controls

Marc Fleury starts an open-source home automation project

It's good to see Marc Fleury go public with his new project, an open-source home automation project (not yet a company) called OpenRemote. We had talked about it back at Open Source Goat Rodeo 2008, but he seemed to be taking his time to actually release something.

The problem that I see with this idea? We already have an excellent Linux-based home automation company called Control4.

Control4 was started years ago by a pair of serial entrepreneurs, Will West and Eric Smith. That broadband in your hotel? They are almost certainly the ones who put it there (iBahn).

I used to be involved with Control4 during my time as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence with Thomas Weisel Venture Partners, an investor in Control4. The company was doing fantastically well back then (2003/2004), and I'm betting it has easily cleared $100 million in sales by now, and has signed up every major distributor and OEM (original equipment manufacturer) one can imagine.

This is a very, very well-run company. Is there room for an open-source competitor?… Read more

SanDisk: Windows Vista not optimized for solid-state drives

SanDisk said Monday that Windows Vista is not optimized for solid-state drives, delaying the delivery of optimized drives until next year.

Solid-state drives (SSDs) are used instead of hard disk drives in select high-end notebook PCs today such as the Apple MacBook Air and Toshiba Portege R500.

The next generation of SSDs will use multilevel cell (MLC) technology, which will require a more sophisticated controller--a crucial component in solid-state drives. These drives will have capacities ranging up to 128GB, 160GB, and later, 256GB. MLC drives are expected to appear in a wider selection of notebooks later this year.

Speaking during … Read more

Wood guitar controller aims for more authentic rocking

For those true-blue rockers who might frown on a (gasp!) plastic guitar controller, gaming peripheral maker Peak Products is out with the Starpex, which it says is the first-ever full-size wood guitar controller for the PS2/PS3.

The idea here is that a more authentic-feeling instrument can make you feel even more rock star-esque than you already do as you shred your way through the popular Guitar Hero and Rock Band titles. Peak Products says Starpex has an instrument-quality hardwood body, neck, and headstock handcrafted by a leading guitar manufacturer, which as of now, shall apparently remain unnamed.

A button … Read more

Rambus sues Nvidia for patent infringement

Rambus is suing Nvidia, accusing the company of violating 17 Rambus-held patents on memory controllers. The suit was filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

The Los Altos, Calif.-based company says that chipsets, graphics processers, and media communication processors across six different Nvidia product lines are illegally infringing. The patents held concern memory controllers for SDR, DDR, DDR2, DDR3, GDDR, and GDDR3 SDRAM.

Rambus is asking the court for an injunction (which would stop Nvidia from selling the products at issue), as well as monetary damages.

In a prepared statement, Rambus' head … Read more

Thoughts on Logitech Harmony One universal remote

I recently purchased a universal remote control to replace the three other remotes that littered our living room. Both the remotes for the Comcast cable box and Marantz AV receiver were theoretically universal, but none really functioned as such as they were too hard to set up and too hard to use. So my wife and I did the familiar remote juggle.

Hoping to fix this I selected the Logitech Harmony One for various reasons which I'll go into. (I should also note that Logitech is a client of Frog Design, where I work, but I'm writing this … Read more

Free iTunes remote control app for iPhone and Touch?

A report from the MacRumors blog shows supposedly leaked details of Apple's plans to allow the iPhone and iPod Touch to act as an in-home remote control for iTunes. As CNET's News.com reported this morning, the leaked remote control feature was discovered in a developer-only beta release of iTunes 7.7, evidenced in part by this unconfirmed screen shot.

If the rumors are accurate, the new iTunes remote control feature will be offered as a free application for iPhone and iPod Touch users once the iTunes App Store goes live. Presumably, a touch-screen remote control for iTunes … Read more

Spread the word about spreadable butter

I like my bread with butter. Call me a purist, but something about the processed quasi-butter spreads really freak me out. Even though it spreads straight out of the fridge, it usually tastes like it came out of a chemistry lab and not from a farm.

The problem with liking butter, however, is that including it in your brunch table spread requires some advance thinking. If you don't remember to take it out until your guests arrive, then you end up with a rock-hard block that folds over the edge of your knife when you try to spread it, … Read more

Gadgettes 94: The Solar Episode

Lindsey's going green, pigeons! Molly and Jason never knew she was such a hippie. But she'll have a chance to explain herself on this week's solar powered episode of Gadgettes. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 94

Microinverters track solar panels via the Web http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-9964732-54.html

The solar powered golf cart at Hammacher Schlemmer http://www.hammacher.com/publish/11164.asp

Floating solar farm juices up winery http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9954667-1.html

Profolio solar bag, take solar with you anywhere you need it! http://www.rewarestore.com/product/profolio.html

Artificial … Read more

Making air traffic control more efficient

ORLANDO, Fla.--If you've ever flown on a commercial airline, you've probably wondered how air traffic controllers do their jobs.

There's certainly lots to it, but increasingly, software from a company called Adacel is behind it all.

The company was originally Australian, but relocated here. It employs several dozen people to create software used by civilian aviation agencies like the FAA in the United States and its counterparts in other countries to do a better job managing the ever-growing amount of airplanes flying today.

I visited Adacel here Thursday as part of Road Trip 2008, my voyage … Read more