In 2008 Lifeware was the big thing in home automation with Windows Media Center. AT CES in 2008 they had a Lifeware home with Media Center powered home automation in every room, they had demo homes with Microsoft and where even at Disney’s “Home Of the Future”. They where the one of the main players driving Windows Media Center into high end custom installer homes.

In a post on CEPro today Julie Jacobson has an email from Lifeware that has been sent out to dealers saying that:

After seven years of providing Life|ware software and hardware products in the CEDIA marketplace, we have made the difficult decision to no longer develop the Life|ware suite of products for home automation due to the cost of development, maintenance and support far exceeding the limited revenue stream realized from the residential vertical year over year. Exceptional Innovation will focus on realizing and growing solutions for other vertical applications via direct sales that garner a better return on investment for the technology platform investment made by the company to date.

The biggest surprise for me is that Lifeware was still doing Media Center products, sadly its just a sign of the times.