01.21.2008 — Is there anything hotter than Apple and Steve Jobs right now? Everything he touches turns to gold.

Perhaps Savant Systems LLC executives are hoping that success rubs off, as the company has announced it has taken another step to link its home control system more closely with Apple’s software development community by welcoming those developers into its Excellence in AV program.

The developers will be able to take advantage of Savant’s home automation and control platform based on Mac OS X Leopard and its home control package utilizing the Rosie controller and a proprietary configuration tool called RacePoint Blueprint.

“For the first time, developers have a control and media platform that enables them to sell their Apple-based applications into the CEDIA marketplace via the Savant product suite,” says Savant president Jim Carroll.

Participation in the Excellence in AV program will allow third-party Apple developers to operate seamlessly in Savant’s system environment.

Savant, based in Osterville, Mass., made waves at the CEDIA Expo with its surface-touch Rosie Coffee Table, its Rosie controller and Blueprint, which allows integrators to program whole-house control much quicker than with other systems.

The company believes that its combination of configuration software (found within RacePoint Blueprint), called Quartz Composer and Automator, will provide Apple developers with an entry point into the custom-installation market.

Developers will have the capability to control and interact with such devices as flat-panel displays, DVD players, AV receivers, set-top boxes, Apple TV projectors, lighting, window treatments, and other equipment commonly deployed in multiroom residential settings as well as business installations and theatrical productions—without writing a single line of code.

Rosie delivers intuitive and graphically-rich control and has interactive multimedia capabilities such as integration and interaction with many Apple-based applications including iTunes multimedia content and AirTunes.

“Developers can now have their applications invoked with the simple push of a button from any of our OS X-based interface technologies that include 5, 7, 9, and 12-inch in-wall touchpanels and a 13.3-inch wireless touchpanel along with Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch,” says Carroll.

“Savant’s touchpanel application takes advantage of the unique user interface of Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch. The developer’s application can be accessed via Savant’s rich GUI. The entire Savant user interface can be accessed on the iPhone and iPod touch with one hand.”

Will the industry look back on this announcement as the creation of Savant own authorized independent programmers plan?

Who knows … does SAIP have a ring to it?