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Motorola and Verizon team up for Z-Wave monitoring service, let you control your home as you roam
Do you have Verizon broadband and an overwhelming desire to dim your lights remotely and spy on the kids while you're out on a date? Verizon's mew Home Monitoring and Control service lets internet subscribers add Motorola's Z-Wave-based 4Home automation system to their existing package, enabling access to networked cameras, light controls, smart thermostats and door locks. With the $10 monthly service, you can monitor a collection of wireless cameras, unlock doors for family members or guests, or adjust the thermostat using a web-connected tablet or smartphone. The basic Home Monitoring Kit will run you $70, and includes a wireless camera and single light control. A $170 Energy Control Kit swaps the wireless cam for a connected thermostat and Energy Reader, while a $220 Home Monitoring and Control Kit includes all of the above. Door locks, window sensors and additional cameras are sold a la carte, making a complete system a rather pricey proposition. Jump past the break for a handful of man on the street customer testimonials (spoiler alert: they love it!).
There finally piloting Nokia's Home Control Center in Finland
It sure started out as something promising. When Nokia spun off its Home Control Center technology to There Corporation last year it seemed that easy DIY home automation and power management was just around the corner. Yet here we are, almost two years after first hearing about the effort with nothing but a convoluted mess of unfriendly ZigBee and Z-Wave (to name just 2 "standards") home automation products to choose from. There is hope, small as it may be. There Corporation just announced that it's working with Mitox Oy to conduct a pilot in Finland for customers of Helsingin Energia (Helen) using a There-provided web-based solution built around the ThereGate. It allows individuals to monitor their total power consumption in real time as well as the individual devices and systems that consume energy. Better yet, There Corp employs a "rate control concept" that automatically adjusts power usage to hours when energy costs less based on simple guidelines programed by the user. Unfortunately, There Corporation's focus is on Nordic countries until 2012 before looking to dominate European home energy management in 2015. Call us crazy, but this market seems ripe for domination by a major consumer electronics company right now, not in 5 years.
Nokia spins off Home Control Center team as There Corporation, slips product into 2010
Remember Nokia's Home Control Center launched in December with plans to send home automation product to retail by the end of 2009. Well, it's been upended today with Nokia bowing out of its own smart home activities and licensing the technology to the independent There Corporation -- a company that now employs Nokia's former Smart Home team. Unfortunately, we're now looking at the beginning of 2010 before we see the first solution dubbed Safety 360; a "security kit" for monitoring fire and water leakage alarms, intrusion detection, and energy consumption monitoring through the use of the Home Control Center device (pictured right), door/window sensors, motion, flood, and smoke detectors, and a "Binary Switch with electricity meter"... whatever that is. You know, at this point, we'd be happy for a big name consumer electronics company to sweep in, set a de facto standard, and kick the dozen or so proprietary and so-called "industry standards" to the curb so that we can finally take home automation mainstream. Maybe that'll be Z-Wave which is the only home automation communication standard listed under the device specs for Nokia's There's Home Control Center. The promise of the ubiquitous automated home has been floundering for decades now -- enough's enough.
Is Verizon planning a Z-Wave home automation system?
As home automation starts building up steam it looks like Verizon might be giving Nokia's to-be-released Home Control Center a little run for its money. According to CE Pro, FCC documentation has been found describing something called the Verizon Home Monitoring Gateway and Home Monitor Service. Apparently based on technology from 4Home, the Z-Wave compliant system uses a Westell-branded Control Point gateway featuring Internet connectivity and automation capabilities. The site also describes widgets for controlling surveillance cameras and various room modes, such as "Home," "Away" or "Movie Time!" Devices can be accessed and functions scheduled either through a web browser or directly from Verizon mobile phones equipped with a "4Home" button. Neither Verizon nor 4Home have yet commented on any of this, but we're keeping our eyes peeled.
Nokia's Z-Wave Home Control Center hands-on and video
Since hearing about Nokia's foray into the world of home automation, our curiosity has been seriously piqued. Thankfully, our girl-on-the-scene Drita has captured video of the new software / hardware combo in action on the Nokia World show floor. It looks like a fully decked out system is going to run you a hefty fee (given all the components required), but can you put a price on the extreme laziness it will enable? We didn't think so. Check out the pics on Engadget and the thrilling video out after the break!
Nokia launching Z-Wave Home Control Center next year
Who doesn't long for a smart home system that gives you full control of your thermostat, lighting, AV, and security system from the convenience of your cellphone? While many proprietary and "standards-based" off-the-shelf solutions exist, things quickly break down due to the lack of interoperability, cost, or sheer complexity of medium-to-large home automation designs. Enter Nokia who just announced its Home Control Center, a platform open for third parties to develop "plug and play" solutions, all of which can be controlled via your phone or PC from both inside and outside the home. HCC will let home owners switch devices on and off as they monitor and control their electricity usage while providing access to objects such as temperature sensors, cameras, and motion detectors. Ultimately it will integrate more complex systems like security, heating, and ventilation. Although few technical details were provided, a research paper from last year that outlined Nokia's Smart Home strategy called for a 802.11n WiFi home gateway device (presumably from Nokia) with optional GSM/GPRS module integrating into a home network of Z-Wave and ZigBee-compliant devices. The system is expected to include pre-packaged Smart Home kits ranging from starter, security, energy, and baby monitoring when it goes retail (Europe first) by the end of 2009.Update: Good news, remote access only requires a web browser. As such, you can use any cellphone with a decent browser to manage your home remotely.Read -- Press ReleaseRead -- Product brief [Warning: PDF]Read -- Research paper [Warning: PDF]
