Arguably the best iPhone app for INSTEON-based home automation systems MobiLinc Pro just released a new version (2.16) in the AppStore.

It gets new sleek images and icons specifically designed for higher resolution display of iPhone 4 (known as Retina Display).

Among other changes are support for upside down orientation of the iPhone’s screen, Plug-in Store for ISY99i controller owners and a few bug fixes.

Hopefully, the iPad version of MobiLinc Pro will follow soon. (continue reading this article and leave comments here…)

Recently I’ve posted about my pet project called KitchenTouch. Here’s the the latest status of it…

The last update as of Aug 18, adds support for skinnable GUI. Now styles (i.e. colors/fonts/etc) of buttons, tabs and other UI controls could be changed. For now the style lives in App.xaml, but the intent is to move the skinning to external resource that could be modified by end-user without the need to re-compile the app. Here’s a preview of the new styling. A big win for me is that I’ve finally figured out how to make the scrollbars wider (and therefore much easier to use with the finger).

A very basic validation (KTValidate.cs) was added to the values read from the XML config file (field validation never hurts, right?). Mostly, it checks the type of the values and existence of specified local paths. If values do not validate for some reason the default values will be used (no warning is given, but probably it should be added in the future).

I’m also considering abandoning the images that I’m using on the tabs and buttons and instead using some fancy font (like Webdings). This will allow to skin tabs more easily in the future.

The soft keyboard functionality (TouchKeyboard.xaml.cs) was finally fixed. Now it’s a modal window that returns a state and the result (edited text). At first I tried to implement it as a Custom Control, but that was obviously a wrong path.

The XML Settings file now stores the config version and the date saved. This might be useful in the future for migrating Settings from one app version to another.

This project is a free software developed under GNU Lesser General Public License (aka GNU LGPL). For now there are no binaries (aka Setup/Installer) to download, but the full C# source code is available for anyone interested from http://kitchentouch.codeplex.com.

Below is my entry into HomeToys Home Tech Tips and Tricks contest.

A never-ending fight for TV-time.

How to cut your kid’s TV-time without saying a word, the geek-way.

My kid is three and a half years old now and I got to tell you, he is smart! He keeps my home automation system on its toes. Here’s my story…

As most parents, we have a never-ending fight with out kid trying to limit his TV-time. I had brains to install TV and a DVD player in his bedroom, and now I have to find ways to tame his TV-appetite.

At first, my kid just couldn’t reach the power button on a TV, so turning TV OFF manually worked fine for a while. Then he figured out how to use a chair to climb up and turn it ON by himself. That’s when I’ve had to engage my Home Automation system. (continue reading this article and leave comments here…)

It has been a little quiet in my blog lately. But it’s not because I was lazy (well, maybe just a little).

I’ve been busy celebrating many many birthdays in July (including my own) and also I spent a lot of my time learning new technologies (namely HTML5, CSS3 and C# languages) and coding my own home automation project called KitchenTouch.

That last thing is what I want to tell you about. (continue reading this article and leave comments here…)

The Home Automation Superstore, Smarthome.com is running an Exclusive 4th of July Sale.

SmartLinc controller

Many INSTEON products are discounted 10% and more.

Here’s just a few examples… You can get a SmartLinc, an iPhone-ready INSTEON Central Controller for only $116. Or save $5 on a fully redesigned Dual-Band Lamp Dimmer, on sale for $44.99. And a pair of Access Points to expand the range of your RF-only devices is on sale for $62.99 – a savings of $7.

It’s a great opportunity to expand your INSTEON home automation system.

Hurry, though, the Sale ends on 6th of July!