Techmamas

Sunset Dream House: Fireplace 2.0, Internet TV, HP Media Server and ePrinters

I am a big fan of Sunset Magazine, They always present recipes, trips and decorating tips that I aspire to. I have also toured Sunset Dream Houses (houses where Sunset works with the developers to design and decorate the house) and always leave with great ideas. But, while I have a healthy dose of the "geek" gene, I don't have the "decorator" gene - even if I do have an eye for knowing what looks good. So I like to leave decorating to the professionals.

That is why I was thrilled when HP offered me a chance to tour a local Sunset Dream house before it opened to the public. The Sunset Dream House I toured is in Los Gatos, CA and it is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday starting today (July 23) through August 15, 2010. I suggest everyone stop by because it is not only a beautiful remodel, but also a house that has something pushing TechMama into a techy frenzy: Family Media 2.0.

When I arrived at the house I was greeted by Kathi McCalligan (Sunset Home programs Director), Gordon Van Zuiden of cyberManor and Josh Schoonmaker  from HP. Josh is involved with the HP Smart Home program. I originally became fascinated with HP's vision of the home after seeing the HP technology at the Disneyland Innoventions Dream Home. I appreciate that Ann Finnie from HP supports my smarthome obsession and was kind enough to invite me to the tour. 

We all sat down to discuss the house design and technology. Of course, I asked for all the details and here are some highlights from our discussion:

• The Sunset Dream Home was designed as a seamless integration of technology and design. 
• Technology, now part of the tools needed for school, social, entertainment and more, should be a seamless experience in the home. 
• There are sophisticated technology systems in more expensive homes, but there are also more budget friendly options providing enormous value in smaller spaces.
• Sunset brought together traditional and new technology, connecting TV to the network and antique photos with digital photo frames. 
• Technology is presented with a "real family lives here" vision rather than as science fiction.

Here are the schematics  (below, implemented by cyberManor) of the technology behind the Sunset Dream House in Los Gatos and a description of the technology from the cyberManor website.

"cyberManor integrated and deployed the HP (www.hp.com) and Control4 (www.control4.com) family of hardware and software products to provide a seamless, reliable, and easy to use method for the control of the electronic home entertainment, lighting and comfort equipment from several in wall keypads, touchscreens and universal remote controls."

   

HP Photosmart Premium e-All-in-One printer & HP ePrint Platform: No Printer Drivers Needed

Today HP announced a new category of web-enabled printing solutions designed for the cloud with their HP Photosmart Premium e-All-in-One printer.

 
As someone who just had to reinstall print drivers in a new computer to get it to "talk" to my printer, the HP ePrint platform is a welcome announcement. Printing from the cloud means you can print from any email device (such as a smartphone) and NO PRINT DRIVERS NEEDED (that's my favorite part).  The printing experience can be managed through the HP ePrintCenter. The HP ePrintCenter also has a directory of apps.

Link to Press Release: www.hp.com/go/hpatiwny

The announcement was made at Internet Week 2010 - NYC. Here is the Microsite: www.hp.com/go/iwny

More details to follow.

The New York City Moms Blog is having a giveaway from June 7 - June 10 of the HP Photosmart Premium e-All-in-One printer. 

Mom Fashion Adventures at the Launch of the HP Mini Vivienne Tam Netbook

Of all the mom adventures I have taken the HP Mini Vivienne Tam on, last nights was the biggest adventure of all. We are in New York City and had the opportunity to go to the Vivienne Tam fashion show.  Vivienne Tam welcomed the big group of bloggers with open arms and a sincere interest in our feedback.

 

The dresses were beautiful, I am saving my allowances to buy one of myself. Mother's of three boys need their dresses!

 

Umm, yes that is the fabulous Vivienne Tam with TechMama /Beth Blecherman holding the fashionable digital clutch - HP Mini Vivienne Tam Edition. To make the night even more perfect, I am wearing a Black Vivienne Tam dress.

 

Techie Diva with Vivienne Tam

Mama Bird Diaries/ New York City Moms Blogger Kelcey with Vivienne Tam.

More pictures coming hot off the SD slot from my HP Mini which I will use to update my post tomorrow. For now, off to sleep...

UPDATE: Here is a Flickr Badge with the pictures the group took during our fabulous fashion tech adventure:

www.flickr.com

This is a Flickr badge showing public items from the HP / Vivienne Tam Fashion Week Event group pool. Make your own badge here.

Disclosure: I was given a Vivienne Tam HP Netbook and accessories for review and the trip was provided to me as part of a review campaign.