Best Buy unveils $15,000 "Connected Life" package

Although Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) is not known for high-end customer home audio, video, and computer solutions for affluent customers, the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer is seeking growth from that area. As a matter of fact, the chain is going to sell a packaged solution of Media Center plus home automation products in a *hopefully* tightly integrated solution for those who want it. Price? $15,000.

The package literally comes in a box, according to this story. Here's the process that Best Buy wants prospective customers to have: they walk into a Best Buy store, become enthralled with the demo, buy the package, and wait for its arrival in a box -- a big box.

For those that want all electronics in their home to be seamlessly integrated and work magically together -- but who don't have electrical engineering degrees to do all the work themselves -- this Best Buy solution may prove attractive.

So what do you get for $15,000 and an installation appointment? Here goes: A z560 Digital Entertainment Center (a Media Center PC) from HP, Lifeware home automation software from Exceptional Innovation, one Xbox 360 (which doubles as a Media Center Extender), two Panasonic wireless cameras, one communicating thermostat from Residential Control systems, Ethernet/powerline adapters from Corinex, and five dimmers, five switches, and two keypads. All of this stuff communicates over the power lines via Insteon technology.