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Savant stuffs iPod touch into multifunctional Touch Remote, includes VoIP and FaceTime promises
That's no render we're looking at, Savant assures us, it's the most recent photograph of the company's Touch Remote prototype. This crazy do-it-all peripheral comes with an embedded fourth-gen iPod touch -- no word on whether you'll be able to remove it, though it looks unlikely -- and mirrors the abilities of Savant's iPad home control and automation app. That means that once you get your lights, climate control, network cameras, and home cinema hooked up to Savant's control hub, you'll have yourself a neatly streamlined remote to save you doing anything yourself again. Or so goes the theory, anyhow. Savant augments the offering with promises of VoIP and FaceTime integration by the time the Touch Remote ships to retailers in the first quarter of next year. MSRP is set at $399, which may or may not be feasible given that the iPod touch by itself costs at least $229. We shall see. For now, you can see the prototype device on video after the break.
Savant's new Rosie Virtual Control uses your home for the interface, your car to impress girls
Home automation fans, head's up: Savant is cooking up a new Rosie control interface that replaces traditional menus and icons with actual 360 degree photos of your location. Users turn on a light, f'rinstance, by touching the light that they want to activate, and control the dimmer switch by swiping up or down. The heart of the system is a rather familiar-looking 9-inch capacitive touchscreen device that displays the current location on the majority of the screen, with the other rooms scrolling across the bottom. Currently being pimped by the company at its Dealer Conference in Hyannis, there is no word on release date or cost, but we're guessing it's gonna be rather pricey -- the service includes a visit by the company's Professional Services Division, who photograph your home for you. Just make sure you straighten up a bit before they arrive. See the thing in the action after the break.
Hands-on with Savant's $35000 ROSIE Coffee Table
Savant's ROSIE Coffee Table seemed like it would be a mighty fine addition to any geek's den, and after seeing one in person, our hunch has been substantiated. The table was on display and constantly surrounded by onlookers today at CEDIA, but we managed to squeeze through the crowd and snag a few pics of the device in action. We'll be the first to say that the resolution on the screen could certainly be improved, and the touch response seemed quirky as well, but the table in Denver will reportedly be tweaked a bit more before being loosed on the public. Speaking of which, we were able to step aside with a Savant employee in order to learn a bit more about this forthcoming unit, so here's the skinny...Apparently, nailing down a spill-proof top is the final (major) hurdle standing in the way of a release, and the company hopes to have this bad boy ready for shipment by October / November. Moreover, the system within will indeed be based around OS X, play nice with other ROSIE equipment, and will purportedly tout an Intel processor, 500GB of internal storage, 2GB - 4GB of RAM, and no user-accessible optical drive. Lastly, we were informed that the ROSIE Coffee Table will ring up at a staggering $35,000 MSRP, so it's fairly safe to say that only the affluent will be seriously considering this one for their own domicile.%Gallery-7136%
Rosie home control modular system integrates it all
Though Savant Systems' "Rosie" home control system is in pre-beta right now, its aims for the home automation and media server markets are still quite lofty, and the team seems to have the chops to back it up. The modular system is centered around the Rosie Server, which features dual Xeon 5100 procs, 32GB of DDR RAM and 2.25TB of RAID 5 storage. It's all controlled from an interesting touchwheel remote (that weird bowl-ish thing in the picture above) and various touchpanels, and can pipe high quality audio, 1080p video, and home automation commands throughout your home. Setup is purportedly 1/100th of the time of competing solutions, thanks to some fancy modular design. Savant is planning several packages for its system, including the Rosie Control, which includes a full complement of home control serial, GPIO and IR ports; the Rosie Video Switch, which packages the Rosie Control with an 8 x 8 HDMI switch; the Rosie Audio, which features iTunes-based media management and all sorts of high-end audio specs and outputs; and the Rosie Combo which throws it all together in one, and we're sure will cost your life savings. No word on when this is due or what it'll cost, but we'll be keeping an eye out for sure.
