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Companies Betting On New Products For High-Tech Homes

Companies, large and small alike, are betting big that the typical house will undergo a technological transformation a la the Jetsons that could lead to an explosion of new gadgets and services, Ben Worthen reports.

Cisco, Comcast, General Electric and ADT, for example, are joining other investors in a $23 million funding round for start-up iControl Networks, whose software allows customers to control a home's lights, thermostat and security system via the Web. And Microsoft has built a concept home that contains a countertop screen that suggests recipes based on the ingredients in a refrigerator.

One hitch on the pathway to riches: Less than 15% of people in Internet-connected households in the U.S. are very interested in controlling their home's systems over the Internet, according to a survey by Parks Associates. But proponents like venture capitalist John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which happens to be the lead investor in iControl, say those numbers will shoot up once people see what's possible.

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