Smart homes now fit your wallet

For Rs 1.8 lakh, it will call the fire brigade, even draw your bath.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates' earth-sheltered mansion, informally known as Xanadu 2.0, plays his favourite song on arrival, adjusts the lighting depending on his mood and even readies the bath to suit his choice.

Now, Mumbai-based electronics and Internet products company Pearson Technologies wants to put similar homes within the reach of Indians.

Christened the GenX Home, the company's home automation system enables controlling and monitoring of all electronic and electrical equipment from anywhere in the world.

"GenX Home takes care of the users' needs, right from the minute he wakes up. While an alarm wakes him up to the music of his choice, it will gradually part the curtain to let in the right amount of light and will even ready his bath," said Pearson Director Raj Maniyar.

The system can handle toasters, washing machines, microwave ovens, dishwashers and also open and close doors, blinds and curtains. The sprinklers will water the garden every day at a set time.

The system has a four-hour power back-up and is equipped with a security system comprising a string of surveillance cameras and sensors to keep intruders at bay.

The GenX Home can also send an automatic alarm to a mobile phone and a pop-up message to the owner's laptop or PC, irrespective of where he is.

Apart from intrusion detection, it also detects gas leaks, raises a fire alarm, calls the fire brigade or the police through a recorded voice system and alerts the owner via SMS and the Internet.

Maniyar says it also doubles up as a home entertainment system. This comes with a digital audio-video library and can store mp3 files, DVDs and VCDs.

Through LCD wall panels, a family can watch the same movie or different movies in their separate rooms, at the same time or at different times. The same LCD panel will also take care of live TV channels, DVDs/VCDs, home automation and surfing the Internet with the help of a wireless keyboard and mouse.

The GenX Home has a gateway connected to a digital content unit that controls all the facilities. The system is equipped with a wall panel with soft keys that are connected to wireless access points or ethernet switches. The whole system is connected to the Internet, enabling the owner to access it from anywhere in the world.

"The system is also virus-proof and non-hackable," claims Maniyar.

Priced at around Rs 1.80 lakh at the lower end (without Internet connectivity), the cost can go up to around Rs 15 lakh for the premium version. The company is building the product at its Jammu factory with technology provided by a Taiwanese company, Hanstec International.

Incidentally, South Korean majors like LG and Samsung had earlier launched the smart house concept worldwide, but it did not catch on. Linksys, a division of networking major Cisco, also has a presence in the Indian smart home segment.

It has a wireless router costing around Rs 3,000-5,000 that can be connected to Internet broadband and can be networked with various systems like computers, televisions, phones, music systems and laptops.