Nokia, mostly known for its mobile devices these days, is trying to succeed where others have failed by introducing the Nokia Home Control Center, a wireless network hub that sends signals to devices in the home. It would be the brain of what's called a smart home, telling lights to turn off, adjusting thermostats, setting alarms, and more. Products like this already exist and have never achieved widespread popularity, but Nokia hopes it can leverage its place in the cellphone industry to popularize the product.

In that vein, a cellphone-friendly web application will let owners control their homes from anywhere. Presently the system lacks many of its promised features (such as security camera control), but the it's built on an open source, Linux-based platform, so third parties can add features at will. It also speaks the unique languages of several of the competing home automation standards like Z-Wave and ZigBee, so it should work with just about any smart home-ready device. Look for it in Europe in 2009 and elsewhere later.