Re: NEW HA PROJECT

[Kevin Hawkins <yahoogroupskh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Can I also suggest you take a look at HouseBot for touch screens ..
It was bought by Meedio but they in turn sold out to Yahoo and returned
Housebot to the original developer where it is now again being actively
enhanced and supported.
http://www.housebot.com   has a 30 day
evaluation version

It is a complete HA application - a little bit different to the others
in the way it works,  but the really great feature is that it has a
complete touchscreen design interface tightly integrated within the HA
application.  There are some screenshots on the website.  Most other
applications are either touchscreen or control applications or pairings
between the two.  With HouseBot you can create touchscreens that run on
multiple Windows PC's and also WinCE  and PPC handheld devices - so you
have truly portable remotes too. Each screen can be individual to the
client device and they are really fast too.  I have some information on
a remote screen that updated seven different icons - 4 times each per
second and it coped ! (it was a flashing 7 segment display).  HouseBot
really is a great visual front end, it hasn't quite got some of the
glitzy effects of the Flash based MainLobby or even XLobby but these are
way more expensive (BTW XLobby is no longer purchasable) and they don't
incorporate a HA engine either. This is similar to the screen
capabilities that you get with a Crestron or AMX system and the remotes
work realtime over the internet too.  HouseBot is also very nicely
priced at sub £40.

If you have SONOS you can integrate it with HouseBot too - here is an
example remote touchscreen
http://www.ukusa.demon.co.uk/HouseBotSonos.jpg

<xAPtism>
Oh.... you guessed this was coming didn't you.... "pre-announce" 
there
is a brand new xAP plugin for HouseBot :-) written by Edward.  It is in
beta currently, contact me anyone who wants a copy.    For those
UKHA/xAP members I am also hoping for a special price for HouseBot
including the xAP plugin,  which will be included by Cebotics  in the
next HouseBot release once our beta becomes release.   The plugin
supports xAP BSC so should you have a xAP gateway ;-) then C-Bus or
HomeVision can be directly integrated into Housebot too now.
</xAPtism>

K

PS Usual disclaimer - I have no commerical interest in HouseBot - just a
happy user - and Edward wrote a xAP plugin for it :-)


Dave McLaughlin wrote:
>
> Hi Paul,
>
> Xlobby is no longer free unless you know someone with an old copy of
the
> original free version.
>
> I am just going to download and try out Mainlobby. It looks rather
> nice and
> has more of features I need for my touch screen control system.
>
> Dave...
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx <mailto:ukha_d%40yahoogroups.com>
> [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx <mailto:ukha_d%40yahoogroups.com>]
On
> Behalf Of
> Paul Gale
> Sent: 17 January 2008 16:05
> To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx <mailto:ukha_d%40yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: RE: [ukha_d] NEW HA PROJECT
>
> I just re-read your post and realised that you probably didn't want
> the full
> HA rant! And were just after the touchscreen bit???
>
> So the section on MainLobby is probably most relevant. In addition,
there
> are other software solutions available to put content onto whatever
> touchscreen you go for. The main ones I can think of are MainLobby,
XLobby
> (a free, open source version of Main Lobby) and Charmed Quark. All of
> these
> will allow you to develop a set of screens and interface to many HA
> systems
> and data you may have around the system - some more flexibly and
> competently
> than others. Warning - it will take you quite some time to do though,
> depending on how polished and good-looking a system you want.
>
> Paul.
>
>
>