LG HomNet: Home automation gone mad?

Crave has spent the last few days in Korea with LG, and it's all very bizarre. We've just enjoyed a morning of being shot in the face with balls of smoke and racing virtual sharks by flapping our arms maniacally. We'll have more on those adventures later this week, once we figure out what it all means...

LG's not completely lost its marbles, though. The company's reps have also been letting us play with its funky HomNet system -- a home-automation package that lets you control your appliances via PC or mobile phone.

Sounds strange, but it makes good sense. Special software is installed on your computer, which you can use to control HomNet-compliant appliances including washing machines, microwaves, air conditioners, ovens and refrigerators. Want to switch the cooker off or adjust the heat without walking away from the PC? How about adjusting the room temperature or switching the microwave from defrost mode to cook mode? It's all possible via HomNet, and best of all it works in reverse, too.

If you're sat at your desk and have started sweating buckets because you think you've left the stove on, you can log into the HomNet system and switch everything off. Or better still, you can tell your set-top box to record Neighbours via your mobile phone, and even switch on your robotic vacuum cleaner because your date's suddenly invited himself back to your place.

There aren't any concrete plans to launch HomNet in the UK at the moment, but LG reckons it could reach the shores of Blighty eventually. We'll keep you posted on these systems as soon as there's any UK-specific movement, but in the meantime you can get more info from the LG Homnet Web site. -RR