Australia's first fully Internet-enabled home, the funky three-story terrace in inner city Sydney was kitted out with a range of state-of-the-art appliances, including permanent broadband Internet access, 42-inch plasma screens, an in-house audio system that piped MP3 songs throughout the home, videoconferencing facilities and a multi-media editing suite.
A Creston home management system, which controlled the building's electrical appliances and lighting network, automatic locking and unlocking door system, curtain and blind operation and garden watering system from a series wireless touch screens, was also incorporated into the building.
However, the much-hyped home, which attracted visitors in their droves when it was open for inspection, failed to attract market attention.
The property was sold without broadband access as it isn't currently piped to its Pyrmont location - during its open days broadband was delivered temporarily by microwave - and the building management system was the own tech spec the buyer required, according to he site's project manager, at property developer Bovis Lend Lease, Ron Cutler.
-It ended up being sold with a very low technology specification," told ZDNet. -The market just wasn't there."
Although Lend Lease is in discussions with Telstra about its capacity to deliver broadband to the area, out of 250 homes sold at the development site, -there are only three that I know of waiting for broadband," Cutler said. -Three out of 250 is probably consistent with the national average," he added.
Smart homebuyers
Homebuyers may be starting to ask about broadband access when looking for a property, but only a small number are saying that's a part of their purchasing decision, according to Cutler.
-From out perspective broadband does need to be rolled out more quickly...but its the bundling of it - in terms of price - that's not attractive to customers," Cutler said. -That's the barrier to the more rapid take up of broadband."
According to Lend Lease, which teamed with Cisco and 17 other partners to roll out the prototype Internet home, public interest in -smart homes" is growing despite this less-than-stellar introduction.
"We're already seeing a market shift in customer demand towards 'smart homes' that feature high quality cabling, extra electrical outlets and other features that make it easy to get Internet access, run home computer networks and install advanced home entertainment systems," Lend Lease's GM, commercial, Ceinwen Kirk, said at the iHome launch.
Following Lend Lease's recent acquisition of residential developer Dolfin, it will incorporate technology into property development projects elsewhere, according to Cutler.
-We're looking at the application of technology into all our [residential] projects," Cutler said. -It's the way forward, it's just a question of when do you do it...that's what developers are grappling with now."
