While Google and Apple are falling over themselves to get punters to spend a fortune turning their homes into “smart houses” with expensive gear, Archos has come up with some natty cheap kit that can do the job on the cheap.

The Archos Smart Home is controlled with a special 7-inch Android tablet that comes bundled with the $249.99 starter pack. Along with your tablet, you'll get two wireless cameras, two movement tags and two weather tags to place throughout the house.

The kit comes with an app for either Android and iOS that lets you control all your connected devices right from your smartphone. Archos’s cunning plan is in the future to start beefing up its lineup with a series of supported add-ons including a pet tracker, alarm siren, motion-detector and even a remote-controlled socket plugs.

Currently though the gear can control up to 13 devices within a range of 20 meters. OK it can't do as much yet and it certainly can’t tell provide you with an inventory of your fridge or cupboards, but it is a baby step towards having a home that switches on and off when you want it to. (And saves energy. Ed)

We are looking forward to the programme which turns the vacuum cleaner into an attack droid that kills the neighbour's kid which screams loudly for 19 hours of the day. We can’t work out what is wrong with him, he is 47 and should be out of that phase.