CES 2011, Las Vegas - Home Automation is really cool and one day I will automate my entire home. I have looked into it before and the thing that kept me away was having to put another computer in my home to run the software and the fact that most of the gateways at the time were almost $1000. A company called HomeSeer has unveiled a new and very small home automation gateway called the HomeTroller-Mini at CES. The device is a tiny gateway that allows people to control their home automation gear using the iPhone or iPad.

The HomeSeer device itself has a 1GHz processor on board and runs a version of Linux. It will work with most home automation brands on the market and supports formats like Z-Wave and a lot more. It can send you reminders about things via text, email, or voice messages. The device will also work to monitor home energy usage as well.

The HomeSeer HomeTroller-mini will work with gear from major players in the home automation market like Cooper, Schlage, Kwikset, Lutron, Leviton, Russound, Microsoft, Centralite, DSC, Aprilaire, ACT, RCS, and others. I works with Z-Wave as I said before and UPB and Insteon protocols are supported too. It will ship in Q2 2011 for under $300.