Word: cisco
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...California, I get a firsthand look at what the future might hold. Here, at Cisco's sprawling headquarters, is a demo home that practically defines the cutting edge of wired-home technology. Built into a corner of a large office block, it's a 160-sq-m monument to every techie's fantasy. The place is bristling with gadgetry. Apart from the usual household appliances and entertainment systems, there are webcams, motion sensors, and electronic photoframes - thin lcds where you can show off several photos at the same time from that Hawaiian holiday or switch pictures depending...
...into perspective by offering me an example of how it will simplify our lives. Imagine, they say, that it's Saturday afternoon and you're feeling hungry. So you pull out that webpad and go to Whirlpool's website (the company providing all the appliances in Cisco's demo kitchen) and look for a list of recipes. Click on the one you like, and you get a rundown of the ingredients required. As you have a "smart" fridge that includes a bar-code reader and can therefore tell what's in the cartons inside, you can check - still online, without...
...fair, there are plenty of useful things I could do with the technology that fills the Cisco home. On a hot summer's day, I could phone my air-conditioning system and tell it to switch itself on half an hour before I arrive. I could have carpenters fix a kitchen shelf and monitor their progress from my office, using a webcam. And I'd love to have a webpad that allows me to access the Internet wirelessly from anywhere in the house, including the john...
...that I ask Karuna Uppal, a program manager at the Yankee Group in Boston, a consulting firm that has polled Americans to gauge the extent of their desire for connected homes. Surveys show that only 20% would go the distance, buying the kind of house I saw at Cisco. Most, Uppal says, just want technology that allows them to network two or more computers at home and simultaneously access the Net from all of them. "We're seeing more and more two- and three-computer homes, where people don't really want separate phone or cable lines, modems and complicated...
There's another version of smart living up and running in rural Hertfordshire, just outside London. When I visit, specialist construction company Laing Homes is showing off a beautiful five-bedroom home that in part replicates the Cisco template. The house comes with built-in Cat 5 network cabling; each room has a socket that can accommodate a phone, computer, audio speakers and webcam. You can access the Net or listen to your stereo from anywhere in the house. Sarah Bailey, Laing's sales and marketing director, says the wiring ensures the house "can be upgraded to any level...