With Research in Motion’s announcement today that they are developing a similar device to Apple’s I-Pad, we should feel certain that home automation and real estate brokerage will more than likely be entirely controlled by these devices going forward. And why not? Unlike cell phones, the larger screen is much easier to read, and much easier to operate being touch sensitive.

“I see many luxury households having possibly 2 or 3 (or more)of these devices within the next 12 months.” says Leonard Steinberg, leader of the Luxuryloft team and managing director of Prudential Douglas Elliman. “We have always touted the need for easy-to-use, consumer friendly controls in the home in our monthly LUXURYLETTER. These ‘pads’ will certainly address this need. They will also become the devise of the next decade for New York City luxury real estate brokers, just the way the Blackberry has been for the past 10 years…..already I see the I-Pad in use everywhere.”