San Clemente, Calif. –
plans this
month to ship in-wall mounting kits for Apple’s iPod Touch and iPad, enabling
the devices to control home-automation systems via Wi-Fi when loaded with
home-control apps.
The kits, called control mounts, are targeted
to consumers who might not be interested in more costly proprietary touchscreen
controllers, said Ari Supran, CEO of iPort parent Dana Innovations. The two
kits also give installers an opportunity to profit on the sale of an Apple
product, he added. “Typically, there is not a profit model available to the CI
dealer for an Apple product,” he explained. But by bundling an iPort control mount
with an Apple product, a dealer can “integrate Apple products and realize
profit from the sale of an iPort product,” he said. Dealers are already
bundling Apple products with iPort’s in-wall and freestanding iPod docks, which
turn iPods into sources for installed multi-room audio systems.
The
$250-suggested iPort CM-IW100T control mount encases an iPod Touch in a
wall-mounted chassis with a magnetically attached, rectangular fascia, as does
the $499-suggested CM-IW2000 for the iPad.
iPort is
not offering home-control apps itself, but the Touch and iPad will run
home-control apps designed by other companies for their home automation
systems.
Both kits
can be installed in a vertical or horizontal orientation.
