Live in a luxury condo and want to make people (even more) jealous? How about turning on the A/C from San Fran? Or the CD player from a cab in the middle of Times Square?
A handheld control box that will hit New York early this year should allow you to do just that. Developed by Miami-based home automation firm Cimax USA, the box – dubbed the Vertical Integration Panel, or VIP – is basically a wireless remote control for nearly every aspect of a home: contacting the building concierge, opening the blinds, turning on the DVD player, etc. The VIP itself works within the residence only; but it can also be controlled through the Internet.
All this to make the typical New York luxury condo owner seem – to themselves, at least – even more omnipotent. “Once it gets going,” says Christopher Mathieson, managing director of brokerage JC DeNiro & Associates, “it’ll really take the city by storm.”
Cimax USA is in negotiations with 25 “high-end Manhattan properties,” says George Fallica, the firm’s co-owner, including the Plaza Hotel. The system will be installed into the buildings, with developers picking up the tab for the server, where all data and software will be stored.