Last week, Apple officially bowed the iPad, launching not just a tablet, but a multifunction device that could opens up a new realm of possibilities for home integration. What does the iPad portend for the custom market? A lot, both good and bad.

While it's still very early days for the iPad, we do know that the Apple tablet runs iPhone apps natively. This means that automation vendors that have developed iPhone apps to interface with their control systems can consider the potential of the iPad as a home control WiFi touch panel.

While several custom channel brands I surveyed for this column weren't yet prepared to discuss their impressions of the iPad, both Crestron and Savant were. Brad Middleton, the Savant Brand Manager for Evolution Home Entertainment, Savant's Canadian distributor, eagerly waded in to the discussion. He pointed out that Savant's iPhone app is written to interface directly with Savant's OS X platform, as opposed to being a Web-portal application that overlays the interface. This results in faster command execution than other automation apps.

"The app also works on the 3G network," he adds, "so you can use it while on the road as well. Even the surveillance cameras show up on our app while on the road. You can look at your front door while sitting at dinner if you wanted."

While Savant declines to speculate too far into the future about potential changes, Middleton was willing to tantalize Marketnews readers by confirming that the company will soon be releasing an iPad-specific control app that will make full use of the iPad's large touch screen.

Crestron's Mobile Pro app is also already capable of supporting the iPad. Like Savant's app, Mobile Pro is able to give homeowners remote access to their automation system. As Jeffrey Singer, Crestron's Marketing Communications Director explains: "Communicating via the 3G and EDGE cell networks, Mobile Pro enables full control and real-time status display of all A/V devices, lighting and HVAC control, shades and security from one app."

But there's also a downside to the iPad's introduction (or expected introduction) into the home automation market. On the hardware side, the consensus among industry watchers is unanimous that at $500 (give or take), the iPad will make it a lot harder for automation vendors to sell their own WiFi touch panels. These can carry a price tag five-to-10-times higher than that, along with big, juicy margins. What's more, they can't be used outside of the home like the iPad can, nor for other tasks, like reading eBooks, word processing, or paint drawing. The notion of Threat Of Substitution means that automation vendors will now be forced to examine their touch panel lines and consider sweeping changes in order to remain competitive.

However, there is a silver lining to the iPad's threatened impact on high-priced, high-margin touch panel controls: increased potential growth in entry-level and mid-priced automation. For as long as there's been an automation industry, there has been talk and concern about reaching the "mass market," a goal which has been slow in coming, and only recently at that. A budget automation system from Control4, Crestron (Prodigy), or others for an average sub-2,000-square-foot home using two or three iPads as the primary control interface could potentially hit a price point attractive enough to reach homeowners who otherwise would never be interested in a control system. At the same time, it can also be a profitable business for integration dealers, who are still providing the core system beneath the sleek Apple surface.

When the industry changes, custom channel professionals who look for the opportunity in those changes stand to prosper. The iPad promises to have a major impact on home automation. The full nature of this impact, however, remains to be seen.

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