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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   Related Stories • Technology can be tricky 12/23/07   CONTACT THE HERALD Mike Benbow, Business Editor benbow@heraldnet.com   Published: Sunday, December 23, 2007 Controlling your home from work By Carly Harrington Scripps Howard News Service About to head home from work? Use the Internet to set the temperature, turn on the lights and have your favorite music playing. Your kids are supposed to be in bed by 11 p.m.? With the touch of a button, you can turn off the television in their bedroom. For Knoxville, Tenn.-based Simple Control, it's all about providing a service and product that simplifies life. "It's cool stuff. It's the things that we saw in "The Jetsons" growing up as kids, and it's affordable and available now. It's just a matter of letting people know about it," said John Miller, president and founder of Simple Control. Miller, a former chief executive of Eloqui Wireless, which was purchased by U.S. Cellular in 2006, has created an interactive system that provides the homeowner or business with the ability to control a range of media and electronics, such as lighting, television, sound system, heat and air and security cameras. Using a touch-screen controller that's about the size of a portable DVD player, the system eliminates the need for multiple remote controls. It uses a Window-based interface technology and requires broadband Internet service and an on-site network installed by Simple Control. It just makes life more convenient, Miller said. "It wasn't that many years ago getting up off the couch to change the television channel was the way you did it. I can't imagine anybody saying they don't need a remote control," said Miller, whose company became profitable in its first seven months of operation. Equipment packages begin at $1,999 plus installation fees with a monthly fee of $20.

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