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Run your home from your car, says Panasonic

Turn the oven on from the motorway

Panasonic has unveiled two hi-tech in-car systems that close the gap between operating your car and running your home.

The CN-HX1000D and CN-HW1000D both use Bluetooth to connect through your mobile phone to remotely do everything from turning on light to recording something on TV. Both units are both part of Panasonic’s Strada vehicle technology range, which was first unveiled in 2003.

Although full technical details are still sketchy, users will probably need some sort of home automation kit in addition to either Panasonic unit in order for commands from your unit to be picked up at home and acted upon.

For example, you can opt to have security cameras at home that allow you to check your home’s security remotely through either Strada unit. Although a remote monitoring service comes with additional fees.

The manufacturer’s also developed the two in-car devices to be mobile entertainers. Both have built-in 7in screens to display video from the integrated DVD player or 40GB hard drive. The only main difference between the two models appears to be the available dashboard configuration options.

Panasonic will release both units in Japan next month, with a starting price of around ¥355,000 (£1738/€2182/$3374).

If just getting home is more important to you though, then Nokia will soon be casting an even larger shadow over mobile-based navigation because it plans to add GPS chips to 50 per cent of handsets by 2012.

The Finnish phone giant told Reuters it plans to ship 35m GPS-enabled handsets in 2008 and that most of its E and N Series phone will feature GPS, adding to some existing models that already do - such as the N82.

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