Via greentechmedia this week comes news of an smart meter/smart thermostat initiative by Oklahoma Gas & Electric that has exceeded all expectations in terms of energy and money savings. The demand-response initiative, which signed up 40,000 customers in its first year, taps customers into the smart grid by way of a smart meter and a programmable thermostat, more »

Via EarthTechling comes news that Comcast has added a new service to its Xfinity home automation service, designed to intelligently adjust your thermostat settings for increased energy efficiency. On paper, the new EcoSaver service sounds pretty much exactly like ecobee’s “Home IQ,” in that it analyzes the performance characteristics of your Xfinity Thermostat to get a more »

SurgeX is kicking off InfoComm 2013 with the introduction of a new 1U (that’s one rack unit) surge eliminator/power conditioner/power sequencer dubbed, appropriately enough, the SEQ-1U. Following on the success of the company’s simply named SEQ, the SEQ-1U delivers all of the same zero-let-through surge elimination in a slimmer package, with protection for up to 6,000 more »

We talk a lot about smart home technology here at HomeTechTell. And while there’s no doubt that the modern smart home is in fact a gigantic technological leap forward from what we’ve known in the past, it has yet to really reach the same level of smartness as the more prevalent mobile smart devices. That’s more »

When we first brought you news of the new Android-based Turn it On (TiO) home automation system last month, details were a little vague. Especially this bit: According to the company, TiO also benefits from an “outside in” design philosophy, with the goal of “adapt[ing] to the customer instead of asking the customer to adapt more »

We’ve all seen the highly entertaining “house of the future” short films put out by companies and futurists alike. Some of their retro-future predictions, like fax machines, projectors and such in the home have absolutely come true, while others, like the kitchen that makes you dinner itself, are still in the future.  But PaleoFuture has an more »

There’s no question that Microsoft’s Kinect has inspired a whole new level of innovation when it comes to 3D interaction with and control of electronics. From new “eyes” for robots to omnidirectional virtual reality treadmills to alternative remote control systems for smart TVs, Kinect or Kinect-like systems are being used in all sorts of innovative new ways. Of course, more »

Savant Systems has just announced that its Apple-based control and automation system now features native support for Philips Hue LED lighting.  With no third party software required, setup and integration should be a cinch, and with the Hue system integrated into a fully automated home control solution, the possibilities for dynamic, intuitive mood-enhancing lighting scenes more »

WyreStorm has introduced a new HDBaseT matrix. Normally, this wouldn’t get too many people excited (myself included), but this time the product delivers a little more than you’d expect.  Built on a modular, built-to-order 8- or 16-slot chassis, the MX-PP-POH Pro Plus Matrix is able to be configured in a variety of ways, based upon the more »

Channel Vision has just announced the new model 6564 IP Dome Camera, an improvement on the company’s award-winning 6521. The new 6564 IP Dome Camera features 1080p recording with H.264 encoding — allowing not only the higher resolution, but also lower bandwidth usage for networking and internet streaming, and less storage space required for recordings — more »

The folks at Treehugger have the details on yet another neat new project for you Raspberry Pi tinkerers and DIY home automation aficionados in the audience. Thanks to a new open-source software platform dubbed RaspLogic, programming advanced home automation routines controlled by the dirt-cheap  mini-computer is easier than every before. And since the software is written more »

D-Link has just expanded its range of wireless mydlink cameras. The four new models promise simple installation and integration into your existing network through the mydlink portal, enabling you to stream video from your PC or mobile device.  The line also offers remote capabilities through the mydlink+ and mydlink Lite apps.  These apps now offer more »