Jacquie Kim, a mother of two in San Diego, turned a pool house into a teen lounge for her son Alex's 16th birthday, partly as a way to keep him home after he got his driver's license.

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They have built up the idea of an app-economy as one of the key driving forces, but these apps are coming from a very small pool of major development houses and in-house clients for social networks.

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The French-style home sits on under an acre, onto which is also packed a small cabernet sauvignon grape vineyard, fruit trees, areas for entertaining, a pool and a guest house.

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In-house rivals suddenly turn collegial and pool their expertise and services for a knockout bid.

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This could be a problem for larger homes with weak Wi-Fi signals, or for folks who were hoping to hook up a far-off fixture in a shed or pool house.

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