Wired Blog- iPhone for the home ?

[g8crasher]

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/08/iphone-of-home.html

iPhone of Home Phones Coming Next Year

By Priya Ganapati August 20, 2008 | 6:00:10 PMCategories: Phones

It may look like an iPhone, but it's actually a home phone/information center that's meant to sit on your coffee table, phone table or kitchen counter. IP telephony company OpenPeak’s iPhone clone for homes is production ready, says Amy Mikolasy, OpenPeak's director of partner marketing, and could be in the market by the first quarter of 2009.

Florida-based OpenPeak has been working on the slick IP media phone, called OpenFrame, for about a year and a half now. “We have done the end-to-end product design, from hardware to software and the device management system,” says Mikolasy.

The phone has been designed as an interactive information and communication center for the family. “It is meant to replace the home phone, which has been left behind by technology,” she says.

OpenFrame owes much to Apple's iPhone -- not just its design, but the whole ecosystem of services surrounding it.

The phone will be manufactured by Open Peak but is likely to be distributed by telecom service providers. Meanwhile, third party software developers can create applications for it, much as they can with the iPhone.

The device will come with some core applications, such as calendar, news, weather and the like. “One of the beauties of the product is that it is dynamic,” says Mikolasy. “It is really a blank screen of opportunity.” The phone can also be used as a digital picture frame, or a device to listen to internet radio, she says.

OpenPeak is partnering with telecom service providers in the U.S. and internationally to bring the phone to market. The phones will mostly be available to users through telecom carriers such as Verizon and AT&T, but retail distribution is also a possibility, says Mikolasy. OpenPeak hasn’t firmed up pricing but says it is looking to hit the $200 to $300 price range that its research suggests as a sweet spot.

The Apple connection even goes beyond how the phone looks and works: Former Apple CEO John Sculley is an investor in the company. In November 2007, Open Peak said it had raised $30 million in its Series C round of funding. Open Peak’s phone had its moment in the spotlight at a keynote in the Intel developer conference Tuesday because it uses Intel’s Atom processor.

[Guest angela]

nice.. :thumbsup:

if they wanna make it better they can sync it to those "digital house" technology that lets u operate the lights, electric gate, fridge temp, aircon system, water heater... jacussi etc...

[g8crasher]

Yeah Will actually since this phone may possibly be IP based, you can login via 3G and control your entire home from your browser on your mobile phone.