Hands-on with Nokia’s Home Control Centre

Nokia’s Home Control Centre goes on sale next year, but that’s too far away. We wanted to get hands-on with it now! So we did. The premise behind it is that mobile phone owners will be able to keep an eye on all their electronic widgets in their house, and monitor energy levels and the heating, while they’re away from their home.

The Home Control Centre is essentially a wireless router that boasts ultra-fast N-standard Wi-Fi, as well as wired network connections for any kit nearby. It also has the excitingly named Z-Wave technology for hooking up to existing home automation kits, such as intelligent light switches or remote-controlled air-conditioning units. It’s all controlled from a mobile phone.

We saw it working on a Nokia N95 8GB, with options for controlling heating, turning lights on and off and controlling the home’s alarm system while you’re out. It’s due for release early next year, with a second version toting GPRS to follow.

Here it is: the Nokia Home Control Centre hub. Complete with interchangeable covers.


You control the Home Control Centre from your mobile phone, like this Nokia N95 8GB, for example.


You’ll be able to turn on your lights in any room in your house, from anywhere in the world. As long as you have your mobile.


Cold in the kitchen? Why not notch it up a few degrees? 24.6?C should do it.


You can even activate or deactivate your home security system with Nokia’s Home Control Centre.


Top talents

Big capacity
The box also has 6GB of internal storage, presumably for holding footage from security camera or collecting data from connected devices.

Smarter than your average
The Home Control Centre allows for pre-set limits. What that means is, when you’re on holiday for instance, it can turn the heating on when it gets too cold so the pipes don’t freze, or turn the lights on when it gets dark outside – to deter burglars.

Interchangeable fascias
The Control Centre might not please everyone aesthetically, which is why Nokia is giving it interchangeable fascias to adapt to anyone’s décor. Even Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen’s.

Like the idea of controlling your home’s tech from afar? Get talking about it on the PriceRunner forum.

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