iphone

Using your iPhone to Remotely Control Your Garage Door

1 Comment / Home Automation, Phones / By /

We just posted that Smart Start iPhone app from Viper that lets you start your car remotely, but what about opening your garage door remotely? Why you ask?

Here’s the scenario – you wake up on a cold winter morning, maybe in your upstairs bedroom, and you’re already late for work but just can’t imagine getting into that cold car sitting in your garage, but you’ve got the Smart Start iPhone app. Great, except that it’s going to take more than a minute or two to get that car warmed up, and you don’t want all the noxious exhaust filling your garage and seeping into your house as well.

Convinced? Ok. So one enterprising techie has already figured out how to rig his garage door [Howto] with some X10-enabled equipment that he could then control via an iPhone app called X10 Commander. And just so you know, that’s not the only game in town – there are more apps for the iPhone for your home automation control, such as iLinc.

Viper Smart Start iPhone app – Remotely Start Your Car

Automotive, Phones, Portable, Software / By /

Well your AT&T coverage and reliability may not be very good, but hey at least your iPhone is one amazing little smartphone. Automotive gadget maker Viper has taken advantage of that fact to create an iPhone app called Smart Start that pairs with one of their Remote Start products to let you start/stop/lock/unlock your car from your iPhone from virtually anywhere.

Before there were iPhones, Viper was making remote automobile starter systems that are installed in your car, and that you could then use the accompanying remote control to start your car from varying distances (some products are just local up to 2000 ft while others could go up to a mile). …

Viper Smart Start iPhone app – Remotely Start Your CarRead More »

iLinc: iPhone app to control your INSTEON/X10 home automation devices remotely

3 Comments / Gizmo of the Day, Home Automation / By /

Now that you have your home automation all tricked out, and you got yourself an iPhone, how do you control your HA system from your God-phone?! Not to worry, iLinc is an iPhone/iPod Touch app that lets you do just that.

For example, you can control up to 1000 INSTEON or X10 devices as well as up to 1000 ‘scenes’. You of course need some way to make your devices accessible to the Intenret, and either the ISY-99i controller or the INSTEON PowerLinc controller will do the trick.

There are 2 versions, the iLinc Lite can only control 1 device, but it’s enough to get you started testing. iLinc Pro will let you control all of your devices and also works with the USB/Serial PowerLinc.

By the way, this isn’t the only iPhone app available to control your home automation devices.

Buy now!

Price: iLinc Lite: Free, iLinc Pro: $19.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Radio Shack to sell iPhone

News, Phones, Portable / By /

It seems like an incongruous pairing, but Radio Shack (aka The Shack) is set to carry the iPhone 3G and 3GS in Dallas and New York City by Thanksgiving, and then nationwide in 2010.

Of course, if you can’t wait, you can still get an iPhone at Wal-Mart or Best Buy OR you could get yourself an Android handset instead.

AT&T to allow VoIP apps on iPhones to work on cell network

Phones / By /

Well, well, well. AT&T has just decided to reverse their prior stance and allow iPhone users to use Skype and other VoIP apps on the cellular networks. VoIP apps would work when the iPhone was on a WiFi network, but not when connected to the AT&T network.

Certainly, this is good news for consumers, but you do have to wonder why they decided to change their position. It’s quite likely that given the FCC’s current investigation into the competitiveness of wireless services, that AT&T decided to jump the gun on them being branded anti-competitive.

Bank allows check deposits via iPhone

Networking & Internet, Phones / By /

USAA, a privately-held bank, is about to roll out an updated version of their iPhone app that will allow select customers to ‘deposit’ checks without having to mail in or step foot into a bank. Customers will photograph both sides of the check with their phone and then a few touches later, voila!

USAA has had check scanning capability for years now and this is just the next step. Expect other larger banks to follow suit quickly.

via NY Times

Scroll to Top