Arkados is a company that makes a pretty nifty set of chips that are often used in home automation products by third party companies, among other things. If you have any kind of integrated sound system or automated control deck than you might be using Arkados’s technology without even knowing it.

To take advantage of this, Arkados has released a reference design for making interactive software for the iPhone and iPod Touch. It’s a cool idea, being able to turn on the fan in your living room from across town with just a piece of hardware you’re already carrying with you.

Right now it’s just for the audio systems the company helps with, meaning you can control your entire music library from room to room with your iPhone as a remote. If you entertain often or just like each room to have its own ambience, it’s a great idea. In the future, when it’s more fleshed out, it’ll be like the Jetsons.

My vast collection of Trader Joe’s Two Buck Chuck and other fine wines is so disorganized that I don’t know what do do anymore nor do I know what the temperature is like or what my stocks are doing. Enter Runtriz. A touch screen-based system that catalogs your wine cellar, provides up to the minute news, weather and stock info all at your finger tips. No clue what to make for dinner? Don’t worry. Runtriz has a recipe feature to help you out and based on the recipe you choose, it automatically sends a text and/or e-mail so you know exactly what to get when you’re at the grocery store. Cool, huh?

The system is available in a 12- or 15-inch model that can be placed in any room throughout your home. Packages start out at $7,000 and can be customized to suit your needs. There’s also a monthly fee of $10 to keep the system up to date and programmed just for you.

Check out the site for a demo.

Push Button Manor [Modern Mechanix, via Boing Boing]