Can you tell us a bit about your company, your products and where you fit into the Smart Home industry?

Ray Enterprises is focused on building the next generation of hardware and software products for the home. Our first product is the Ray Super Remote, an intuitive touchscreen universal remote that makes finding content and controlling your home as easy as possible. Although Ray’s first step into the Smart Home space may be seen as just an entertainment focused device, the Ray Super Remote contains functionality that will enable countless updates to control connected products throughout the home.

 

Which technologies do your products use to communicate with each other and how does it work?

The Ray Super Remote uses a mix of IR (infrared), BlueTooth (4.0/BLE) and WiFi (2.4GHz b/g/n) to communicate with other devices. Although infrared is admittedly an outdated technology, it is necessary to support the bulk of entertainment equipment in most consumers’ homes. Ray uses an array of IR blasting LEDs to provide IR coverage regardless of the angle the device is held. Ray’s robust software platform enables the Super Remote to communicate with a variety of Smart Home products the same way a cell phone would. Ray currently supports Smart Home products like the Nest Thermostat and lighting from Phillips Hue. More support is added constantly. If your company is interested in partnering with Ray please reach out to partners@ray.co.

 

Do your products communicate with products from other manufacturers using a standard protocol?

Right now the Ray Super Remote uses BT (4.0/BLE) and 802.11 2.4GHz b/g/n WiFi in addition to several IR protocols.  This means we can control hundreds of thousands of entertainment devices in addition to connected devices on a home network.

 

What types of devices do you manufacture or provide?

The Ray Super Remote spans across all of the below categories.

  • Controllers
  • Software / Apps
  • Entertainment System Control Devices

 

Can your products be installed by the homeowner or are special skills and tools required?

This is where Ray really shines! The Ray Super Remote has the easiest setup of any remote on the market. Setup does not require a computer or a smartphone or any special equipment—there is a simple on-screen guide that walks your through each device and activity you may want to add. Ray’s average setup time is the fastest on the market compared to other universal remotes.

 

In a short paragraph or 2 please describe how your products fit into a Smart Home scenario and how they are set up to work together to perform automated tasks.

The goal at Ray is to not force average users into the Smart Home/IoT space kicking and screaming.  Rather, our aim is to improve upon familiar technology in a truly meaningful way that resonates with users.  We feel the television remote control will remain a central piece of hardware that consumers enjoy the tactile experience of. Taking a  “content based” approach within the remote is a truly novel way to control entertainment devices and we iterate based on constant feedback from our customers.  Right out of the box Ray will sort and remember channels, so there are no more terrible  grid interfaces that take up so much time searching for content.  Once we build that trust with consumers, we provide some of the most practical use cases for interacting with the Smart Home—dim your lights while watching TV, set the temperature just right, play music…all without reaching for your smartphone.

Ray provides a dedicated  shared device that can be used  by the entire family and is always available to control the environment in the living room. Whereas the smartphone is a  personal device that requires an unlock action or passcode, swiping and tapping to the right app, waiting for content to load in order to get to control, Ray provides control instantly. Our goal with the Ray Super Remote is to be the main touchpoint for interacting with both entertainment and connected devices in the living room.