What is a Digital Home?
Here’s what a digital home will enable you to do:

Control all of the systems in your home
Manage and enjoy all of your digital media 
Access everything from a TV, touch panel, webpad, or PC
Have full control of your home on the Internet

What do I need to do this?
The fully integrated digital home combines home entertainment with home control.  All of your pictures, music, home videos, and movies are now at your fingertips with the same interface used to control your home systems; lighting, video, audio, security, irrigation and so on.  What could be easier?

Cortexa’s “My Home” is fully integrated with Microsoft Media Center, truly delivering the long awaited affordable digital home.  Any piece of digital media or adjustment to your home control system is only a click away.

If you do not need or want Media Center, “My Home” can also be used as a stand-alone system.  All user screens, navigation and access are identical as when using with Media Center.  Click on the bottom screen shot above to see an enlarged image of the Cortexa Home page.

Visit our Product page to learn more.

What makes up a Home Control system?
Home Control systems aren't that complicated. Essentially all systems are made up of three fundamental building blocks:

A “brain” (home controller)
The systems in your home (sub-systems)
The device you use to view the system (access point)

What is a Home Controller?
With most robust home control systems, the controller is a dedicated hardware device onto which home control software is installed.  There are other systems on the market which are software only products, running on a PC.

The controller, as the name suggests, is the hub of the home and sends and receives data to and from all sub-systems.  Turning on lights, adjusting thermostats, monitoring security, every minute of the day.

At Cortexa, we strongly believe the controller should be a dedicated hardware device in order to ensure the reliability you expect and demand of your home control system.

What are Sub-Systems?
Typical sub-systems are audio, video, lighting, climate, security, and irrigation.  Some home control systems use proprietary devices such as light switches and thermostats, while others adopt more of an open systems approach.  You should think of these as just like regular devices, but with built-in intelligence.  For example, a light switch in a home control system must be capable of responding to commands from the controller and also sending immediate feedback to the controller if someone has manually changed the setting of the switch.

At Cortexa, we are proponents of customer choice,  therefore support the open standards approach to sub-systems.  The Cortexa Home Controller supports many different sub-system technologies and platforms, offering many combinations of ergonomics, functionality and cost.

What are Access Points?
Essentially the window into the system.  This could be a TV, a touch panel mounted in the wall, a roaming webpad, or for web-enabled systems, a PC or PDA.  These devices allow the homeowner to establish all of the settings and parameters of their home, view current status of your home and make real-time adjustments to any systems.

If you travel and it’s important for you to do these things, make sure any system you buy is fully web-enabled, understand how remote access works, and if there are additional costs involved.

At Cortexa, we offer all of the access points listed above, and your system will be available on the Internet whenever you need it, completely free of any monthly subscription charges.

Click here to understand what a home control system will do for your home.