According to a recent study by ABI Research, home automation might just become a consumer-friendly service by 2013. I'd like to believe it, but it sounds overly optimistic.

The report points out that the home automation market has long been split in two. In the blue corner, you've got the heavyweight custom install solutions like Crestron, AMX and Konnex. In the red corner, there's a flyweight industry of DIY installers who are playing around with X10 and Z-Wave technologies.

Custom installs are expensive. Panasonic's high-tech 'house of the future', for example, cost almost £500,000 to build.

Unless the technology is included in new houses, the cost of retro-fitting LCD wall panels and intelligent lighting are typically out of most people's reach. As for X10 and Z-Wave... networking your home with these technologies is still very much a hobbyist pursuit.

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