Looking at the latest "Kitchen & Bath" issue of "Fine Homebuilding" magazine, I see LeGrand has several imaginative takes on the ordinary wiring device.

Among the receptacles are:

1) The "Pop-Out Outlet" from LeGrand: http://www.legrand.us/adorne/select/outlets/arptr151gm2.aspx#.UsCuoPt0mmQ , at $50/ ea, can sit flush, concealed in the wall - or pop-out for a side-feed;

2) Legrand also re-invents the duplex with the On/Off Outlet: http://www.legrand.us/adorne/select/outlets/arps152m4.aspx#.UsCuLft0mmQ . The design includes a switch to turn off the chargers they expect you to use with it.

The ordinary light switch has been improved upon with:

1) The "Touch Switch" http://www.legrand.us/adorne/select/switches/asth1532m2.aspx#.UsCvcvt0mmQ is certainly a different approach; and,

2) The "Wave Switch" http://www.legrand.us/adorne/select/switches/aswv1532m2.aspx#.UsCv1vt0mmQ doesn't even need your touch.

Seems like something that's going to be looked upon 30 years from now the same way we look at the fads from the 70's

I would expect that USB charging ports will become ubiquitous very soon -- starting with Wi-Fi hot spots -- perhaps Starbucks.

Hauling around a wall wart will be passe... a stub-whip from iPad to USB will be considered common as dust.

These ports will augment/ supplant Cat 5 ports... but with an eye towards the new mediums.

PCs are yesterday's revolution -- sales are dropping -- from 330,000,000 per year to only 300,000,000 per year. (They must be staying in China.) iPads and its clones are simply exploding across the planet.

USB ports stop local super-saturation of WiFi networks.

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And there is a movement to make LED lumieres powered via Cat 5e ... which can then be digitally mapped by an App... up and down the scale: both brightness and color and color temperature.

In this scheme, the fixtures can be cabled and re-cabled by DIY owners, at will, and without any fire hazards.

Certainly, this will be the wave of the future for hazardous locations -- in very short order.

We may have to re-install every lumiere ever made during the next twenty-five years.

Certainly, this is the death of the Edison A-19 lamp/ bulb... until more sense prevails.

(There are no end of short-life applications where the A-19 classic makes perfect sense. Instead of out lawing them... these energy pigs should have had a nuisance excise tax applied... Just nothing too drastic. As it stands, we're not supposed to have them -- even when the lumiere is a period piece in a historical setting. Perfection is the enemy of the Good.)

I'm a little disappointed at the lack of response to this thread - and the lack of enthusiasm for these devices.

That they exist at all suggests that there is a market for things that are not simply the cheapest possible option. Remember- we're businessmen, not auditors. We're supposed to CHASE the money, not follow it!

Further viewing of that magazine shows all manner of lovely kitchens- all missing required receptacles. The worst offenders are the islands- I expect the pop-out (out the side, not the top!) is a solution designers might like.

The On/off outlet flies in the face of those who argue for 'ground up,' but it incorporates a switch - a feature common overseas. These things might just become 'mandatory' in the next code edition

The switches suggest all manner of new approaches for devices exposed to the weather, or other challenges.

Of course, I look at these new gizmos from my own unique point of view. In my home, I expect the cats would quickly find all manner of amusement, popping outlets and switching lights in the wee hours

I am not a fan of unnecessary complexity.

I'll grant you that the on/off outlet is cute, but is it less expensive than the Leviton 5245 switch/receptacle that fits in the outlet box you already have?

If it's not cheaper (by a lot) it's going to be an uphill battle to sell these in any kind of quantity.

Any germ-o-phobe is going to want touchless in his powder room.

Thermal influence switches are already big in the faucet market.

I can see them being big in retro-fit bathrooms.

They're sure to be a hit with the elderly: close is good enough.

I can see them becoming the basis for pet activated doors... either intermediated by pet owners... or not.

I can also imagine that the retail price is destined to slide... a lot.

Remember the Leviton 'Touch Dimmers' with the silver or gold metalic touch plates, either oval or rectangular??

It wasn't the 'iPad' type touch.

I have a pic in my phone of an Adorne duplex that I took in a new SFD that was done all 'Adorne'...from GFIs to 3 & 4 ways.

They need one of these ... 50 cents

I remember when advertising for sp pole switches were mentioning how quiet the new switches were no more snap noise

I am old enough to remember when quiet switches had mercury in them. They were expensive.

Adorne Receptacle

I will have to check the next time I am over at the house of one of my friends mother. I think she still has one of those to dim the lights over the bar in the rec room from the 1970's.

Maybe its just me, but looking at the picture of the outlet I am reminded of the old bathroom shaver isolation receptacles.

I remember those old Mercury switches, and I hope nobody has one now! You might need all sorts of DEP, EPA rules and regs to get rid of them!

Touchless faucets a pain. We have them in our washrooms and I seem to spend more time waving my hands around trying to get the darn thing on than I do washing. And they all seem to react different so you can't get a pattern.

I think I still have an old Leviton tough dimmer around. mIf I find it, I will upload a picture.

I may still have some old GE "RR" relays around here somewhere but I think they are still being sold.

They still use the RR relays in GE's lighting controls today!

The only difference is that the more modern ones have Molex connectors for the LV wires, instead of just the wires.

I remember those Devices!!!

Back in Summer of 1990. I installed a bunch of them on a >10K Sq. Ft. Custom House. Every Switch location had these.
There were Single Pole, Three-Way & Four-Way, Dimming &/or On/Off Toggle configurations.

The ones I installed were the Gold Colored "Decorator" (Rectangular) Touch Responsive Plates.

IIRC, there were Two Dimming Types:
Standard (for Incandescent / Tungsten / Quartz Halogen),
and
Fluorescent (for Dimming Rapid Start Mag Ballasts).

Capacities were something like 1.5A Fluorescent / 300W Tungsten (Std. Capacity), 3.0A Fluorescent / 600W Tungsten (Hi Capacity).

Would like to get a few of the "Pop-Out Outlets" Reno mentions in his OP, along with the "Wave Switch" (I have needed this for many years!!! Right at the Door, for when I have my hands filled with Grocery Bags!!!).
Was going to use a PIR Motion Sensor Wall Switch, but the Cats, Dog and Duck will constantly trigger it On!

--Scott (EE)

Duck ???

Scott35:
I tend to agree.....time to go shopping!!

I think that Scott might be quacking up! Sorry! I just had to do that!