Alexandra Clough
Jeff Ostrowski
Linda Rawls
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Top 10 home technology trends
If you want a “smart house” that gives you bragging rights among your tech-savvy neighbors, you need more than porch lights that go off when the sun rises.
For a “genius house,” here are the top 10 home technology trends for 2007, according to Greg Hoshaw, owner of High Definition Systems in St. Charles, Ill. He presented them at the International Builders Show in Orlando earlier this month.
1. Home theater. One package at the show featured a media center, audio-video receiver, 200-disc DVD changer, 50-inch plasma television, six speakers and automated lighting control for $31,000.
2. Home health-care. As the population ages, there’s a growing demand for patient- monitoring systems, which allow you to check up on elderly family members even when you’re far away. Such devices monitor vital signs around the clock.
3. Media Center Edition (MCE) computers. An audio/visual computer manages your home’s various media sources, lets you listen to Internet radio and record TV shows with one press of a button. These cost at least $3,000.
4. Microdisplay-based TVs. High-definition TVs are in big demand, including LCD (liquid crystal displays), DLP (digital light processing), LCoS (liquid crystal on silicon) and LCD-based rear-projection TVs. Prices depend on size and features.
5. Lighting and automation. Systems can control lights and temperature throughout the house from any room or any place on the planet. You could, for example, have a house where the lights are dimmed and the curtains are drawn the moment you turn on your DVD player. One such deluxe system costs $54,000.
6. Security. You can protect your home while you’re away with a system that does more than turn on the same living-room light at 6 p.m. every evening. One system takes a “snapshot” of lighting use in your home during a two-week period, then reproduces that usage when you’re out of town.
7. Media servers. Homeowners are now loading all their media, such as music and movies, onto one server in a central location. HP MediaSmart Server can handle 10 accounts on your home network — when it’s for sale. It isn’t, yet.
8. The iPod Expansion. Many homes are adding docking systems that allow greater flexibility in using iPod’s media libraries. The Keyspan AV Dock connects an iPod (or a competing mp3 player) to a computer, stereo or television. Expect to pay around $65.
9. Smart sound. With just a keypad, you can control what music is playing in each zone of your home, independent of the rest of the house. Bose installed such whole-house systems in the two showcase homes built for the International Builders Show.
10. Gaming rooms. These are no longer your father’s pool table in the basement. Dedicated video-game spaces are becoming popular in homes, often set up around more traditional games — such as, yes, a pool table.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: Linda Rawls
Comments
By Carolina Gal
February 14, 2007 4:32 PM | Link to this
The “have nots” love to buy stuff like this… More reason to complain that they don’t have the funds to buy a home.
Heck ya’ll can move up here to the Carolinas and have a nice home and buy all this stuff too…
See you soon.
By Smart Buyer
February 14, 2007 7:26 PM | Link to this
I am a “have” and I bought all this for my home. I was able to buy all this since I bought a FSBO and did not pay a realtor’s commission. The money I saved by not paying a realtor was spent on things I wanted for my home.
Smart Buyer says you can be a smart buyer too and be a “have” in life by not paying realtors commissions.
“Have Nots” are dummies who pay realtors commissions.
By to smart buyer
February 14, 2007 7:41 PM | Link to this
i am not a realtor and i also realize that i am buying a house, i do not pay any commissions, the seller does. i also do not care if the seller is using a realtor or going fsbo. it is not my worry. i will make my deal no matter what commission the seller is paying or saving.
the house is worth what it is worth. the commish does not come into play if the buyer knows how to buy correctly.