http://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/ Engadget HD Comments for http://hd.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://hd.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/
Can you do anything with it out of the box without buying anything else? Or must you buy the different light switch panels, the USB adaptor, etc. before you can even use it?

I'm lazy, but for $1000+, I can get up and turn off my lights or adjust my already programmable thermostat.]]>Oct 24th 2008 12:22PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/Oct 24th 2008 12:51PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/
Unless you have one in every room, it would take more effort walking to the panel to do things that are in the same (other) rooms.... or am I missing the point?]]>Oct 24th 2008 12:56PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/Oct 24th 2008 1:26PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/
Whether your home or not you can lock doors, close the garage, water the plants, or even feed the dog.

Pretty nifty for a long term project that you can complete yourself.]]>Oct 24th 2008 1:30PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/
Here is a snip from their website: www.embededautomation.com

mControl is software for your Digital Home. mControl allows you to control all aspects of your home from your Media Center PC, locally or remotely via Internet Explorer browser or from your Windows Mobile device. Download mControl now.

mPanel is a portal to your Digital Home. mPanel is a wall-mountable touch screen that allows you to play digital music within the room and, by connecting to mControl, manage the home’s lighting and climate settings, adjust security and surveillance systems and control other digital devices within the home.


One could purchase only the software and necessary smart switches for a
Media Center PC or Internet Explorer or a Mobile device to control all of the functions that this panel can do. I like the ability to integrate camera surveillance, HVAC, security, event triggers and home theatre automation in to one application. The sendmail option also should come in handy sending emails for events I find important. ]]>Oct 24th 2008 1:42PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/
Unless I missed it, it doesn't clearly state you have to buy other pieces in order to use it. I clearly asked if you could do anything with it out of the box without needing to buy something else, but I guess that was pretty hard to figure out.

Of course if I want to control the lights, I need a different wall plate. That's not what I'm asking though, but I guess that was pretty hard to figure out.]]>Oct 24th 2008 2:22PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/"Out of the box you really can't do much with the software though, but combined with various devices around the house, you can connect everything together."
Did you even read the article or you were just looking at the pictures???]]>Oct 24th 2008 3:18PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/
If you want to control a whole house, that is where a full automation system comes in. At night I press a button in the master suite that says "good night", all of the lights in the house, except bedrooms, shut off, all electronics are shut off, security system is armed, it checks to make sure the garage doors are closed, and lowers the thermostats. Now that you can't do with a remote!

Unless you just enjoy playing with the stuff, most of the true usefulness is when you go beyond one room and have a larger home. If your house has one thermostat, just get a programmable one, if it has two furnaces and five thermostats, you may want more control and hence a control system.


]]>Oct 24th 2008 2:24PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/
Does this make sense to anyone?]]>Oct 24th 2008 2:30PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/Oct 24th 2008 2:40PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/Oct 24th 2008 2:56PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/
1. When the bottom step was reached a sensor kicked off a timer that was activated for 10 seconds.
2. The power curtains in the media room started to close.
3. The main room lights were dimmed for about 30 seconds and then turned off completely.
4. The auxilary lights near the floor kicked on and stayed on
5. The projector, stereo and dvd player all started up

They also used sensors to do things like if a sensor was tripped between 10PM and 6AM turn the lights to 80% in the tripped hallway. Automatically, turn off the lights after 10 minutes.

Again, these are just some basic examples of home automation. Some are absolutely frivolous while others (like the lights in the hallway) are geared around practicality. BJ Sisco is also correct - we have 3 floors that all get used. Having a nice interface that would allow us to turn off lights in all locations without traipsing up and down the stairs would be really nice.

Finally, as cool as our system can be it is crazy difficult to implement. We currently don't have any of the home automation stuff working. When we bought the house we contacted the company that installed it. The cost to get some basic functionality programmed was going to cost $1000+. As cool as all that stuff sounds it just didn't make sense at the time to pour money like that into our system. ]]>Oct 24th 2008 3:47PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/
"can't do much" != "can't do anything"

"combined with various devices" != "you have to buy other things for it to do something"

I guess I should assume that anything you connect to this has to be bought, but I am not familiar with home automation devices so I do not know that is the case. If that is indeed the case, then excuse my ignorance on the subject and for not interpreting Ben's words to mean you have to buy this $1000 box and then spend a couple hundred more before you can even get any use out of it.
]]>Oct 24th 2008 4:04PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/
All jokes aside, I'm still in college, so a home of my own is a long way away, but this will be one of the first things I would want to do in my own home, home automation has so much promise. It has got this rep for "Lazy" people, when in reality, it can be used as a lazy mans system, but it can also be used for very un lazy things, the internet connected home idea has so much potential in the future, the price though is so out of reach for the average consumer, this is showing that that tide has begun to turn.]]>Oct 24th 2008 4:59PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/Oct 24th 2008 8:22PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/Oct 25th 2008 1:01AMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/Oct 25th 2008 3:01AMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/10/24/embedded-automations-mpanel-review/http://www.bitwisecontrols.com/bc4 ). The guys at Embedded Automation seem responsive to their customers, which leads me to believe that the mPanel software will continue to be revised and upgraded. I think the on-board amplifier is a very cool touch, especially in this price range. Also remember, that while the mPanel is a point of control, the mControl automation software allows complex automation tasks to be accomplished via various triggers. This is not just a touchscreen that turns your lights on and off.]]>Oct 28th 2008 2:23PM