HomeAutomation
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Samsung unveils next-gen smart home hub and monitoring service
Looks like you didn't have to wait long to see what Samsung would do in the smart home world after acquiring SmartThings -- it just unveiled a new version of the SmartThings Hub that automates your household with fewer hiccups. The new version is faster, and can run apps locally instead of farming them out to other devices. It also has a battery backup and more cellular data options, so your intricate network of lights and security systems won't fall into disarray just because of a momentary power outage.
GE's smart appliances let you take control with your phone
It's now fairly easy to get at least a few connected appliances, but it's still rare to see a full range of them. What if you want to outfit your whole home with smart equipment? GE thinks it has an answer with its new Profile line. The series' dishwasher, fridge, laundry combo, ovens and water heater all give you control from a smartphone. You can preheat your oven before you get home, or tell your water heater that you're going on vacation. Your washer will let you know when your clothes are done, and your fridge will warn you if someone left the door open. Only the ovens are available today, though, so don't start planning a home technology revamp just yet. While the water heater arrives in February, you'll have to wait until the spring to get either the fridge or the laundry pair -- and the dishwasher won't arrive until 2015 is almost over.
BeeWi takes on Belkin's WeMo with its new home automation platform
Not surprisingly, the Internet of Things is making a big splash here at CES 2015. As part of that push, BeeWi, a company better known for making various wireless products, is showing off its home automation platform. The BeeWi platform has been available in Europe, Canada and parts of South America for some time now, but the company announced that it's ready to bring it over to the US. In similar fashion to Belkin's WeMo line, BeeWi's home automation offerings include a mobile application and an array of modular sensors and trackers.
Belkin's WeMo home sensors track everything and the kitchen sink
Do you want to know every little nuance of what's going on in your home? You'll want to give Belkin's new WeMo home sensors a look, then. The surprisingly wide range of household trackers includes a door-and-window sensor, a keychain tracker, a motion detector and a water efficiency monitor -- there's even an alarm sensor that listens for sounds from other sensors, like smoke detectors. All of the devices will alert you if something's amiss, whether you're worried about intruders or tend to run the kitchen faucet for too long. And like the rest of Belkin's highly modular WeMo hardware, they'll frequently work in tandem with other gadgets on the platform. They can turn on the lights when you step into a room, or ramp up the air conditioning only when your window is closed. Most of the sensors will arrive in the second half of 2015, with pricing coming later. The water sensor is still in field testing, however, so it won't be ready to analyze your plumbing until the tail end of the year.
Google Now is almost ready to control your Nest thermostat
Remember how Nest promised that you'd one day use Google Now to control your thermostat? That day is very nearly here. Droid-Life has discovered that the search tool is responding to temperature requests, and will show you a Google Now card when the thermostat is cooling or heating your home. However, you can't actually use this feature yet -- you need to authorize your Google account to make this work, and the necessary website isn't completely ready. Even so, it's clear that you'll soon be commanding your climate using little more than your voice.
New Bluetooth devices will connect directly to the internet
For all the talk of an Internet of Things, many Bluetooth devices aren't very internet-savvy; they usually have to rely on WiFi (or another gadget entirely) to hop online. That's going to change very shortly with the advent of Bluetooth's new 4.2 spec. If a sensor, smart light bulb or other low-power device supports the new technology, it can connect directly to the internet (through a router or other access point, at least) without needing a go-between. That's potentially huge for home automation -- you could control all your appliances and light fixture from anywhere in the world without requiring special hubs.
Roost's smart battery will school your old smoke alarm
If you're intrigued by Nest's Protect, but think spending $99 for a fancy smoke alarm is kind of crazy, Roost's WiFi connected 9-volt battery is worth keeping an eye on. It plugs into any old smoke alarm to make it "smart," as is the custom of our time. You'll get mobile alerts when the battery is low, or if your alarm goes off while you're away from home. Say goodbye to those annoying middle-of-the-night low battery chirps.
Smart light bulb fools burglars by pretending you're at home
There's no shortage of smart light bulbs that will save energy or set a special mood, but they don't usually do much for when you're away from home. What if you want to trick thieves into thinking you're still around? BeON Home might have tackled that problem with its new Burglar Deterrent. The lighting doesn't just come on for set intervals -- it learns your habits to make it look like you're at home, and it'll even listen for your doorbell to turn on the lights and spook would-be intruders. Each bulb has its own backup power, too, and they'll react to your smoke detector's sounds to light the way out during a fire.
Nest's smart thermostat now shows much more info at a glance
For all of the things Nest's smart thermostat has learned to do, its interface hasn't made a lot of progress; you frequently have to dig to see more than just the basics. You'll have a much easier time of it after today, though. Nest is now rolling out a version 4.3 update that includes Quick View, a reworked interface that gives you more info at a glance. Push in the ring and you can quickly check both the outdoor temperature and humidity before you leave home -- handy if you're unsure about bringing your jacket. Spinning the ring, meanwhile, shows you a summary of everything associated with a given category. You can see the next scheduled temperature change, fan settings and other nice-to-know facts without wading into the menus.
SmartThings brings its home automation app to Windows Phone
Samsung promised an open platform when it purchased SmartThings, a startup that aims to make every household more intelligent with its products. So, despite the automation service already being present on iOS and Android, the most popular mobile operating systems, SmartThings is opening its doors to a fresh audience: Windows Phone 8. The SmartThings app is great for people looking to upgrade their home but that were, perhaps, hesitant to do so because of the ecosystem's lack of support for Windows Phone handsets. Most home automations platforms have some sort of integration with iOS or Android from the get-go, leaving Windows Phone users out of options. As such, this is a great move by the Samsung-owned SmartThings. Once you download the app, you'll be able to control SmartThings devices with ease -- and if you haven't invested yet, maybe now it's the time to start thinking about creating your own Smart Home.
Nest owns Revolv's home automation tech now, too
Google's adding another member to its household family that includes Nest and Dropcam, and this time its home automation outfit Revolv. The firm's website lists it as "a Nest company" now, and goes on to to assure existing customers that they're still taken care of and that their year-long warranties will be honored. The thing is, it isn't accepting any new users for its services that tie everything from Sonos wireless speakers, WeMo light switches and Hue lightbulbs from Philips together, as VentureBeat points out. For the privacy minded, Revolv is keen to note that its user data will stay separate from that of Nest's thermostats and smoke detectors, and Google as a whole. What's it all mean? That Mountain View has a new toy in an old box that its hoping will compete with challengers like Apple's HomeKit and Samsung + SmartThings. Whenever those fully launch, of course.
Stack's smart light bulb responds to the world around you
Many smart light bulbs... well, aren't. You can control them, but they're often blissfully unaware of what's going on in your home. Stack aims to change that with its recently unveiled Alba bulb. This sensor-packed illuminator changes brightness and color based on the time of day, location and who's present in the room. It'll start with cooler, more natural white hues when you're just waking up, but will switch to relaxing warm colors when it's late. It will also dim or shut off the lights when there's a lot of ambient light, or if you've left for work; alternately, it will come to life when there's a big commotion. There's a mobile app if you need to tweak settings, but the goal is to avoid using it as much as possible. Much like a Nest thermostat, Alba will learn appropriate behavior and (hopefully) let you keep your phone in your pocket.
Ecobee's smart thermostat knows conditions throughout your home
As clever as smart thermostats can be, they usually have only a limited sense of what's going on in your home. They may know that it's cool in the hallway, but not that it's roasting in the living room. Ecobee may have a better, more holistic approach with its third-generation climate controller, the Ecobee 3. Rather than gradually learn what conditions work best over time, it uses remote sensors to determine which rooms are occupied and whether or not they're at the right temperature. The more detectors you add, the more cozy you're likely to be -- you can have up to 32, if you're determined to warm up your mansion.
Nest devices now talk to the rest of your automated home
Nest's thermostat and Protect smoke detector may help automate your home, but they haven't actually talked directly to home automation systems so far -- a bit of a discrepancy, don't you think? All should be well now, though, since the Works with Nest program has just expanded to support the whole-home automation gear from Control4, Crestron, RTI and URC. If you're fortunate enough to have one of those systems, you can now integrate Nest equipment with home theaters, lighting and anything else that talks to one of the supported control hubs.
Apple is reportedly unveiling its wearable device on September 9th
If you ask many pundits when Apple will unveil its often-rumored wearable device, many of them will say October. However, we may have to revise those expectations a bit. Recode's sources now claim that Apple will unveil the gadget on September 9th -- you know, the same day that many expect to see at least one new iPhone. There's little to back the claim at this point beyond the site's reputation for accurate leaks, but the timing makes sense given that the iPhone and the mystery wristwear are expected to work virtually hand-in-hand. As for actual technical details? Besides the expected fitness and home automation support, there isn't much more to say -- most likely, you'll have to wait a couple more weeks to get the full scoop. [Image credit: Ruben Schade, Flickr]
ADT wants to automate your home with the help of IFTTT
Now that home automation is all the rage, household security outfit ADT is looking to dive further into the fray with a hand from If This Then That (IFTTT). Using the home alarm company's Pulse system and the appropriate channel from the recipe-based app, you'll be able to leverage automated chores from IFTTT's library of tasks including disarming the alarm when your wearable switches out of sleep mode. You can also set a coffee maker in your kitchen to start brewing when your phone alarm wakes you and get a real-time video clip when the doorbell rings. ADT Pulse allows for remote control of a home security system from a mobile app, sending alerts and sorting remote video monitoring, too. It can the wrangle the connected thermostat and outlets for lighting and small appliances as well. Right now, the cooperative effort is looking to enter beta testing shortly with plans to open up a channel to the public afterwards that's full of pre-made recipes alongside the ability to create your own.
Pēq will let you control and automate your home for a monthly fee
Thinking about upgrading your home? There are plenty of home automation systems to choose from -- and now, there's one more. Pēq (pronounced 'peek') is a new smart home service designed to take the guesswork out of device compatibility by offering a store of self-branded products that integrate seamlessly with the system's central control hub. It's kind of like SmartThings, but with a monthly subscription fee. Pēq's $9.99 service gives users access to smartphone, PC and tablet control apps, the ability to receive e-mail or text message alerts, remote video streaming capabilities, automatic firmware updates and, of course, access to customer service seven days a week.
Samsung's 'Smart Home' dreams get bigger with $200 million SmartThings buy
Count Samsung in -- it's officially purchasing home automation startup SmartThings, a move that should help it keep up with the Joneses, aka Apple and Google. TechCrunch has sources confirming a $200 million pricetag, matching the amount it heard last month when rumors of the deal leaked out. In a blog post, SmartThings CEO Alex Hawkinson said the team would continue to be run independently, but that it's moving home base to Palo Alto, where Samsung has one of its Innovation Centers. He says Samsung is ready to get behind its vision of an open smart home platform that works for third party devs as well as different hardware manufacturers, and already has support from some 8,000 apps. SmartThings has gone from Kickstarter to playing with the big boys, now we'll see if its Hub device and wide-open strategy can get your doorknob, stove, drapes and lightbulb all on the same page.
Ninja Sphere promises to turn your house into a smart home for $329
Back in January, a smart home device called Ninja Sphere made over $650,000 on Kickstarter. Now, its creators (Ninjablocks) has started accepting its first pre-orders outside the crowdfunding website for $329 per unit. But, what can a Ninja Sphere do in the first place? Well, this gesture-controlled device can monitor temperature, lighting and even energy usage, but that's just one of the things it's capable of. Ninjablocks touts it as a veritable multi-tasker that sends alerts if you've left appliances running when you go out and let you turn them off using your phone. With the proper IFTT recipes in place, it also lets you switch on the heater or AC before you get home, or switch on the lights at a set time using a phone or even a smartwatch.
TechCrunch: Samsung eyeing home automation startup SmartThings
We know that Samsung isn't one to let any potential market segment pass it by, and according to TechCrunch, it's considering an acquisition that would put it in play in the suddenly expanding home automation business. The target? SmartThings, which would follow a recent theme of former Kickstarter projects being acquired by behemoths, and pump up Samsung's Smart Home efforts to match Google/Nest and Apple/Homekit. In case you've forgotten, SmartThings is the company that figures it can connect everything in your house to the internet through its Hub device and make them controllable from pretty much any mobile app -- if you're ready to handle that kind of responsibility. TC's sources put the proposed price at $200 million but caution that the deal may not be done yet, and we don't know where the just-announced Thread industry partnership would fit in with this. SmartThings' PR declined to comment on the rumor, but we'll go ahead and pencil in "Galaxy Lightbulbs/Door Knobs/Thermostats" for Samsung's next big unveiling just in case.
