Based: Northampton, U.K.
Founded: 2000
www.intamac.com

Why is it Fierce? Most people, when they talk of the “digital home,” refer to the ability of various (mostly entertainment-related) devices around the house--TVs, VCRs, DVDs, PCs, laptops and perhaps cell phones, to share video and audio contents. For Intamac, the digital home means turning the average house into an intelligent home, a home which is safer and more convenient for the whole family but especially for those most in need of added convenience and safety: the old, the young, the disabled and the infirm. The company's solutions offer Internet monitoring and control of everything in the home to make it safer--alarms, flood, fire, burglary, power failure, physical threat and door-step aggression. The solutions also make the home easier to live in, as it monitors garage doors, cooking appliances, medical equipment, infirm family members and more. It also allows for remote monitoring: You can be alerted at work if an elderly relative has fallen in the bathroom, or a parent working in the office can monitor a baby-sitter back home.

What to look for: As more parents work and need to keep an eye on their kids remotely, and as the population ages, the digital monitoring and controlling of homes will become even more in demand. Intamac's product fits the times.

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