Life|ware introduces new connected home hardware, including media centre with quad CableCARD tuners

September 21, 2007 – US firm Life|ware has announced the launch of a new range of hardware for the connected home, led by new Life|media Servers with quad CableCARD tuners, and also including touch panels, Web services-enabled controllers and an entry level Life|media server.

The new lineup of Life|media media servers include the LMS-654 model and the flagship LMS-754, the latter of which includes an Intel Core Extreme Quad-Core processor, 4GB of DDRAM and a 4TB hard drive in RAID 5 array.  The new entry-level Life|media LMS-200 is a US$ 3,500 entry-level media server intended for smaller Life|ware installations and single-room applications.  The Life|media product line includes 12 different models and ranges in price from US$ 3,500 to US$ 15,000, and the new models will become available in the fourth quarter of this year.

Another new entry to the product range are Life|point touch panels in 8.9-inch and 12.1-inch sizes, offering 720p high-definition and intended for use in Life|ware home networks.  The touch panels can also be upgraded to include a new feature called Life|slide, which enables the user to gesture right or left to navigate the Life|ware gallery.  The touch panels can also be upgraded with Life|vision, a digital TV tuner server that will stream video from any of four tuners simultaneously over an IP network.  Life|point touch panels are available now for US$ 6,000 for the 8.9-inch model and US$ 7,000 for the 12.1-inch model.  Life|vision will become available in the fourth quarter of 2007 with an MSRP of US$ 6,000.

The new Life|controller is a Web services-enabled home automation system controller, available in set-top, rack mount or structured cable box models.  The Life|controller is priced at US$ 3,750 for the enclosure mount and US$ 3,500 for the rack mount units, and is already available.