From the estimates we have been seeing it looks like Apple sold between 90,000 and 120,000 iPads last Friday. That is pretty amazing for a product that almost nobody has held in their hands or even seen in person.

This shows how the popularity of the touch screen has grown. Many companies have attempted tablets in the past, but never with widespread success.

Estimates are Apple took in about $50 million on iPad preorders, not bad for one day. We would be happy to do that in an entire year!

Labels: apple, home automation, ipad, multi-touch, touch screen

- Josh Ferguson
Posted Monday, March 15, 2010 at 9:21 AM

We have been using the HAI Omnitouch 10p for almost a year now. It is a great device that allows clients to easily control their home automation systems. Prior to the 10p and 5.7e touch screens, we used the OmniTouch 5.7 and before that the OmniTouch 3.9. These were great screens, but did not allow for any customization. The standard HAI interface is very nice and extremely functional. However, it’s not ideal for all homes. The now 10p and 5.7e, along with HAI’s automation studio give us the tools to unlock the screens and create some amazing touch screen designs…

The software tool, called HAI Automation Studio, can be used to customize the interface of Omnitouch 10p and Omnitouch 5.7e touchscreen devices. Using this tool, you can create the new interface for the touchscreen and then upload the new interface to the device. You can now choose your colors, themes, buttons, and options. Going further, we can map your floor plans onto your touch screen. The map would act as a menu to control the rooms in your house. These customizations make the system more personal and user friendly.

So, how would you like your touchscreen interface to look?

Labels: automation studio, HAI, home automation, ip devices, omnitouch, touch screen, touchscreens

- Mile High Automation
Posted Thursday, February 25, 2010 at 10:57 PM

Compared to other devices, touch screen based devices are easier to learn and operate as they provided a GUI based only on the options you need, not every option a remote manufacturer can put on their device. On the other hand, developers find it easier to create new interfaces for touch screen devices as they are not limited by the number of input buttons provided by the hardware. Popularity of cell phones with multi-touch capabilities are an excellent example of the rise of popularity in touch screens.

In the home automation world, owners of Omni and Lumina home automation controllers (Omni LT, Omni IIe, Omni Pro II, Lumina, and Lumina Pro) can enjoy two new touch screens from HAI; the OmniTouch 5.7e and OmniTouch 10p. Apart from allowing you to manage your home automation tasks, these devices can also be configured to control your home theater system through HAI's Home Theater Extender (HTE). The user interface and graphics can be modified in the event you don't like the default one, using HAI’s Automation Studio software. The following page shows the OmniTouch Touch Screens in action.

The OmniTouch 10p is the portable version of OmniTouch 5.7e. Its portable nature and large 10” screen make it easy for you to carry it around your house just like your normal television remote control. But that's only one of the reasons this device is powerful and fun to use. The 10p gives you the added benefit of allowing you to browse the net and check email right from the wireless tablet itself. What could be better?

Labels: HAI, home automation, HTE, omnitouch, portable touchscreens, touch screen, touchscreens, wireless

- Mile High Automation
Posted Friday, January 29, 2010 at 7:51 AM

- Dan Lowitz
Posted Friday, May 29, 2009 at 9:57 AM

- Rob Shah
Posted Thursday, April 2, 2009 at 1:43 PM

One question that pops up every now and then is about customizing the HAI Omnitouch Touch Screen graphics. HAI has designed a nice interface that is well organized and very easy to use. This interface is perfect for 95% of the population, but some people like to be able to customize the look and feel of their screens.

At this time there is no customization allowed by HAI on their touch screens. While at first this seems like a negative, it is done for good reason. When an interface is customized the system becomes near impossible to troubleshoot if problems arise. With a standard screen, it is easy to walk through steps to diagnose and fix the issue. Another great feature of the current HAI touch screen is that changes made to the Omni Pro II or Omni IIe panel are automatically updated on the touch screens. With custom screens both the system and the screen must be updated independently.

Having said that, there are a few options for the hardcore DIY-er....


Software Based Control:


While we aren't able to customize the current (notice I say current, HAI does have some future plans...) touch screens, we can use 3rd party software applications to create a custom interface that sits on top of the HAI system.

My favorite is CQC (charmedquark.com). This is software that you can load on a wireless tablet PC, or a server. You then build the interface from scratch, right down to the font and icons.

In addition to the graphical interface, CQC also allows you to build the back-end system to control the HAI system. This takes a lot more work, and in the end does not provide the same amount of control that the standard HAI does. However, you do get a slick looking screen.

The downside:

2 years ago I created a spin-off business (5280automation.com) that would create these custom interfaces. The time to design and program a single system was about 200 hours, a good month of work. In addition to time, a dedicated computer and dedicated touch panels were also required. All of this brought a single custom design with 2 touch screens to around $15,000. Not exactly in line with our product offering or clients...

After a year we scraped the project. As a business venture it did not make sense, but for a homeowner with an extra computer laying around, a lot of free time, and a vision the result can be excellent.



Closing thoughts:

As you may imagine, my home is chalked full of the equipment we sell. I spent the 200+ hours to create a working interface for my home. I ran this custom system for 2 months, then switched back to the HAI touch screens. The main reasons were speed and reliability.

If I wanted to arm the security or run a lighting scene I did not want to wait for a network connection to occur, I wanted to instantly. Since the system ran on a Windows based computer, I would sometimes wake up to a blank screen or Windows desktop after a Windows update had occurred. Not the end of the world, but I like knowing whenever I walk up to the touch screen it will be ready and waiting for me.

* All custom interfaces were created by us when 5280automation.com was up and running.

Labels: custom, HAI, interface, omnitouch, touch screen

- Josh Ferguson
Posted Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 4:50 PM