Linux-Based Home Services Server

BrK writes "Ucentric Systems seems to be developing a linux-based server targeted towards the average home. The server is reported to handle MP3, video, CallerID, Instant Messaging (delivered to the TV), and more." I'm still looking for the ultimate integrated box. Its some combination of this thing, Tivo and the Zap Station (which looks like it will do for audio what tivo does for video). But it doesn't look like any of these guys are gonna be doing anything open source, so it probably will be a long time before we get there.

Comments

Re:All-in-won?

[plastickiwi]

I would like to see a big name come up with a whole line of designer, modular, entertainment devices. Paint 'em red white and blue or something to get us to like them! Hell I don't know.

Every time some company has done this, the audio/videophiles have panned it, and the public has stayed away.

Sony had a line of components with a proprietary modular connector a few years ago. The critics hated it, pointing out that it locked buyers into Sony, Sony and more Sony. Customers liked it initially, since it allowed the easy set-up you're talking about, but hated it as soon as they bought a new component from another company and had to connect it the old fashioned way with RCA cables, coax, and the like.

You're never going to get a single-vendor solution past the critics yelling "Proprietary!", and no component manufacturer is willing to adopt a standard pioneered (no pun intended) by a competitor. Even if a de facto standard does start to emerge, every manufacturer will try to create a functional, but incompatible, clone to lock the customer into their brand.

Re:All-in-won. We lost.

[sips]

They are not designed. They are cobbled together by people who are trying to win the lowest bid.

Why is that a bad thing? I don't undetstand cheap things are usually better for consumers. At least I know that they are for me.

Standards and other stuff.

[stienman]

But it doesn't look like any of these guys are gonna be doing anything open source, so it probably will be a long time before we get there.

It's going to be a long time before we get anywhere with these types of devices anyway. It's not a matter of open source, it's a matter of What Consumers Really Want(tm). Manufacturers are guessing what consumers want, and are going slowly. Why? Consumers don't really want an all in one device. Yet.

Before we can even think that our VCR, Radio, computer, and internet are going to interact, someone has to lay down some rules as to how they interact. Sure, they all have firewire. Hook your VCR to the stereo. How the heck does the stereo and VCR communicate? What information do they each need? How are they going to explain their needs to each other? We need a standards body that not only decides these standards, but also does studies to find out what the customer wants. I, for one, want to be able to buy brand A TV, brand B HDTV tuner, brand C digital surround sound system, and have them all talk to each other intelligibly!

Stereo: Behold, I am an audio amplifier with the ability to decode surround sound, MPEG through V4, and a variety of other streams and formats. I can send sound to three locations in this building, each location has the following parameters.
VCR: Howdy, I'm a VCR. You sure do have a funny accent. I'll throw out the words I don't know. I've been told to get movie A for immediate viewing, and movie B on a slow stream for later viewing. Stereo - here is the handle to the audio stream that will be playing momentarily for location one. I know you've been playing classic music from another source for this location, but this more recent command supercedes your last commend. TV, here is the video stream for location one. Router, please give me two connections to this video server, dedicate at least this much bandwidth to stream A (priority 1), and apply a priority of 4 to the following connection.
Stereo: Router, please cancel classical audio stream.
TV: I feel sick. What kind of crud are they using me for now? ew.

-Adam

Please moderate me down. Ever since I hit the karma cap, my self worth has gone down the tubes! I need to have it drop so it can go back up! PLEASE!

Re:Standards and other stuff.

[JKR]

Before we can even think that our VCR, Radio, computer, and internet are going to interact, someone has to lay down some rules as to how they interact.

It's been done. Check out the HAVi Consortium website. All the major manufacturers have created the specification for A/V device interoperability.

Re:Standards and other stuff.

[stienman]

Yes, and each person who wants to build their own AV device (either software, hardware, etc) for whatever use has to pay a $5,000 licensing fee, and a trivial amount per device for the various IP and patent rights to the few companies who started the HAVi.

It would be nice to have an open standard in the way that TCP/IP is open, or HTML or XML. I can see the devices talking TCP/IP to each other, with a HDNS(home device name server). "Hey, HDNS, is there an audio device in this house in room a floor two?"

-Adam

Re:Usage of telephone services

[AntiPasto]

CallerID modems are very common if the modem is distinguished as a 'Voice Modem'... most newer US Robotics modems have functions to accept caller ID. Basically the last I read of CallerID is that its a 300 baud (or something) string of characters sent (via modulation/demodulation) between the first and second rings.

You can get get these lots of places... try pricewatch.com -- but before you purchase try to track down the make and model to see if it does indeed support Caller ID. And get a phone-line surge protector ;)

----

Indrema?

[Quikah]

This is a possiblity, they have been fairly vague about the features. It does mp3, web, games, possibly Tivo like recording and mostly Open Source (a couple of proprietary binaries). There is an article in the current Linux Journal about this which mentions a feature called personal TV. Might fit the Tivo requirement. Actually I think that it absolutely needs the Tivo like feature to be viable, I don't see it taking off without it. If it does have a Tivo type feature I would buy one.

Not much on their website, but check it out.

Re:Well-known hoax.

[ichimunki]

There is no information about this company itself being a hoax on Altavista (at least the three pages of a search on "ucentric & host"), nor Metacrawler, nor Google.

�t�s already been done

[mvdwege]

In this months Linux Journal there was an article about a company that reputedly has something similar ready for this holiday season. It`s an x86 Server running Linux with several appliances that connect to it over wireless Ethernet (basically X-terminals).
It looks cool, and better: it will be 100% Open Source! (Now when do they start selling in Europe?)

Ultimate Server

[Dark Coder]

While I posted a presentation paper in regard to the ultimate home network at the NTLUG, it didn't cover ultimate dream servers.

During that time, I've polished the following solutions to the current:

Private ISP (w/ dual modems/MPPP)
Voice Mail/Caller-ID
Fax Server
Fax Relay
Mail server (Real-Time Blackhole list)
Web Server (secured and virtual, but not both)
Customizable firewall

I've still got a long way to go regarding the following feature set:

Voice Mail navigation
Fax OCR to email
TDD answering machine
Secured Virtual server (coming)
MP3 server (GNUTella seems fireall-unfriendly)
Video/DVD server

Apparently, lots more work is needed before one can even reduce this to a simple configuration setting for average home use.

"2004" COULD BE ORWELL'S "1984"

[ishrat]

Gartner seems to say that the future could be very similar to Orwell's description of the year 1984 in his novel with the same name. Check out this pervasive Internet connectivity.

Re:MP3 Box

[ekidder]

Actually, what I want is a box that will connect to my stereo and my LAN and mount Windows shares off my computer and play the MP3s from there over the system.
And has a remote control.
This way, I could sit in my living room and happily listen to the music from the machine in the bedroom while doing some work on the laptop.
Twisted, huh?

Re:Move along...

[Ricochet]

Not if I get my way! I run the Linux Home Automatin project and most of this stuff can be had and run free! I don't like the idea that the controller for my home is not under my complete control.

Come Pinky, let us take over the world ... (Brain, from Pinky & the Brain)

--
Linux Home Automation - Neil Cherry - ncherry@home.net
http://members.home.net/ncherry (Text only)
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/ lig htsey/52 (Graphics)
http://linuxha.sourceforge.net/ (SourceForge)

Re:Oh great, Linusizing the soccer moms.

[GooseKirk]

Well, I've had an intranet and file server running on a VPN between two offices using DSL for the past two years, and we only had one half-day of downtime early on when US West did some upgrading. It's been a consistent 640k ever since. If the connection ever drops or gets reset, I've sure never noticed it... and my server is just a plain ol' RedHat box, nothing fancy. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I don't think DSL should be so quickly dismissed as too unreliable.

Linux Home Automation project

[Ricochet]

I started the Linux Home Automation project (LHA project) to accomplish something very similar. Currently I have more of a collection of various software (my Linux Home Automation pages). I've just finished collecting a ton of hardware and getting info on the various software needed. I hope to have non-beta base software within the month. For most, the current stage of the project won't be usable. But for the tinker'r it will at least be interesting.

For those who don't mind getting their hands dirty with software they can try Mr. House (I'll correct my pages, sorry). It's written in Perl and is very functional.

--
Linux Home Automation - Neil Cherry - ncherry@home.net
http://members.home.net/ncherry (Text only)
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/ lig htsey/52 (Graphics)
http://linuxha.sourceforge.net/ (SourceForge)

Re:Well-known hoax. (Post is a Hoax!)

[Vapor8]

This post is a hoax in itself... Let's move on...

Re:Operate your coffee pot w/Linux

[interiot]

Yeah, but I want more than just sending/receiving X10 events.

I want to develop "audio widgets" (eg. listboxes, radio buttons, maybe text entry) whose only output is the speakers and whose only input is a wireless device that has numbers 0 through 9 on it (there are some relatively cheap ones from X10, so you could buy a bunch and leave them laying all over). And of course, develop an event system to deal with incoming events from the 'net or PIM or caller ID.

Then I'd use the UI with little apps I'd develop that would allow me to control things through X10 or control the radio or MP3 or DVD or TV.
--

Household wiring?

[GlitchZ]

Building a mp3 box is like building home stereo for a different room that requires you to hook up a cord to your computer in a anotherroom. That's stupid.

Kinda as stupid as running cable all over thew house to lots of TV to use a central antenna or, Oh wait CABLE TV!

Wireless networking will become standard equipment soon so wires won't even be an issue.

I don't want the slow internet blocking my tv anyway

Hmm, that's like saying that slow monitor that my computer is hooked up to will slow down my computer. Mutually exclusive functions. Your TV displays what you tell it to every millisecond or so, it doesn't do any processing.

Re:OT Question: Good answering machines?

[AntiPasto]

I could've swore that Symantec's WinFax and the telephony apps that come with it would let you do this... Not sure tho.

----

Re:nah, it's probably the Open Source debate.

[AFCArchvile]

The trouble with advertising that it runs on Linux is that soon, the Linux fanatics will demand that the source be released. Unfortunately, that would infringe on their pending patents. And we all know how important patents are when used correctly (OpenGL, BSD, JPEG, MPEG) and how annoying they are when they're not used correctly (Digital:Convergence, MPAA, 3dfx, Microsoft).

Re:Cheap Video Overlay devices?

[BrK]

So are there any *inexpensive* devices (which of course would work under Linux) which can overlay graphics onto a std. video signal in real-time? Through chromakeying or some other method?
You're not going to get cheap graphics overlay, but you could use a PIC-TV from CC Concepts to do text overlay for about $170.

X-Box?

[photozz]

Develop away... won't do you any good. with MS's entry into the console market, esentialy a PROGRAMABLE console, they can offer firmware and software upgrades to enable just about any function on these things. play games, DVD, CD audio, MP3, and TIVO like functions. And they have the marketing clout behind them. With the pretense of a "gaming" console, MS is puting a box in every house that can compeete with any of these products.

Re:X-Box?

[drinkypoo]

Develop away... won't do you any good. with MS's entry into the console market, esentialy a PROGRAMABLE console, they can offer firmware and software upgrades to enable just about any function on these things.

Blah blah blah. You Microdroid. The X-Box isn't going to be any more upgradable (in terms of hard disk) as any of the other solutions, like TiVo or ReplayTV. Sure, you can do it, but it's a big pain in the backside. It also doesn't have an MPEG-2 encoder, so that's not going to go very far. Perhaps more importantly, however, is the fact that the X-Box does not have a genlock function.

Now, what is a genlock? That link says what it is, but not what it does. What it DOES is that it lets you overlay one video source over another. So when you have a CallerID string (which you can get from a dedicated callerid device, or a modem with CallerID, which would be my first choice) then you can slap it up on the screen without blanking the video signal. Generally you use a shadowed type so that it will show up on top of any video source.

You can use a single modem to handle CallerID, Voice recording, and Fax. You need a MPEG-2 solution which does both encoding and decoding; Anything that does encoding should decode as well. I'd like to see something use the DivX codec (or some other MPEG-4 high speed implementation) even more, but hardware for that of course does not yet exist. Perhaps one day it will. X10 is handled by the simple addition of a serial port transmitted; Occasionally you can get the transmitter, transceiver, and a dimmer unit for six bucks, when X10.com feels like it needs to rope in some more suckers.

DVD, well, that's obvious, though difficult to do under linux today. Not, however, impossible. CD audio is even more trivial. mp3, likewise. The TiVo-like functions would be somewhat annoying to develop (a big part of the difficulty would be building your IR database so you could control all the cable boxen and whatnot, but if you did a learning remote function, you could learn the buttons you needed) but also not impossible. Perhaps you could make a deal with TVguide.com (formerly the prevue channel, but TV guide bought them) to get listings information.

Actually, I have considerably more to say on the listings information front: You could always have listings for some things be free, and they should be available in some standard format off the web someplace. It should of course be handled in ASCII, and can be a flat file or a CGI, or SHTML or similar (ASP, PHP, ColdFuction, whatever.) So if there's a show with a large geek fanbase, one or more fans can handle providing the listings to other fans in their area, or who get the same networks.

X-Box is not the answer. This could be done in an open-source fashion. I am the walrus. Koo koo ka choo.

Er, sorry, my chai just hit me.

Re:X-Box?

[photozz]

Blah blah blah. You Microdroid.

you will be assimilated

My only point is that for the vast aray of non techie americans, the X-box will probly perform all the functions they ask for. No, it's not upgradeable (ya right, like the i-opener? heheheh)but it's cheep. gets old? buy a new one v2.0, with MPEG-bazilion and the ablility to pick up the kids from school and cook dinner. It's all about marketing, and right now MS still has more in petty cash than anyone else.

Re:X-Box?

[SubtleNuance]

X10 is handled by the simple addition of a serial port transmitted; Occasionally you can get the transmitter, transceiver, and a dimmer unit for six bucks, when X10.com feels like it needs to rope in some more suckers

I am planning on installing X10 in a home renovation. Do you have experience with X10 that would make you feel its users are 'suckers'. So fare Ive heard good 'reviews' about its abilities. Can you share a more 'subjective' opinion?

Re:X-Box?

[drinkypoo]

I am planning on installing X10 in a home renovation. Do you have experience with X10 that would make you feel its users are 'suckers'. So fare Ive heard good 'reviews' about its abilities. Can you share a more 'subjective' opinion?

Actually, I'm a (light) X10 user. A friend of mine makes the Omniremote Module which has a neato little antenna in it which will drive an X10 transceiver module. He has all the lights in his house wired up, and a nice set of vertical blinds which are X10-controlled. Very slick.

X10 is fairly cool. It's also somewhat limited - You will have limited success, for example, if you plug something into an X10 module connected to a power strip with any noise suppression on it, because the signal (which comes down the power line, as I'm sure you know) may get filtered out. If you're just doing outlets though, it's all very straightforward and reliable. For the most part though, X10 is cool.

What I meant by "suckers" is that even if you don't really want X10 all that much, and wouldn't ordinarily pay for it (modules range from $15 to $90, so watch out) once you have the starter kit, the temptation to continue with it is intense. And my transceiver module died, and I had to replace it, so it wasn't all that great a bargain to begin with. I showed them, though, and I buy my modules at radio shack or Fry's now.

Re:All-in-won. We lost.

[interiot]

I don't think it's so much that they're poorly designed, it's more that the designers are trying to grab as much of the marketshare as they can by interoperating only with their own products.
--

What are the service people are looking for.

[haxz]

I'm interested in this stuff. I've got a few ideas as far as what services should be included;

web service
mail
news (monitor sites and newsgroups)
caller id
answering machine
TV monitoring
IM
audio/video (HDTV support)
?

I'm waiting for a TV tuner that can handle digital cable.

I'm curious as too what others are looking for in a home system like this. What else should be included?

Don't forget the display

[Shotgun]

Add a wireless networking card, and build a pad that displays X11 streams. Audio out and a mic will make the telephone functions much more usefull. Make sure you leave all the processing on the server so that the display pad stays cheap, because I'll want to buy several.

Do this and you will have the ultimate home server system.

Re:MP3 Box

[Banana Junior]

Building a mp3 box is like building home stereo for a different room that requires you to hook up a cord to your computer in a another room. That's stupid.

What is stupid is buying a CD jukebox. I should know since I bought one a few years ago. ;-) Since that time my CD collection has grown larger than my jukebox so I had to rotate CDs in and out of it (Christmas music --> summer tunes). Humm...Wish I could buy something to extend my jukebox (Oh, yeah, I forgot it was a larger harddrive). It was also a hassle to program the name of the albums into the CD jukebox. It was like entering a phone book into a cell phone. Then I bought something that changed my musical life, the Rio 500.

I took my CDs out of the jukebox to rip them and never put them back in. It is great to get all the title, track, artist, etc, information off of a CDDB. After I did that, I wired my house to conect the computer to the stereo. It is much easier to select a wide range of songs with a mouse than it is with a remote control. This is great for parties or romantic dinners, unless your SO doesn't mind you carrying the laptop from the dining room to the living room to the bedroom. :-) Also I can listen to net content around my house without being at my computer, ie radio stations from different countries and pre-recorded news stuff.

Now I want a separate box that is dedicated to entertainment stuff. Hummm MPEG-4, if I convert my DVDs to MPEG-4, I could have a video jukebox!

Take a look a Adomo!

[pointwood]

I've submitted this to /. more than once, but got rejected every time - instead other (inferior) solutions gets posted!?

Adomo is creating what you are looking for!

Take a look at this preview of their solution - it is pretty cool!

Move along...

[Shotgun]

nothing to see here.

Download their PDF product description. Right there in bold letters, one of the benefits of to "Service Providers" is:
Increases barriers to competition
Sounds like just another lock in device is coming down the line.

Re:OT Question: Good answering machines?

[stighammond]

It's not Linux, but www.keware.com has a fantastic product for Win32 (Home Seer) that lets you set up web enabled, voice-regognition enabled, scheduled, X10 and other event driven home automation tasks. They have a beta Home Seer Phone product that interfaces with a voice modem so I can do things like this: As I'm driving home, I call home from the cell phone. Home Seer Phone picks up and says "yes?"... I say "porch light on" or "MP3 play eva cassidy" or tell it to read me my emails or voice mails... Lot cheaper than Stargate. Cries out for an open source version... --Stig

Re:Open Source solution?

[SubtleNuance]

Im currently renovating a +100 townhouse. I intend to do up the X10/Distributed IR/Terminals ect as you described. (What did you decide to use for distributed IR. I havnt seen anything jump at me as being the obvious best choice). I will be using Linux. You may want to see this link on Linux home automation. If you havnt seen this already here is MisterHouse probably the coolest Automated home Ive ever read about - and the developer (homeowner) uses Perl a lot. If you have more money than brains you will want to see former IBM Home Director products. I saw a $20K (CDN) display at a Toronto Home Show recently - very clean system. Not alot in the way of customization (software control) but very nice NTSC interface and remote. Turn to the 'home channel' on any TV in the house and you have all the Home Automation 'online'. I would like to do something like that (TV interface) but I dont know that much about AV equipment & computer integration.

Offtopic!

[OlympicSponsor]

"Linux"? Isn't that an operating system? What's that doing here on PoliticsDot?
--
An abstained vote is a vote for Bush and Gore.

Re:Offtopic!

[Myxx]

Can someone please tell me when the world became filled with mindless lemmings who believe that if you can't back a winner then don't back anyone? When someone says something foolish like the above then it says one thing about them; they are a fool. Voting is suppose to be about voting for who you believe in, not in who you believe will win. Right now Christianity is not the most predominant religion, but do Christians let that stop them from worshiping? No. Why support Linux when everyone doing serious work supports Windows? I say it again...fool! Myxx

----------

IM to your TV?

[Hairy_Potter]

Great, now when my wife and I watch Alli McBeal, we'll be distracted by endless

morf?

a/s/l/u?

count me out

MP3 Box

[clinko]

You keep hearing about a mp3 box/console system that will be used in a different room than your computer. This is such a stupid idea. Where are you getting the mp3s from? THE COMPUTER.

Building a mp3 box is like building home stereo for a different room that requires you to hook up a cord to your computer in a another room. That's stupid.

The TV is for Television. I don't want the slow internet blocking my tv anyway. I'd rather have a laptop in my lap, watching my tv, and listening to the mp3s on that laptop.

Re:MP3 Box

[BrK]

Where are you getting the mp3s from? THE COMPUTER.
The concept would be that all MP3's could be stored centrally, then played back on any PC or A/V system in the house. Almost like an in-home Napster server :)
I'd admit that the box may not work out for the uber-geek that tends to be drawn to /., but for parents that want to help/watch their kids surf the 'net, etc it seems the box is going to blend a lot of the common wish-list items together.
Look at the popularity of the RF units from x10.com where people want to stream MP3's from their PC to their home A/V system and/or to another room. This will accomplish the same thing without the horrible loss in sound quality with the X10.com product.

Re:MP3 Box

[NineNine]

No, actually an MP3 box would be useful as hell. I need a box to play my CD's full of MP3s on. I sure as hell don't download music, then sit in fron tof the damn computer to listen to it. Right now, I can either A. Run a long wire to my stereo or B. Take a lot of time to convert my MP3s to standard CD audio. Think about it!

zapstation

[novarese]

the zap station does time shifting of video a la TiVo. However, it doesnt have a serial port, which you need to control a digital cable or satellite box (tivo does have that capability) - if not for that one shortcoming, tivo would be crap compared to zapstation (when it ships).

cheap geek box

[Stephen Samuel]

Looks like a geek box for the masses. If it has an option for a real monitor, then it can even double as a hdtv display as time goes on.

So really -- what's the difference between this and a cheap, headless Linux box?
`ø,,ø`ø,,ø!

All-in-won?

[AntiPasto]

Personally I think the coolest thing is the new All-In-Wonder Radeon! I'm just waiting for the prices to go down.

I don't think all in one boxes are good because not everyone likes the same things... who wants a Packard Bell?

Right now I see an ad for the Panasonic Showstopper at Thinkgeek (its just a replay tv box)... and the thing that strikes me most is that its *UGLY*... A friend of mine who is in Industrial Design at the University of Cincinnati told me that Americans just love their grey/black boxes... going into Circuit City is funny, 'cause from a distance you don't know what the hell is what. They all look the same!

I think we need a nice modular creative design. Multiple companies should make units that have features that fit together with some sort of standard ethernet or firewire connects.

Add a DVD
Add a VCR
Add a TIVO
Add CallerID
Add an Email Box
Add a Linux box!

USB, FireWire, and Jini promised us modular things, and besides VCR/TV and Stereos, we don't have much modularity. I would like to see a big name come up with a whole line of designer, modular, entertainment devices. Paint 'em red white and blue or something to get us to like them! Hell I don't know.

----

Re:All-in-won?

[jyeger]

You've omitted the most important such standard of all: UPnP (www.upnp.org). You point out that the Jini classes have crummy licensing terms. UPnP doesn't require licensing anybody's classes but rather is based on open protocols.

Unlike Jini, UPnP description XML can be discovered and parsed at runtime, whereas using another Jini device requires that you know the signatures of its interfaces at runtime.

And yes there's an open source implementation (upnp.sourceforge.net).

Re:All-in-won?

[carlfish]

USB, FireWire, and Jini promised us modular things, and besides VCR/TV and Stereos, we don't have much modularity. I would like to see a big name come up with a whole line of designer, modular, entertainment devices. Paint 'em red white and blue or something to get us to like them! Hell I don't know.

The current big-company-supported initiative for modular devices is HAVi. It's focused on Audio/Visual stuff, mainly the control of a/v appliances, and the transfer of content between them. (So yes, it's mainly VCR's, TVs and stereos, but there's provision for other devices too).

It's APIs are a primarily C++ with future plans to make it more Java-ised. I'd personally prefer Jini, but even if Sun were't being COMPLETE SMEGGING IDIOTS about Jini licensing terms, it'd still be years before we could affordably give our telephones enough computing power to run a Java Virtual Machine.

Charles Miller
--

Tried it...

[billybob2001]

I got a Linux-Based Home Services Server, but she only spoke Spanish, and kept using the phone long-distance.

At least she didn't have a CueCat.

Server crashed

[direwolf puppy]

Ack, now I can't listen to music or watch TV!
============================================

I dunno....

[smoondog]

I think the best way to get to integrated appliance servers is to develop them around an open source model like much of the rest of the open source community. Relying on companies to build the tools gives us totally proprietary computers that aren't going to have the flexibility (and they'll be more expensive) that /.'ers require.

-Moondog

OT Question: Good answering machines?

[Mark F. Komarinski]

The CallerID reminded me, so it's offtopic, but related.

Are there any consumer answering machines that will pick up if you hit a button instead of waiting for the pre-determined number of rings? If I see "unknown name/unknown number" on my callerID, I just want to hit a button and have the answering machine pick up instead of waiting for the 4 rings.

And no, I don't want to use a Linux solution. The user interface would wind up being a bit clunky (there's no space for a keyboard near the phone), and I don't feel like writing it from scratch.

Be Linux and Be Proud

[dav]

I notice that nowhere in there product web page or their pdf Product Overview brochure do they mention Linux. At least I didn't find it, and neither did the browser/acroread search function. I'm sure the original poster is correct, but I wonder why they choose not to mention the actual OS? Perhaps it would frighten their target market.

Should we worry?

[blackrazor]

Buried deep in the copy of the Ucentric website is this gem:

Service providers have an opportunity to generate additional revenue beyond broadband subscription rates by deploying new value-added services. To date, they have not had the necessary platform to meet consumer demands. The Ucentric Home Server fills this void.

Great. More amazing new ways for the broadband companies to drag money out of you. Count me out. I have a system I put together and am happy with. I agree with other posters that the right way to do this is provide the pieces and let the user put together their own personal solution.

Has anyone bought an AudioRequest?

[Paul Carver]

http://www.thinkgeek.com/brain/bazaar/mart/cart.cg i?action=view&type=item&itemid=364e appears to be a shipping product. Has anyone bought it? It doesn't do all the ZapStation claims it will do, but there's something to be said for a product you can actually buy. PS. Slashdot is mangling the url. Delete any spaces manually.

Re:Has anyone bought an AudioRequest?

[interiot]

Here's a description of the product.

It seems to be conspicuously missing radio functionality. If you live in a bigger city with lots of selection, or have a particular format you like to listen to (eg. public radio), then the radio functionality would be helpful.
--

Re:Has anyone bought an AudioRequest?

[Arkham]

There will be ZapStations in stores this Christmas.

Commoditization & "appliance" wrapper-ing.

[crovira]

Congratulations! Linux (and unix-es in general,) has made a major transition: Product-ization, commoditization & "appliance" wrappering.

The development of simple, easy to use specialty devices for the home (a process started with routers like the product from LinkSys,) is bringing to the home simple devices, not complex systems, which fulfill specific needs in a secure and un-interruptible manner.

That all of these devices can interoperate or at least communicate, is a testament to the connectivity available, painlessly, in Linux.

What does this mean in the larger sense? That appliances will evolve as our understanding of their roles (and the limits we wish to place on those roles,) evolve.

It is antithetical to the current PC-centric evolution of centralized authoritative control of everything by distributing the intelligence required to control a device to that device itself.

That there will be more. Many many more.

Re:Cheap Video Overlay devices?

[Ripp]

Or hell, now that I think about it, are there any X-based TV/video apps that allow the video to be shown on the X root window.....I'm looking and can't find any!

The alternative to the hardware solution....

Re:AL GORE will soon take credit for this too!

[ReverendGraves]

Read Indymedia. Al Gore didn't claim to "invent the internet," he claims to have "taken the initiative in creating the internet." The difference? As a congressman, Gore pushed for funding for the development of networking digital communication.

And I'm still not voting for him.

So what exactly is new?

[tzanger]

I don't think there's a single geek house that doesn't have something like this. Perhaps UCentric is just marketting it to the masses.

My home setup is very similar (or is in the works to be, some things aren't implemented yet):

• Linux box for firewall (seperate right now) and CallerID
• Linux box for everything else:
  • Two ES1371 sound cards (4 PCM channels, allows 4 seperate mp3 streams for various rooms)
  • Captures radio and TV for viewing later (programs while I'm at work, radio programs, etc.)
  • bigass backed up file system (so we don't lose the work the wife/kids/myself do)
• ICQ reminder system (simple text parsing, i.e. R10 put wash in dryer) also will pop up callerID, doorbell, etc.
• Eventually I'd like to overlay text right on the TV through a simple circuit
• Eventually hook up a DVD-ROM or two (mp3s and video)

It's by far not the only system in existence and I'm sure that others have far better systems. Perhaps there should be some kind of unifying effort in this area? Yeah everyone has their own needs but there is a LOT of commonality and that should be put to use

Re:So what exactly is new?

[pcbaldwin]

Nothing is really new. There are a bunch of other companies like Ucentric out there

- Adomo
- 2Wire
- Coactive
to name a few off the top of my head.

You can find links to other companies on our old website. It's a bit dated, but still useful. None of these companies are doing anything open source (AFAIK).

We started our own project here at Point Clark Networks. It's an open-source solution to what Ucentric is offering. We're not even near anything cool yet, but people are more than welcome to contribute :-)

Cheers!

Re:Oh great, Linusizing the soccer moms.

[Cid Highwind]

How many "soccer moms" know the timing-advance curve for the engine in their new minivan, or even where to look it up? Hardly any, but somehow they're all able to drive anyway...

Big Black Stack of Components... eesh

[KlTheKiten]

Home control systems should be in distinct separate parts, all networked (home crash anyone?)...

System 1 (Home Functions):
Sprinklers (w/ auto rain sensing)
Lights (timed exterior/interior lights)
Burglar System
Toaster (?)

System 2 (Entertainment):
Am I the only one who doesn't want the big black stack of components sitting out in the open?
I love the Bose sound systems- how the major componentry is in the subwoofer (behind the couch/tv/console), and the only visible items are the small cube speakers. Then comes the DVD... why can't they integrate that into the cd player? (I even emailed them about that).
So, that takes care of the sound/dvd (if they integrate it).
Manual switch to turn on/off sound to other parts of the home (including back patio)

System 3 (Communication):
I want the home networked, but I want to get away from the computer sometimes- but if my computer could IM the tv (or monitor) when the phone rings with the caller ID, then I'd know whether to let the machine get it, or pick it up during "important" movies.
Another thing I want is a "smart" answering machine that gives specific messages to specific callers- ie:
Mom: I'm busy and I'll call you back!
SigOther: I'm in the middle of a big project
Friend: dude- I'm fraggin- join my quake server!
Everyone else: Leave a message

In other words, I'd rather have total control over my home, but NOT in ONE INTEGRATED BOX.

How do you get a decent S-Video display?

[EddyGeez]

I'd be very interested in working on a "ZapStation" like device, even if only to control my MP3 collection! The key to success (IMHO) is usability by the average user (read: visitors to the house, the wife, etc.), and to me, that means a nice, crisp user interface/display (especially when connected via S-Video).

The problem is, most S-Video converters that I've seen suck, and do not come close to the quality and clarity of a TiVo or ReplayTV-type interface. These interfaces are crystal clear, colorful, and easy-to-use.

If I could find some way to get a Linux box to display a similar-quality user interface via S-Video, I'd be much more apt to start programming something. Does anybody even know what resolution the TiVo or ReplayTV "renders" the UI at?

Ideally, I'd love something that had an S-Video input as well. Most of the time, the input would just pass directly through to the output. But when necessary (i.e., user starts pushing buttons on the remote or the phone rings), the Linux box could overlay information on top of the existing S-Video signal (such as current song title, caller ID information, etc.). Obviously, this would have to degrade the S-Video signal very little (or not at all) or it would be "unacceptable" to many. If there was no S-Video input signal present, then the output could be some sort of music-visualization screen saver, useful information (what song is currently playing and what song is next, etc.) or just plain "blank".

Re:Open Source solution?

[nedwidek]

With the number of home music servers that are coming to the market all I can think is that it would be neat to build my own. The hardware is off the shelf (mC Linux, SOC, and a 20 Gig harddrive) and the software wouldn't be too hard with all of the OSS out there that could be adapted.

But the really cool part would be to make a system that goes beyond a home music server. The problem with Tivo et. al. is that they aren't designed to be expandable or extensible. What we could really use is an open solution. Hardware designs could be open and posted on the web along with the software.

Anyone could put the unit together by buying a kit or buying their own components. Someone could even provide prebuilt units to people that don't mind paying a little extra to not have to go through the trouble of putting it together on their own.

And of course if the software or the hardware don't work the way that someone wants it to they can modify either to fit their situation.

Star Choice

[i-Chaos]

If I remember correctly - Star Choice Satellite TV is currently marketing (but has not released yet) a TV system which incorporates instant replay, internet hookup, instant messaging, mp3 audio, and other stuff. Though I haven't seen such a system available yet in Canada, I believe it won't be long before they actually release it. They've just started putting TV commercials on.

Jabber

[Andrew Dvorak]

Maybe you should have a look at: Jabber.org and Jabber.com. There was also a nice feature on Jabber in August's (or was it September's?) issue of Linux Journal. Jabber has the potential to integrate all of the above and more.

Open Source solution?

[interiot]

I'd love to see an open source solution that would do some of these things and more.

Right now, I'm working on a similar system to tie together the TV, DVD drive, wireless speakers throughout the apartment, X10 modules, and some RF remotes. I'm aiming for something like the automated telephone menus for interacting with the system from anywhere in the apartment. Also, it would alert me to various unsolicited events (new email, caller ID info, scheduled appointments, CNN.com breaking news, grandfather clock, UPS tracking status changes, etc...).

The separate pieces exist in open source already. But unless it's engineered well, each person's solution is likely to be a hack that's only useful to them because the pieces can be put together in so many different ways.
--

This is the right idea.

[IGnatius T Foobar]

Linux is the ideal platform for such a system. The problem with all efforts so far to do something like this is that they have all centered around "the home computer" (typically a Windows box). To make something like this work, you have to have something a little more "hands off." It's got to be a box that you mount on a wall in the basement, plug your services (power, telephone, DSL/cable, etc.) into, and forget about it. More likely for most homes, an installer will perform this service. Then you have everything available, a truly automated home. With that shaky PC out of the way, it can actually work.

I have friends with X-10 installations, and they all complain that the problem with tying it into your PC is that they don't want to encumber the PC with home automation tasks. I've had mine running for about two years now, though, with no problem -- I use Linux. My main server, which is also running IP masquerade for my LAN, file/print services, as well as my BBS, handles it all without so much as a hiccup.

Truly effective home automation requires a system that was designed to be "always on" -- and to me, that means more than just the ability to reduce a service down to a tray icon, it means the ability to truly jump into the background, to start automatically even when nobody is logged on, and to seldom (if ever) stop. Once that pesky PC is taken out of the picture, this stuff can really fly.
--

Re:OT Question: Good answering machines?

[BrK]

I have a box at home that does this Stargate, but it's probably more expensive ($899) than what you're looking for. Of course, it does a helluva lot more than just answer the phone.

Usage of telephone services

[sips]

I was looking into something that could utilize caller-id data and do something with it but most of the apps I have seen have to have a "caller id compatable modem" whatever that means. Where or more precisely how do you get such a device.

Re:Well-known hoax.

[BrK]

The Ucentric hoax is actually quite old.
You might have confused it with something else. Ucentric is participating in various upcoming conferences based around home technologies (or so their news page states). It would seem to be an awful lot of work to perpetuate a hoax...

Operate your coffee pot w/Linux

[CiXeL]

I setup X10 to startup and shutdown my coffee pot every morning. I load it up before i go to bed and it turns on the mr coffee every morning and shuts it off 45 minutes later. I put a small description of how i did it at http://www.cixel.com/

Re:Operate your coffee pot w/Linux

[interiot]

Here's some further elaboration, in case someone has some additional ideas or if someone wants to help develop it.

Basically the system will be an event-driven system similar to the popular GUIs out there, but will be aimed at devices whose main output device is a speaker. Other outputs could be used, but the event system and apps would be targeted towards audio output.

If it's engineered well enough, it could be used for systems with only audio input, and thus could be put in a car, allowing PIM and notation activities to occur there.
--

Re:Cheap Video Overlay devices?

[artg]

Does it have to be X ?
There's a variant of xawtv (TV from PCI framegrabber in an X window) that works direct onto a framebuffer device, i.e. fullscreen.

The PCI grabber will operate with a cliplist, making it possible to have regions of the framebuffer that aren't video : you can use these for titling, popup windows, picture-in-picture from a second framegrabber etc.

Re:All-in-won. We lost.

[thenerd]

This is a bad thing sometimes, because extra money gained by having an expensive thing can be spent on making the product interoperable, modular, and higher quality. These properties are good.

thenerd.

Cheap Video Overlay devices?

[Ripp]

So are there any *inexpensive* devices (which of course would work under Linux) which can overlay graphics onto a std. video signal in real-time? Through chromakeying or some other method?

I've been wanting to hack together a Linux box to do something like this for some time, but this is the big hurdle. The rest is pretty much cake. CallerID, IM, Web, X-10, IR remote...we've got all the main ingredients (well except for DVD) to do this ourselves.

Remember. Inexpensive (<$100)

Internet wired house...

[don_carnage]

You know you all want one...mmmmm.....data....

www.icepick.com
www.jeffshouse.dynip.com

--

Re:Morf?

[Anonymous Coward]

Be thankful that you're not some pathetic loser who can't interact socially except behind a monitor, you don't NEED to know what "morf" means.

Consider also that the reply you get to morf is probably not honest. That 20-year-old from Canada who likes riding her horse and is curious about bisexuality is really Hemos.

Oh great, Linusizing the soccer moms.

[AFCArchvile]

Just a survey: How many soccer moms know what kind of files to expect in /usr/local/lib?

Yeah, that's what I thought; their response would be "/usr/local/what?" The focus of this is all wrong. How many houses have a T1 routed to their house? Right, very few. How many houses have a T3 routed to their house? Right, even fewer. Notice that I didn't mention cable or DSL, since these connections are still too unreliable for a server. Furthermore, every time the connection drops (either from overflow or a very, VERY stupid ISP), the server will have to be reset, the connection will have to be re-established, and then it's time to pick up the pieces. Server admins who deal with large servers on fast connections hate dealing with that process every month, so what makes people think that this will be tolerable on a daily basis?

don't pop the champagne just yet

[streetlawyer]

Linux will have made this "major transition" when a product of this type is actually made, not when someone "seems to be developing" it. Vapourware may be all right the "aint it cool" category, but in the marketplace, it's products that sell. Even Windows has been harmed by MS's constant trailing of half-baked products. BTW, the post below yours seems to suggest that this is a hoax anyway.

All-in-won. We lost.

[crovira]

The rush to have a be-all and end-all box means that, once we have it, civilization might as well end. :-/

And I agree. Most boxes (Apple hardware to the contrary,) are hideous.

They are not designed. They are cobbled together by people who are trying to win the lowest bid.

The closest we have to a component-ized product line is stereo systems. (Most are boring boxes but some, like Bang & Olufsen, have style.)

Re:Well-known hoax.

[psychosis]

Your link to altavista doesn't give any results... Not that I don't believe you, but I could find no information on Ucentric being a hoax or a fake company. (I tried metacrawler, too.) In fact, the Polaris VC group has a (seemingly) legit press release-ey page on their site with $10M ponied up for Ucentric.
Don't get me wrong, I realize that there is a huge possibility that everything on the web is a hoax, just curious where the info came from.