Home Automation Stories
Stories and Reviews about Home Automation
Colorado vNet Resurrected Again
- Submitted on 02/22/2011, 1:49 am
- Source - DealerScope
Russound has announced, just two months after the Colorado vNet division was to be shuttered for a second time, that the brand has once again been revived. "Colorado vNet is back - stronger than ever! We're moving forward with the product line and have some exciting developments in the works," Charlie Porritt , CEO of both Colorado vNet and Russound, wrote in a letter Friday to dealers. He added that the revived Colorado vNet will add both an IP-based digital music streamer and iPad application.
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Home Control company Control4 & Cisco Strike Partnership
- Submitted on 02/15/2011, 8:42 am
- Source - Twice
Cisco and home control supplier Control4 have entered into an agreement in which Cisco will invest in Control4, use Control4 technology in Smart Grid infrastructure and services that it will sell to utilities, and sell Cisco-branded and Control4-branded products. Under the global agreement, Cisco will sell products through its value-added resellers (VARs) into homes in conjunction with utilities' deployment of Cisco's Smart Grid technologies, which are designed to reduce energy consumption. Cisco will also sell products through its VARs to developers of so-called greenfield cities, built on the outskirts of existing cities usually outside the U.S. In both channels, VARs would sell products to control energy use as well as home automation and control lighting, entertainment, communication and security systems. As a broad rule, control systems would be Cisco-branded, and peripherals such as lighting-control systems would be Control4-branded. The deal provides Control4 with additional resources as well as worldwide distribution channels that "will expand our reach dramatically" by "leveraging the Control4 platform to every single home in these communities," said Control4 CEO Will West. The deal will also open up opportunities for custom integrators who could later add onto a basic Cisco Smart Grid EMS 100 energy-management system, he said.
HomeGrid Forum and ZigBee Alliance Team to Establish Wired and Wireless Smart Home Applications
- Submitted on 02/10/2011, 3:09 am
- Source - HomeToys
The HomeGrid Forum (HGF) today announced a new liaison agreement with the ZigBee® Alliance to extend their collaboration on the ZigBee Smart Energy™ standard development. This work will pave the way for consumers and utilities to use ZigBee Smart Energy version 2.0 wireless or wired networks to further advance Smart Grid programs and deliver new energy, financial and environmental savings. Both organizations will collaborate on ensuring ZigBee Smart Energy version 2 and HomeGrid Forum's ITU-T G.hn and G.hnem standards can be utilized in a wide variety of smart grid usage models. When finalized, applications such as AMI (Advanced Metering Infrastructure), Demand Response (DR), Plug-in Electric Vehicles (PEV) and any other Smart Grid application/service that needs a reliable Home Area Network (HAN) or distribution/access network will benefit.
"ZigBee Smart Energy is a leading home area network and AMI standard that helps consumers gain greater control of their energy use," said Bob Heile, chairman of the ZigBee Alliance. "Working with HomeGrid will give energy service providers, utilities and consumers another wired choice when implementing either wired or wireless home area networks or utility links to smart meters."
Unique Automation - Bath O Matic: From ISE 2011
- Submitted on 02/09/2011, 10:46 am
- Source - Unique Automation
We came across a fun product at ISE 2011 that we wanted to share. Unique Automation’s unique bathomatic™ bath management system is a modular kit which can be fitted to any bath, bathomatic™ automatically controls the pre-programmed filling, water temperature, water depth and emptying of the bath water. It will also maintain temperature and automatically add bubble bath or fragrance, as required, on site or remotely. The system has now been developed to suit a range of applications both domestic and commercial, including hotels and care homes.
Lutron Unveils New Apple® iPad™ App For Its RadioRA® 2 Total Light Control System
- Submitted on 02/07/2011, 9:58 am
- Source - Home Entertainment Magazine
Light control manufacturer Lutron Electronics has just announced the availability of an Apple iPad app for its wireless RadioRA 2 total light control system. The app is designed to control lights, shades, temperature and appliances, adding convenience and the benefits of saving energy throughout the home. The app allows homeowners to: monitor and control their system while away from home (ideal for vacation properties); enact a temporary, energy-saving "green" mode that reduces light levels and turns off unneeded appliances; personalize programming with a real-time level editor; control multiple homes from one iPad.
Ecotality, Cisco connect Internet-savvy EV charger
- Submitted on 02/01/2011, 10:53 am
- Source - Cnet
Cisco Systems and Ecotality, an electric-vehicle charging station company, are collaborating to make EVs part of a home energy-management system. Ecotality's Blink home EV charging station will connect to Cisco's Home Energy Controller, a touch-screen device for managing home energy, as part of early electric vehicle trials with consumers. The integration will let electric car owners schedule charging to take advantage of preferential rates offered by utilities for electric vehicles, typically after 9 p.m. From the Cisco home energy dashboard, there is an application to monitor and program how an electric car is charged, according to the companies. Charging an electric car can pull as much power as an entire home consumes, utilities executives say, so consumers have an incentive to charge at off-peak times. But the system is sophisticated enough to communicate with utilities to get discounts beyond the EV tariff, Ecotality CEO Jonathan Read said in an interview.
Connected Home Products Key to Success for Consumer Electronics in 2011
- Submitted on 01/27/2011, 1:29 am
- Source - iSuppli Market Research
Global unit shipments of consumer electronics (CE) products will climb 2.6 percent in 2010, partly driven by rising sales of products that play a role in the connected home and that focus on usability—rather than technological wizardry—according to new IHS iSuppli research.
CE product shipments in 2011 are projected to reach 1.60 billion units, up from 1.56 billion in 2010. The CE category encompasses a diverse array of familiar devices that consumers use on a daily basis, including televisions, stereos and audio components, portable media players, set-top boxes, gaming devices, DVD and Blu-ray players, digital still cameras, projectors and camcorders, digital picture frames, e-book readers and consumer appliances. While the 2.6 percent rise in overall shipments this year is modest compared to last year’s 4 percent climb, the expansion is significant given current economic conditions. With the continued uncertainties in the global economy and the high unemployment rate in the United States—the world’s largest market for CE devices—the uptick in sales provides reassurance for the industry and sets the stage for future growth.
CEA announces TechCE.org launched
- Submitted on 01/25/2011, 2:25 am
- Source - CEA
Interested in learning more about CEA standards? CEA just launched a public discussion forum for CEA standards called TechCE.org. The new website allows users of CEA standards, and other interested parties, to share information, ask questions and get community help. Interpretation and news on standards will be posted regularly.
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