Smart Home Blog

Compact and stylish mini PC Fujitsu Esprimo Q1500 can playback 720p video, said Engadget. It uses Intel graphis and not nVidia Ion. So, the HD playback needs strong processor – no less than a 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo T9600. Additionally the Q1500 can be equiped with Blu-ray drive.

The price of the Q1500 is not so cheap as nVidia Ion-based nettops – €700. But it looks nice, compact and has enough horsepowers for HD video. Comparing with Mac Mini I don’t like only one thing in the Fujitsu Esprimo Q1500 – USB ports, power button and stickers on the front panel. In my mind the clear panel looks more attractive.

Aspalis SAS together with Navicom presents the Pulse – controller for home automation. It’s based on Intel® IXP420 Network Processor, which offers a scaleable solution while keeping energy consumption and heat dissipation to a minimum. As OS the Pulse uses Microsoft® Windows® Embedded CE 5.0 (not Linux, unfortunatelly), which can be managed and updated remotely.

The controller includes an integrated KNX/EIB bus connector. Additionaly, it supports Z-Wave protocol.Multiple serial ports offer RS232/422/435 connections to systems such as alarm panels, access control systems, irrigation controllers, etc. The controllers also features two USB 2.0 ports and dual 10/100 Ethernet ports which enable the controller to connect to both WAN and LAN connections.

There are varius devices which can be used as the Pulse control console: smartphones, PDA, Tablet or ordinary PC. They should be based on Windows – Mobile, Embedded or XP with .NET Compact Framework v2.0.

There is not any information about availability and cost of the Pulse.
[via Engadget]