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Control4's new hub connects 13,500 smart home devices on one screen
Smart home connected devices can control everything from lighting and temperature to security systems and music. But with products from so many different companies, they don't always work together. Control4 wants to change that. Yesterday, it debuted its Smart Home OS 3.
Abode will add HomeKit to its new smart home hub
Brilliant isn't the only smart home hub creator hopping on the HomeKit bandwagon. Abode has revealed its Gen 2 gateway, and it's "100% committed" to bringing HomeKit support to the platform. More details will come "soon," the company said. However, this already makes it one of the more flexible hubs to date. It can already communicate with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and IFTTT, and it supports a raft of smart home devices using Z-Wave Plus, Zigbee and Abode's own abodeRF.
Brilliant smart home hub now supports Apple HomeKit
Brilliant, a smart home hub that plugs into existing light-switch ports, already works with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Nest, Philips Hue, August smart locks and a whole bunch of other home accessories. Now, it's adding Apple HomeKit-enabled devices to the things you can control using its touchscreen panel. The integration also allows you to control lights connected to the hub by voice using Siri on iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, HomePods and Macs. You can also control those lights using the Apple Home app.
Do you need a smart home hub?
When life gets chaotic, it can be convenient to have all your smart home devices operating on the same wavelength. Achieving this sort of harmony sometimes requires a hub to consolidate the myriad gadgets in your house. But not everyone needs a dedicated smart hub to make their setup run smoothly. A smart speaker like the Amazon Echo or the Google Home can serve a similar purpose, with each device's respective apps acting as central command. Manufacturers have even begun bundling hubs into other devices like security systems and mesh WiFi routers, making home automation simpler for beginners.
Xfinity's Gigabit router will soon double as a smart home hub
Comcast's Xfinity division has made some forays into the smart home world already: Xfinity Home started out as a home security product, but it now handles a number of common devices like locks, thermostats, lightbulbs and so on. However, the millions of people who subscribe just to Xfinity Internet haven't been able to take advantage of these features; you need to also have an Xfinity Home subscription. That's going to change this year: Comcast just announced that millions of its internet customers will be able to use their Xfinity Gateway routers as smart home automation hubs, free of charge.
Amazon's Echo Plus packs in a smart home hub
Turns out that Amazon had more than one new Echo to show off today. The Echo Plus serves as an easy-to-setup smart home hub to take on Google's Home speaker and Apple's AirPod. Out of the box, smart bulbs will automatically go into discovery mode while you install them. Alexa will automatically name the devices, too, so the first one you set up will be called "first light." That won't be confusing for PlayStation fans at all. You won't have to install any apps or skills on the device, either, and there are already over 100 devices available for the Plus including lights, bulbs and locks.
Wink's new smart home hub is slimmer and more powerful
Every person who's tried to smarten up their home knows the woes of dealing with multiple hubs -- one for each brand's products. Wink tried to solve that problem two years ago with its original Hub, and is now launching a successor that not only looks sleeker and is 25 percent slimmer, but also offers a simplified setup and pairing process, thanks to a new app. The Wink Hub 2, basically a control panel for all your connected devices, will be available for $99 in late October at Amazon, The Home Depot and Walmart.
