5 Gadgets That Will Transform Your Home

This Innovation Series is supported by Lexus.

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Most of the gadgets that make for truly transformative modern living are surprisingly affordable, and they're changing our homes month by month and year by year into something that resembles our fantastic visions of "the future." Here are five gadgets you can buy now (or a couple months from now) that will change the way you live, work and play.

And be sure to let us know your favorite futuristic, time-saving gadgets in the comments.

1. Environment: HAL

Home automation is hardly new, but it will change the way you use and control your home environment more than any other kind of gadget setup. It will also cost you a bit more than most gadgets, since you might have to invest in a server.

Named for the spaceship computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey, HAL is one such product on the market today. This home automation system allows you to control lights, appliances, audio, video, security and thermostat settings from a web browser, via phone or even by voice. HAL can also gather and serve content such as email, news items, stock quotes, weather reports and sports scores.

Of course, for the more technically advanced of our readers, you can always hack you own version of HAL if you feel adventurous and have the time. And if you're into FOSS, check out LinuxMCE, a Kubuntu add-on that lets you manage media, telecommunications, security and environmental controls in your home from any device.

2. Energy: PowerMeter

Google's PowerMeter has been around for a while, and new consumer devices specifically designed for this energy-monitoring software are starting to hit the market in greater numbers.

By using a device such as Current Cost's ENVI, you can make greener decisions by monitoring the energy you use. The ENVI can monitor the energy used by individual appliances as well as the total energy consumption of your household. It currently only monitors electricity, but the company is also developing the ability to track gas and other forms of energy. Its LCD screen displays your home's energy consumption over a rolling 24-hour period as a bar graph. The ENVI can also calculate to the penny how much your energy use is costing you.

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3. Chores: iRobot

Remember Rosie from the Jetsons? So do the makers of iRobot. The company that created the Roomba also makes gutter cleaners, pool scrubbers, floor moppers and even automated shop vacs. Especially if you live in a larger home, having a small army of floor-bound robots can cut down immensely on your cleaning time and make tidying up a much more efficient process.

The Roomba made its debut in 2002; it has since been joined by the Verro pool cleaner, the Looj gutter cleaner, the Scooba floor washer and the Dirt Dog shop vac.

If you're of a more technical bent, iRobot's devices are also quite hackable and even have APIs for your programming pleasure.

4. Audio: Sonos S5

According to a company rep, this gadget is "the simplest, easiest way to get music into any and every room of your house." Ringing in at around $400 per room, the Sonos S5 system is perfect for heavy iPod/iPhone users who want more and better access to their extensive iTunes libraries.

The S5 acts as a sort of speaker for all the music in the cloud, as well. It can pull down all the music on the Internet, including tunes from web-based services like Pandora, Rhapsody, Napster, SIRIUS, Last.fm and more than 100,000 radio stations and podcasts.

You can use your smartphone as a controller for your Sonos system, and the Sonos rep also told us the company is shipping a brand new iPad Controller experience later this year.

5. Entertainment: Google TV

Google TV arrived a scant month ago. It was announced at Google I/O, where we also learned that Sony would be releasing a special television set to support the software.

You can start stocking your piggybank now, because Sony's Google TV will launch this fall, just a few months from now.

Google TV is more robust than web TV or Apple TV, and it’s not just a browser or a guide. This device and software will let you search for and navigate both TV and online content. You’ll be able to download and run apps from your TV and control your TV from your Android smartphone.

Best of all, Google's excellent voice-activated commands and searches work beautifully on this device.

Series supported by Lexus

This Innovation Series is supported by Lexus.

[img credit: x-ray_delta_one]

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