on most computers and MP3 players, including iPods. This contrasts with Apple's EMI DRM-less files, which are in an open AAC format that is generally not found outside of iPods. The MP3 files will contain a fingerprint [...] Read More


Universal Sells MP3s and Rebels From Apple Digital Music - The Future

Universal Music Group jumped past rival EMI and juggernaut Apple to sell digital music without DRM (Digital Rights Management) to consumers. The files will be in open MP3 format that can be used on most computers and MP3 players, including iPods. This contrasts with Apple's EMI DRM-less files, which are in an open AAC format that is generally not found outside of iPods. The MP3 files will contain a fingerprint [...] Read More

Despite the name of this blog being the "wired" weblog, there's certainly been a distinct trend over the past few years to head towards wireless systems, and televisions have been the one thing not complying with this; the uncompressed nature of HD content not lending itself to the reletively small bandwidth of wireless tech.

Until now, that is, GefenTV have launched a set of wireless streamers capable of sending 1080p content, uncompressed, up to 30 ft from source to source. Sounds sweet right? Unfortunately it comes at a price; a smidgen under $1000.

Perhaps one day we'll have the tech integrated into all Blu ray players, all televisions and the like for a truely connected home?

Sonos Digital Music System Now Shipping The Wired Home Weblog

Sonos is now shipping their new Digital Music Sysem with it's unique Linux based controller. The cool thing is that the system uses it's own proprietary mesh networking technology instead of WiFi and allows you to have ZonePlayers in up to 32 rooms. The system is a bit pricey at $1,199 for two ZonePlayers and one Controller. Additional ZonePlayers cost $499, and additional controllers sell for $399. Still, it's a [...] Read More


Sonos Digital Music System Review The Wired Home Weblog

Back in January, we introduced you to the Linux based Sonos Digital Music System. We haven't seen many reviews yet, but eCoustics has a short review up that will make you strongly consider plunking down $1,119 for the Sonos system. The review starts: Sonos miraculously simplifies whole-house audio. You don't need to be a computer expert, you don't need to be an electrician, you don't need to know someone who is [...] Read More


Sonos ZonePlayer ZP100 Review The Wired Home Weblog

We mentioned the stylish but pricey Sonos Zoneplayer the other day. PC Magazine already has a review up and they love it.The Sonos ZonePlayer ZP100 is the iPod of digital audio hubs: It's well-engineered, a joy to use, finished in milky-white, and driven by a scroll wheel. This is the first digital audio hub we can recommend without reservation.They say setup is simple, the Linux controller is excellent, and besides [...] Read More


Sonos Digital Music System Review The Gadgets Weblog

Sonos Digital Music System Review Wired Home Weblog tells us about a great review of the Sonos digital music system [...] Read More


Money Monday: Oversi and sonos P2P File Sharing

OVERSI CACHES $8 MILLION FOR P2P CONTENT Israel-based Oversi added $8 million in a second round of funding from Carmel Ventures, StageOne Ventures, TempoPark Fund, and Cisco. Oversi was founded in 2004 and develops P2P caching and content delivery technology for video on demand and TV distributors. SONOS SINGS FOR $6 MILLION FOR DIGITAL HOME STEREO Digital home stereo system manufacturer Sonos landed $6 million from BV Capital and other investors. Sonos develops [...] Read More

Pioneer Electronics Announces PRV-9200 Professional DVD Pecorder The Wired Home Weblog

Pionerr has just announced the PRV-9200, a DVD recorder with a 160GB hardrive:Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. announced today the availability of the PRV-9200 professional DVD recorder. Boasting a 160-gigabyte built-in hard disk drive (HDD) and 48X high-speed copying, the PRV-9200 offers speedy, simplified and convenient Creation of compliant DVD-Video discs without the need for a computer or authoring software. This professional DVD recorder is available for recording and playback in [...] Read More


Pioneer DVR-533H-S DVD Recorder/Hard Drive Combo Review The Wired Home Weblog

There's absolutely nothing cooler than having a DVD recorder with a built-in hard drive. Robert has a review of the Pioneer DVR-533H-S DVD Recorder over at HomeTheater.About.com that states: With its stylish profile, excellent complement of features - including the incorporation of an 80GB hard drive and DVD-R DL recording capability, very good video/audio quality in both recording and playback operation, and plentiful connectivity options, the 533 is great example of [...] Read More


Pioneer DVR-233 DVD Recorder Review The Wired Home Weblog

If you're still recording from your TV to a VCR, I'm here to gently nudge you into the wonderful world of DVD recorders. Just a few short years ago, a stand-alone DVD recorder would have cost you between $400 to $800, much higher than the typical consumer was willing to spend. Just like most technologies though, we've seen the pricesdrop dramatically into the $150 to $400 range.Today, we're talking about [...] Read More


Phillips Announces 3D Television in Development The Digital TV Weblog

Philips Debuts 3D television and predicts that they will be in homes in just a 'few' years. Based on a recent feature in the Herald Tribune, philips electronics NV gave debuted their research third-dimension television prototype, which doesn't require 3-D glasses, earlier this week. Early reports describe the 3D set as 'fuzzy around the edges' and resembling a holographic greeting card. But it seems that overall the results are striking [...] Read More


Idea of the Week: Professional Organizer Home Business (Part II) Home Based Business

Home Based Professional Organizer Income Expectations The more experience you have, the higher your fees. Usually, you can expect to charge between $30 and $50 an hour or go as high as $70 for organizing a home. For organizing an office, you can charge about $60 to $130, depending on the space and location. Since you're still a beginner, you can charge about $25 to about $35 per hour. You can [...] Read More