Taking your home to the future with x10 Captain

Many years ago, popular television shows and movies gave viewers an opportunity to imagine what the future would be like. Cartoons and movies predicted automated homes, robots and flying cars. Today, many of those imaginative perceptions of the future have become a reality. Although flying cars may be a long ways away, having a smart, futuristic home is quite common place today.

For some time now, home owners have had the ability to remotely control their lights, appliances and view images of their home or business via wireless cameras. New technology has made it possible to take that one step further; To view and control cameras at home or across world, as well as control all of your appliances, lights, and anything else requiring electricity, via the internet.

This article focuses on two major areas: Advanced home automation with ActiveHomepro and Web Based home control with Myhouse online and Iwatchout software.

Advanced home automation with ActiveHome Pro

Have you ever experienced one-touch Home Automation? Once you do, you'll never go back! Imagine every room in your home timed to your schedule, and total control right in the palm of your hand. Whether you want to never touch another light switch or just control every light and appliance in your home by remote, X10's ActiveHome Pro home automation system is what you need.

Imagine your home working for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It knows where you're going to be and when you're going to be there – whether you want to be welcomed in the morning by a brightly lit kitchen and fresh pot of coffee, or lulled to sleep by your favorite jazz station before you go to bed, you can easily program your ActiveHome Pro home automation system to meet your needs.

No more fumbling with car keys in a dark driveway, you'll get out of the car and watch your lights come on all the way to your door and through to the hallway and living room. Come home to a cool house in the summer with fans that come on automatically an hour before you get home, or a well-lit front porch in the darker winter months. Once you'veset your ActiveHome Pro home automation system to do what you want, you won't evenhave to think about it!

How you control your home is up to you. Never want to touch another switch? With ActiveHome Pro's PC home automation, you won't have to. You can create customized home automation routines according to your schedule, so you can wake up to dimmed lights and soft music, come home after work to a brightly lit house, and go to the bed without thinking about turning off all your lights – they'll just turn right off for you.

Of course your routine can't be the same all the time, and that's why you'll also get a 5-in-1 Platinum Remote, which lets you control your ActiveHome Pro home automation modules and your whole entertainment system (TV, DVD player, stereo, etc.). Forget to turn off the kitchen light before you sat down to watch that DVD? Remember mid-movie that you didn't turn on the porch light for the kids? Don't get up – you can do it all withthe 5-in-1 Platinum Remote.

You can even take your home automation system with you with the Credit Card Controller. It goes right on your keychain, so you don't even have to enter the house to trigger your home automation modules. Perfect for weekends, you can simply get out of the car and turn on your house lights before you even hit the front porch.

Some of the benefits and uses are:

• Control lamps, appliances, and wall switches with X10 home automation modules you'll never have to touch a light switch in your home again

• Set up timed events and you'll never have to walk into a darkened room when your home automation system knows you'll be there

• User-friendly interface means anyone can master simple home automation and create new routines

• Wireless so you'll never have to trip over extra wiring, the ActiveHome Pro home automation system even works when your computer is off – simply program a timer or macro and your home automation system will remember it, so you can control your entire home by remote.

• ActiveHome Pro's dawn/dusk controls do the thinking for you – your night and morning routines can automatically adjust for the changing times of sunrise and sunset throughout the year, so you won't have to worry about reprogramming your driveway lights when it starts getting darker in the winter

• The 5-in-1 Platinum Remote is the universal remote you've been waiting for – not only will it control your X10 home automation modules, it'll control your TV, stereo, DVD player, and so much more. You can take advantage of your whole entertainment system with one ergonomically-designed remote, and even work your home automation modules, all without leaving your couch.

• Home automation control is in the palm of your hand with the Credit CardController – the ideal keychain remote, it lets you control up to 4 lights andappliances, so you can turn your lights on before you even enter the house.

• Brighten and dim lamps that couldn't before – perfect for romantic dinners in, or a soothing wakeup with low lights in your bedroom

• Timed home automation routines are great for the holidays. Set up your home automation system for amazing timed holiday lighting displays – you'll be the most impressive house on the block.

• Use your ActiveHome Pro home automation system as basic home security!ActiveHome Pro can automatically adjust scheduled timers to turn on lights for a random number of minutes when you're not at home, giving your home that "lived-in" look

• It's easy to track home automation routines – ActiveHome Pro software lets you sort by rooms, so you can easily see what's scheduled to happen, and when.

• Home automation software is easy to expand with plug-ins, so you can have the completely customized system you need.

Web-Based Home Control Experience internet-based home automation and video monitoring with my House online and I watchout software. Now, you can take command of all of the exciting automation functions of ActiveHome Pro (controlling your lights/appliances & monitoring your X10 cameras) from work, vacation or anywhere in the world! You can even receive email alerts of activity at your home, view & control your X10 cameras in real time, and get snapshots of camera video sent to your e-mail!

As an airline pilot who spends a lot of time away from home, I can testify that having the ability to view and control my home when I am gone gives me peace of mind. I specifically set up my lights to come on at various times, set my thermostat to maintain the most efficient temperature until I am ready to come home and set my cameras up to keep an eye on things when I am not there. Some examples of other things you can do are:
• Warm up the Hot Tub before you head home
• Turn on Fans or the AC to cool your house down after a hot day
• Receive an E-Mail Alert with an image from your front door cam to see that your new gear has arrived
• Light up your house for security when you know you'll be late
• Watch over the contractors building your new deck
• You'll enjoy your vacation more and relax knowing you can quickly and easily check up on your house at anytime. And, if you own a vacation home, now you can link it with your primary residence. Just imagine being able to see and control everything from either location.

When you're home, myHouse Online extends your ActiveHome Pro control and camera monitoring to ANY computer on your home network. If you are in the kitchen, on the deck, in the bedroom, or your home office, you have the ability to control everything you desire.
Get peace-of-mind while you cook or clean up in the kitchen now that you can watch over everything at a glance. Before bed, take one last look around the house and set your house lights to the night time scene with one click.

Even you kids can join in the fun with their PC connected to your myHouse Online home network. Give them access to see certain cameras and to control things only in their room.
Since you have complete control over everyone's access you can ensure all of your critical timers, macros and settings remain untouched.

X10 Cameras and iWatchOut Software

Now, with just a click of your mouse from anywhere, you can see and control every camera in your X10 home surveillance network. You can even let the Grandparents who live across the country peek in on your son or daughter's birthday party. And, when you're home, any PC with internet access on your home network can become a virtual camera control center.
Imagine peeking in on your napping child without making a sound. Then, switch to your backyard view and make sure the hired help doesn't mow down your freshly planted roses. With myHouse Online and iWatchOut, you'll be able to switch camera views with ease or jump to autopilot and scan them all.

You'll even be able to pan and tilt the cameras you have mounted on Motorized Camera Bases or target them at one of your preset locations - all with just one click. If you're lucky enough to own a Sentinel camera, you'll be able to control the powerful 44X Zoom too! You have access to multi-Camera viewing with Pan/Tilt/Zoom Control, all on one screen.
With myHouse Online you're free to access and control your home from anywhere via the internet anytime you like and you won't be charged a separate monthly fee. Business owners and rental property ownersBusiness owners or rental property owners can benefit from Iwatchout and myHouse Online. I have helped many individuals set cameras up to keep an eye on their business when they are not there. There are a few options here I want to discuss.

Active home macros give you the ability to record video either on demand or at certain scheduled times. For instance, you can have a camera record activity during business hours and set up a sensor to come on after that only when movement is detected. There are many possibilities. The options for recording video are as follows:

• Record using a standard 8 hour vhs tape
• Purchase a special VCR that records over 1000 hours of video
• Utilize your PC to record video at the rate of 1 gigabyte per hour

Summary

As technology continues to grow, so does the ability to bring your home closer to the future. The possibilities are endless. At x10captain.com, you will find an abundance of information, resources, articles, tips and tricks on home automation and security. You will also find a number of other products there such as affordable security systems, voice dialers that help the elderly, wireless video transmitters that send video signals to another TV and other entertainment products.

A small investment in home automation equipment can serve to save you money on your utility bills, offer you personal and home security and help create your smart home of the future.

X10captain