Siemens AG recently offered a peek at products in varying states of readiness
that it will show at CeBIT 99, Europe's largest technology fair. 

Siemens previewed a new type of telephone, called a Residential Gateway, that
lets users remotely control household appliances. A user can turn off a
coffee maker by calling the Euroset 845 control center at home and punching
instructions into the phone keypad. Or users can forward home alarms to any
phone number, says Erich Kamperschroer, project manager. The telephone has a
serial V.24 interface that transmits control signals by radio to modules,
appliances, service cables, or a PC. It will be available by the end of the
year and will be priced at less than $100.  

From PC World News 02/17/99
http://www.pcworld.com/cgi-bin/pcwtoday?ID=9728