Worth Reading?
Hugh Ortega, who I suspect might one day be forced, at gunpoint, to marry a UMPC after getting too familiar with it, points our lazy eyes to a piece of software called Autonomic Home. Designed to take your touchscreen UMPC and temporarily repurpose it as a huge remote for your smarthome, it interfaces with Windows Media Centre to give full access to all those mp3s you legally downloaded.
Hugh wonders out-loud why high-end equipment from companies like Crestron and AMX is so favoured when it comes to professional installations: surely the expansion possibilities make something like this UMPC solution a better option?
Well, while I only have a little knowledge of home automation, what I’ve gathered is that installers and end-users generally prefer dedicated interfaces, because unlike a PC (in UMPC-form or otherwise) they’re more stable and specifically designed for the job. Of course, it’s also good business to lock a customer into a high-end, relatively closed product, because you know they’ll be coming back for upgrades and future tweaks rather than trying to do them themselves. Still, for those not made of money, Autonomic Home looks like an interesting way to interact with your media collection.
UMPC for Home Automation [Uber Tablet]
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