What’s the most popular application on the iPhone you may ask? The trip to CEDIA Denver last week has the answer, and no, it’s not Weather Bug, or even the cool "Rotary Dialer." It’s Apple’s free Remote application that allows the use of the iPhone and touch interface to be used as a remote control for AppleTV and iTunes via WiFi.

Steve Sechrist
Senior Analyst and Editor

Now some savvy programmers at Savant (Osterville, MA; www.savantav.com) and others are going a step beyond using the iPhone (and the Apple iTouch) for everything from home control automation to surfing your TV with some cool and unique features. This builds on an already established feature that allows you to access images from your home security cameras remotely via the G3 network.

The technology is so compelling that Installer Gurus Mike Heiss and Rich Green highlighted it in their popular CEDIA pre-show meeting with attendees. In their Control and Automation review of hot things to see at CEDIA, the iPhone remote control was top of their list. Savant for example, has added a "stroking interface" to its ROSIE home automation system. According to Jim Carroll, President of Savant, the software offers the same graphic user interface found in the home controls, but now the user can "tap" on elements to bring them into the foreground and then "swipe" to control them. The iPhone app will soon be available for download from the Apple Apps store. And, all this can be done from a remote location via the WiFi network as the backbone (line of sight control is not necessary). This allows wireless control of devices anywhere in the house from practically any location in the house.

Full control over the Savant home systems is enabled with the mobile app, including home theater, climate controls, security systems, lighting, or anything on the system depending on the setup (more exotic control includes pool and spa are also available.)

"The Apple based ROSIE control system is simple and intuitive - even a guest can pick it up and use it with the iPhone gesturing capability going a long way to empower this," claimed Carroll.

The software is "gesture aware" taking advantage of all the hooks Apple provides for interfacing with the iPhone. "They are not limited to Apple products even though development was first done using Apple’s iPhone. It’s fully compatible with the Nokia N810 LIMO (Linux mobile) tablet, as well as the Samsung Q1 Ultra which runs Windows XP Tablet edition," explained Carroll.

When I asked Savant product manager Chris Perry about the genesis of his "ROSIE" software, he asked, "Remember The Jetsons?" Yes and say no more… the mid 60’s prime-time animated TV show featured "Rosie the Robot maid," cute–and effective.

The other cool application for home automation is the iPhone security camera viewer. Options range from a low cost (sub $100) camera (TrendNet TV IP100W for one) that delivers still images in time-lapse form, to full tilt, zoom and streaming media. These devices have been out since last year but are growing in popularity and the new 3G phone allows access to the home security cameras from anywhere you have a cell signal. For some cool YouTube videos showing security cameras via iPhone in action: Click Here and Click Here.

What’s got the boys at CEDIA so excited about using iPhone and other cell phone devices for remote access is the potential it opens up for all other home control. They are steering their high-end professional installers in this direction to catch the wave of next generation interface devices. Along with Apple and LIMO phones, they also identified the next generation Wii and other game device controllers, noting advanced functionality and the fact that the average age of Wii users is 35 years and the population of users over 50 years old is 25%. This is a target demographic that the CEDIA crowd can’t afford to ignore.