Make Your Life Easier and More Fun with WM Devices

With robotic vacuum cleaners and mowers making a lot of news these days, I thought it would be exciting to explore some of the home automation solutions powered by the Windows Mobile operating system. That's right! Pocket PCs and Smartphones aren't the only devices using the Windows Mobile operating system. A variety of devices are available to make your life easier, more interesting, and fun.

The Windows Powered chef—beyond home appliances

When you wake up, the home of the future should acknowledge you. With the Beyond Connected Home product line, your kitchen will greet you with a cup of coffee and much more. Beyond (a division of Salton, Inc.) makes the iCEBOX Entertainment Center, an Internet appliance tailored specifically for the kitchen of the future. Available in countertop (Fig. 1) and flip screen (Fig. 2) models for $1,299 and $1,999 respectively, the iCEBOX offers a TV, DVD player, radio, and Internet access all in one. The iCEBOX runs Windows CE.NET as the interface, a version of the same operating system that powers the Pocket PC. The iCEBOX has a touch screen instead of a mouse and includes a water resistant keyboard (Fig. 3) to make using it in the kitchen easy and safe. Because it runs Windows CE, Beyond is also able to add a "Remote Desktop" feature, enabling you to connect to any PCs on your home network running Windows XP Professional.

Fig. 1, 2, 3: The iCEBOX comes in a countertop (top) or flip screen model (middle)and includes a water resistant keyboard (bottom).

Beyond also offers a Smart Coffee Maker ($89.99), Smart Bread Maker ($149.99) and Smart Microwave ($165.99) that connect to the iCEBOX using a proprietary wireless network called SANI. When these appliances are equipped with a SANI card ($59.99 each), they remain in constant communication with iCEBOX and always display the current time, which is reset automatically after a power outage. In addition, the iCEBOX can display the current status of each appliance, including detailed information on the current baking stage of the bread maker, and the cooking time left on meals in the microwave or your pot of coffee. With the bar code scanners on the bread maker and microwave, you can start cooking just by waiving the wand over the UPC symbol on a food package, dropping in the food in the appliance, and pressing Start. Information about new foods, including cooking instructions, are downloaded from the Internet each night by the iCEBOX and sent to the microwave and bread maker wirelessly over the SANI network. The iCEBOX also features a special screen for the Smart Coffee Maker, allowing you to customize it to match your daily schedule. For example, you can tell it to brew your Saturday morning cup of coffee at 10 a.m. and your weekday coffee at 7 a.m. If you wake up early, you can bypass the automation and tell it to begin brewing "right now." The iCEBOX entertainment center and the entire line of smart appliances are available directly from Beyond (http://www.beyondconnectedhome.com) or from SMARTHOME (http://www.smarthome.com).

Mobile gaming and GPS navigation