12.01.2006 — It took many years to happen, but the days of Web-enabled home control systems are upon us, and there are a slew of new interfaces to exploit the phenomenon.

The Holy Grail of true plug-and-play, however, remains elusive. By and large, manufacturers of "open" systems still must tweak and/or test their products for the various new out-of-the-box interfaces.

The Ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC) appears to be a promising interface. Based on the Windows Tablet Edition 2005 operating system, UMPCs generally have 7-inch touchscreens, 30-60-GB hard drives, 256 MB of RAM and up, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, and price tags of $600–$1,200.

Getting mixed reviews in the press, the UMPC lacks a keyboard and has an unusual size -- too small for most traditional PC applications, and too big to go everywhere.

But these little dynamos make perfect sense as home automation interfaces. "For that application I like it a lot," says Gordon Van Zuiden of Cybermanor, an integration firm based in Los Gatos, Calif. "We've been looking for a nice $1,000 touchscreen."

Cybermanor is trying out a Samsung Q1 for use with the Lifeware automation system from Exceptional Innovation, which just announced support for the UMPC.

"It's a good, clear, sharp 7-inch active screen, great for viewing cameras and controlling lights and audio," says Van Zuiden.

Exceptional Innovation vice president of marketing Mike Seamons says the UMPC "is becoming a favorite portal for our dealers and for me personally. I have owned four prior 'open' Windows-based touchscreens to run my home, but these were all based on Windows CE, which has a very limited OS and is slow. UMPC runs Lifeware perfectly, can be touched by your finger (vs. a stylus), and is great for checking email and my favorite Web sites while watching TV."

Seamons points out that, since the UMPC is based on Windows XP Tablet, it can do pretty much anything a laptop PC can do.

HomeLogic is another home control manufacturer that has embraced UMPC. Running HomeLogic's OneHome automation software, the UMPC can do anything that HomeLogic's own touchscreens can do -- and more, of course, because it's a full-blown PC.

HomeLogic's Joe Lautner says the UMPC makes a nice automation interface, but laments, "I wish it had a docking station."

HomeLogic also has demonstrated OneHome on a Motorola Q phone, which runs Windows Mobile. Using HomeLogic's programming tools, dealers can create special graphical user interfaces optimized for the small screen and for mobile applications.

"Everyone's getting these phones. It's nice to be able to use them to control day-to-day things," says Lautner.

Another off-the-shelf interface demonstrated by HomeLogic is the SqueezeBox digital media player from Slim Devices, which can stream music to remote locations for a very low cost -- $249 retail.

Similarly, Lagotek just announced that its Z-Wave-enabled Home Intelligence Platform (HIP) supports the SqueezeBox. The HIP system was already compatible with a similar networked music player, the SoundBridge from Roku.

"It's a very inexpensive way to do distributed audio," says Lagotek's Monte Spencer.

Two other devices are emerging as potential home controllers -- Sony's PSP and the new Pepper Pad 3 from Hanbit Electronics.

For its part, Russound is working to make these and other browser-enabled devices compatible with its SMS3 music server.

For the task, Russound has created Small Device Skins, which runs on virtually any browser, even those with the most limited capabilities.

Russound technology guru Michael Stein says the interface is "designed to reconfigure the way it displays, depending on the capabilities of the browser. It adjusts the way it refreshes, the size of the graphics, etc."

The Sony PSP, for example, does not possess nearly the browsing capabilities as a computer or even PDA for that matter, but the skins run fine on the portable player. From the small screen, users can browse playlists, view album art, and do just about anything else they could do with a traditional user interface. Normally, says Stein, "you need a certain kind of browser" to perform such feats.

Russound has also demonstrated and SMS3 interface running on the new Pepper Pad 3. The little handheld computer has built-in Wi-Fi, UPnP, Bluetooth and IR. It even learns IR commands so it can be used as the ultimate universal remote -- a great companion for the SMS.

The Linux-based Pepper Pad features a full QWERTY keyboard, stereo speakers, 20-GB hard drive, camera, mic, and an 800x480 WVGA touchscreen.