How To Control Your Home with Your iPhone or iPad

Gadgets. They are a part of life. We have such an abundance of them that the operation of them becomes increasingly bewildering even for those that are tech savvy. A plethora of remote controls pervade every household. So how can we keep control in our own home?

ControlFX thinks they have the answer. Their technology aims to do away with all your remote controls and just leave with your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. Armed with only these devices you will be able with their technology to zap your way to a whole world of new possibilities.

Like other home control solutions ControlFX allows you to activate and use appliances at home. Picture the scene you have a party at your home and you want to make sure that you set the right atmosphere without having to traipse all around the house digging in drawers to find where your partner has put the remote for the stereo in the upstairs bedroom or juggling three different handsets to adjust the music, mute the cult picturesque movie playing in the background and dim the lighting in your living room.

ControlFX in action (Video courtesy of controlfx.co.uk)

So instead you take out your iPhone you mute the movie you have on your TV. Decide actually you want to change Pirates of the Caribbean for something more terrifying like Texas Chainsaw Massacre. You then put AC/DC next on your playlist. The horror theme appeals to you so using your Nuvo whole home audio system you turn your upstairs bedroom “zone” into a homage to heavy metal. Of course you can’t have the lights blazing bright in such a den of mayhem so you dim the lights throughout the house – remembering to give the toilets a suitable level of brightness to keep the female guests happy. You haven’t moved and your drink is still cold and intact in your hand. Time to get back to the party you never left.

ControlFX can control your television, Sky HD, home cinema equipment and PlayStation 3 and media server. It also has support for a huge range of AV, lighting and automation products via an IR, RS232 and IP system library.

Installation is not straightforward but ControlFX will guide you to a local dealer from whom you can purchase and install the system according to your requirements. Whilst there are other home control systems such as Philips Pronto, RTI, Crestron and AMX where ControlFX stands out is its pioneering use of Apple devices to give you the control you want. It works with all telecom providers. The user interface is also relatively simple so you can truly become master of your own home.

About The Author

Jimmy Wentz is a budding freelance tech writer, gadget and gaming enthusiast, and social media junkie. He writes regularly about O2 and the latest news in the tech, gaming, and social media world.

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