It's 2001, and we're still waiting for time-travel machines and flying cars to appear at some trade show.
While it seems unlikely either of those ultra gee-whiz items will emerge this year, we can take some solace that we're one step closer to the remote-control home.
Gee-whizziness aside, there are two main issues with remote-home- control via the Web: integration and cost.
On the integration side, there are no shortage of issues related to wiring, operating systems and the compatibility of individual products with the overall system protocol. On the cost side, home automation and remote control can be pretty expensive. Some of the individual products we've featured can cost up to $1,000 apiece.
That's why we're kind of intrigued by a new system being introduced by a New York company by the name Xanboo Inc.
The company recently unveiled an affordable, do-it-yourself "home management system" at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The Xanboo system, which starts for less than $200, seems like the kind of simple, off-the-shelf solution that may catch on.
The Xanboo system will allow users to monitor and remotely control their home via the Internet. It also allows the homeowner to be automatically notified when sensors are tripped by motion, sound, water, temperature, power interruption or a window or door being opened.
The array of options is pretty limitless: You could install a water sensor in your basement that would detect moisture from leaky or broken pipes and send you an alert. Through your Web connection, you would be able to turn off the water with a Xanboo-enabled water valve.
The starter kit is expected to cost about $180 and will be sold beginning this month through consumer electronics retailers, Xanboo's co-president Jim Diamond says.
* Above passages excerpted from an article appearing in The Chicago Tribune on 1/19/01
