The modern home is infested with remote controls and the Upgrade research lab (which doubles as a lounge room) is no exception. From the television and various AV components to the computer and even the air-conditioner, every household device seems determined to be controlled remotely. This plague has inspired a generation of programmable meta-remote controls but CorAccess's MUSE Web Tablet takes things to the next level.
Smaller than an A4 notepad, the MUSE runs Windows CE.Net and has a built-in 802.11b adaptor. As such, it has three main uses: as a stand-alone computing device; as a thin client to remotely access another computer; and as an interface to a HAI home automation system. It's easy to find the shortcomings of the MUSE when viewed purely as a stand-alone device - Windows CE running on a StrongARM processor with 64KB RAM, 32MB ROM and no hard drive is hardly cutting-edge computing - but to view it this way is to miss the point.
The MUSE is not intended to be a primary computing device like its cousin, the Tablet PC. It is a thin client gateway for easily accessing the potential of your more powerful devices. A StrongARM processor and flash memory such as in a hand-held PC means the MUSE powers up immediately, offering CE.net versions of Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, Windows Messenger, an email client and viewers for common file formats. Like the Tablet PC, it has a stylus and the monitor can be used in landscape or portrait mode.
Reasonably accurate handwriting recognition can be used anywhere on the screen and is complemented by a virtual keyboard. Onboard adaptors include USB, PC Card and Bluetooth. The MUSE's potential becomes clear when using remote desktop or Citrix to control a remote computer via the wireless adaptor. Suddenly the grunt of the computer at the heart of your home network is at your disposal without the lag time of applications such as Symantec's pcAnywhere.
Unfortunately, the MUSE lacks the grunt and decent speakers required to be a remote multimedia device. Unlike pcAnywhere, using remote desktop logs the user off the host machine, which causes problems when trying to get the host to deliver AV content to an external stereo system and television. The MUSE makes up for this by acting as a programmable IR remote for AV devices, ending the nightly remote control hunt. Using the MUSE with HAI home automation equipment puts control of every device in the home at your fingertips, from lighting and home theatre to security systems and surveillance cameras.
An HAI network can also be accessed remotely using the telephone and internet access. For more details, look at be-home.com.au. Short of bringing you a beer while you're watching the cricket, the MUSE Web Tablet is about as close as they come to a dream device for lounge lizards wanting to hardwire themselves into their technological surroundings.