Nokia robots take over the home

Finnish handset vendor Nokia unveiled some blue skies technology on Thursday, in the shape of its Home Control Centre.

The world’s biggest handset manufacturer claims that the platform will be the basis for next generation security, smart home solutions and household energy management systems.

What this means is that Nokia sees its gadgets eventually taking full control of your home. Consumers could monitor and control their electricity usage by switching devices on and off remotely, they could control temperature, heating, and ventilation systems, and even have remote security systems which could send live video feeds via the mobile network. What could possibly go wrong?

Actually, while much of this sounds like science fiction, some of the technology is already available, with celebrity users including ex-Microsoft boss Bill Gates and Southampton singing sensation Craig David, who famously demonstrated his house’s ‘chill mode’ at Mobile World Congress 2006.

Teppo Paavola, vice president and head of corporate business development at Nokia, said: “The home of today has intelligence everywhere, but to date there has not been a solution that is interoperable with wide range of home systems that can easily be controlled. We want to create an open solution where external partners can develop their own solutions and services on top of our platform. We believe that the mobile device is an ideal interface to control home intelligence, especially when the user is not at home.”

Nokia expects its platform to be taking control of homes everywhere by the end of 2009.