The Linux Muse

Convergent Living keeps expanding its portfolio of Companion-branded home electronics controllers, all of which involve "server-less smart appliances running rock solid Linux". All are intended to work with the company's own components or with those of many other manufacturers. At press time, Convergent Living's Integrated Mode Subsystem Drivers supported--

• 21 scene lighting systems
• 10 distributed audio/video multi-room preamps (with 2 "coming")
• 5 media audio streamers
• 14 digital media servers
• 3 I/serial based components
• 4 security panels
• 7 automation panels
• 5 I cameras, plus "Almost any streaming MPEG-3 camera"

-- plus a pile of Ethernet converters, VGA/USB extenders via CAT5, a serial router, and communications to thermostats, humidifiers, shade controls, weather stations and other "environmental" electronics by a pile of manufacturers, over an array of data link types.

Its latest controller is the Companion Muse, which communicates to both the Net and local home electronics over WiFi. It has a built-in Web browser, plus the ability to control home systems either through IP (Internet Protocol) connections or through "translators" that speak through serial, IR and other interfaces.

The Muse weighs just under 2 pounds, runs on an 800MHz LX-800 Geode processor. It has an 8.4-inch TFT Active Matrix 800 x 600 SVGA LCD touchscreen, talks 802.11b Wi-Fi, and plays 16-bit audio through either a built-in speaker or a headphone jack. It's re-charged through a desk cradle or USB pass-through.

Configuring and integrating widely disparate home electronics tends to be complex professional work, so Convergent Living sells its components through professional integrators. Meanwhile, as the line continues to expand, it demonstrates the handiness of Linux s a solid platform for integrating just about anything.

- Doc Searls

Sources:

http://www.convergentliving.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=15

http://www.convergentliving.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=43&Itemid=67

http://www.convergentliving.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=28

http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS8523585083.html

http://linuxdevices.com/articles/AT6599836729.html