Nokia announced today it is developing the Nokia Home Control Center towards the "opening of a new era for networked home services and solutions", soon making possible handset control of household devices and appliances.

Nokia

The Nokia Home Control Center will be the basis for next generation security, smart home solutions and household energy management systems, said the company.

In a press release, Nokia said that all solutions based on its Home Control Center can be used through a smart phone or PC locally or remotely.

That way, consumers can monitor and control their electricity usage, switch devices on and off, and monitor different objects, such as temperature, camera, and motion, said Nokia.

Nokia predicts that in the future, entire systems within the home can be connected to the Nokia platform, including security, heating, and ventilation systems.

"We see there is growth potential in the smart home market," said Teppo Paavola, Vice President, Head of Corporate Business Development, Nokia. "The home of today has intelligence everywhere, but to date there has not been a solution that is interoperable with wide range of home systems that can easily be controlled. We want to create an open solution where external partners can develop their own solutions and services on top of our platform. We believe that the mobile device is an ideal interface to control home intelligence, especially when the user is not at home."

Nokia today also bared a tie-up with RWE, one of Europe's biggest energy companies, a cooperation that aims to develop a comprehensive solution for managing energy consumption and CO2 footprints at home.

Nokia and RWE have agreed to focus their partnership initially on home heating management. "The first product consists of a central control unit together with remote-controlled thermostats for the actual radiator. The user interface will be the PC and the mobile phone", said Nokia.

Also on the pipeline are working relations between Nokia and such firms as Danfoss, Delta Dore, Ensto, and Meishar Immediate Community (MIC) and Zensys "to define and create a solid basis for building the next generation of products that will introduce a new kind of mobile access to intelligent systems at the home".