Tour the Homes of the Future (Jet Packs Not Included)

By Chris Albrecht | Friday, July 11, 2008 | 4:00 PM PT | 4 comments |

When I told my colleague Stacey that I was going on a tour of Netgear’s home of the future setup, she asked if I would grab her a jet pack. Much to her (and my) disappointment neither Netgear nor HP’s “house of tomorrow”-type setups included personal flying transportation. What they did offer, however, was a glimpse into the future of home entertainment.

Brian Burch, HP’s director of marketing for connected entertainment, took me on a tour of the HP Smart Home, an actual 2,000-square-foot, fully functional house built on the company’s HQ. It’s pretty cool, and packed with gadgets like the MediaSmart TV and Connect, control display for home functions and a teched-out kid’s room that would bring a smile to even the most angst-ridden teenager. Here’s a video walk-through of the house (or as I called it “Cribs: HP”).

Netgear’s set up wasn’t as impressive. For one, it’s really just a big room in an office building, not an actual house, and while HP’s looks like it’s furnished by Pottery Barn, Netgear’s is all IKEA. But, it too was packed with networking gear and gizmos. Phil Pyo, Netgear’s director of product marketing, showed off the room and demoed the company’s TV set-top box, powerline connectivity, as well as some of its storage devices. Take the video tour here:

Sadly, no jet packs this time around. Perhaps if I visit the Pentagon’s home of tomorrow…

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