Austin-based Cortexa Technologies, working on developing technology to automate the systems in homes, such as music, lighting, irrigation, security, heating and air conditioning, has announced that it has entered into a strategic alliance with Chicago-based Convia, Inc. a provider of modular, programmable electrical and data building infrastructure for commercial buildings. As part of the strategic alliance, Convia will hold a financial interest in Cortexa LLC. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Cortexa will work to integrate elements of Convia’s technology that are applicable to the residential market and that an initial area of focus will target energy monitoring and management systems.

William Martin, a co-founder of Cortexa, said “The Convia transaction serves as a high-profile validation of Cortexa’s technology and development strategy. We will continue working diligently to determine the most opportunistic yet financially prudent path to drive sales of our product in the residential mass market.

The home control products market is a rapidly growing segment. In 2000, the market for home control products was estimated at $700 million. By 2009, analysts expect the market to jump to $3.2 billion; however, Cortexa faces significant competition from some huge companies such as Cisco, Dell, H-P, Apple, Intel and Microsoft which are all investing in marketing and product development to facilitate the convergence of information and technology and to educate consumers about the benefits of these systems.

Combine shopping, travel, reality-tv and technology, and what do you get?  Shangby, an Austin-based company which lets Western shoppers buy the comparatively cut-rate items (mostly jewelry, for now) in Shanghai stores.  The company, which was featured this week in the NY Times, has a slogan of “Remote Controlled Shopping,” and has received $1 million in venture backing from G-51 Capital and Draper Richards.  According to Stephen Bell, Shangby chief executive, prices in China make shopping there a no-brainer for shoppers looking for good deals, as items normally priced under $1000 in the United States are 5 to 10 times cheaper in China and items over $1000 are two to five times less expensive in China.  According to a quote in the NY Times, Bell is quoted as saying: “This is like flying to Shanghai without flying to Shanghai.  You get the feeling you are there.” But he maintains that this is not an opportunity to buy cheap Chinese knockoffs as only non-brand items are listed on the site.  The company also has a 100% money back guarantee.  All together, this seems like an intriguing idea and one which will likely continue to gain traction.

If you were wondering what Black Sand was up to, you can read more about the company in the Statesman today (free subscription required). We wrote about these Silicon Labs spinout folks at the end of July when they announced their $8.2M Series A financing. Now we know they are doing some fabless chip work in the power amplification area.