URC launches ccGen2 whole-house automation system
From the entry-level DIY smart home products that seem to be flooding the marketplace to the more sophisticated and comprehensive (not to mention expensive) automation systems, the home automation business is experiencing a boom right now. Somewhere between the two ends of the spectrum is URC, which offers a mid-level automation with it’s Complete Control and Total Control systems.
Today URC announced it’s ccGEN2, which means Complete Control Generation Two, a two-way, Internet-based automation system scheduled to roll out through select distributors starting early next month with distributor Volutone, located in California and Nevada.
The ccGEN2 line will include 12 different products, including two wand-style remotes, two in-wall keypads (one is a touchscreen), mobile apps and network system controllers. Doug Cole, senior vice president and general manager of URC, says:
“… we’re excited to offer ccGEN2 through our distribution partners as a newfound opportunity to make the most of the growing awareness and marketing for home automation in a simplified, yet powerful way. We expect this next generation line to take the Complete Control brand into the whole house and the future.”
ccGEN2 products, with few exceptions, are not compatible with URC’s one-way, RF/IR Complete Control system or with Total Control products. The base system starts at about $ 1,000 with the main controller and the top of the line remote control with video capability. For the main controller and an app it is about $800. You can scale from there to add keypads and other things.
Verizon drops Home Monitoring and Control service
Verizon has stopped accepting orders for its Home Monitoring and Control product, and will only allow FiOS customers who already subscribe to the $9.99 monthly service to continue using it, a spokesman said Monday.
Verizon introduced Home Monitoring and Control, which lets FiOS subscribers control security cameras, lighting, door locks and thermostats with their FiOS TV remotes, and through a mobile application and website, in 2011. It stopped accepting new orders in October, spokesman John Columbus told FierceCable.
Rival AT&T launched a wireless-based home automation service last year called AT&T Digital Life, and Comcast and Time Warner Cable market their respective Xfinity Home and IntelligentHome products to broadband subscribers.
Verizon officials suggested that the telco may introduce a new home automation product, but wouldn't say if the company is considering adopting a wireless-based approach similar to AT&T Digital Life.
"We are revisiting the service to more accurately reflect our vision for the connected home. As technology and consumer expectations evolve so must our offerings," Columbus said.
Ex-Google employees announce Beep, the Chromecast of audio
Two former Google employees on Thursday announced Beep, an audio device designed to make it simple for users to stream music throughout their home speakers.
Beep is a small copper device that connects to users Wi-Fi networks to play music from streaming services such as Pandora. The device is designed to make it easy for users to listen to music from the Internet without having to leave their smartphones hooked up to their speakers.
The device was created by a team of 10 led by Daniel Conrad and Shawn Lewis, both of whom trace their roots back to Google. The duo began working on Beep a year and a half ago.
“There’s no good way today to play the Pandoras and Spotifys of the world on your home speakers,” Conrad told The Times. “You’ve got it on your phone, you’ve got it on your laptop, but you don’t have it on your home speakers.”
Conrad and Lewis said setting up a Beep device takes only a matter of minutes. Users connect the gadget to their speakers using an auxiliary or optical cable. They then download a mobile app to set up the device and connect it to the Internet. Once that’s done, users can begin playing music.
The device connects directly to the Internet on its own, but users control it with an app on their Apple iOS and Android mobile devices.
CONTROL4 CHOSEN BY TOLL BROTHERS FOR HOME AUTOMATION
Control4 Corporation (NASDAQ: CTRL), a leading provider of automation and control solutions for the connected home, today announced that it has been selected by Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE:TOL) (www.tollbrothers.com), a leading national builder of luxury homes, to provide Toll Brothers' home buyers the option to include the latest smart home automation technology in their new homes. Control4® solutions will be offered to buyers of select new Toll Brothers' homes throughout the U.S., and buyers will have access to professional and custom configuration by in-market certified Control4 specialists.
Under the agreement with Toll Brothers, prospective home buyers will be able to choose from several pre-configured Control4® automation packages. These packages feature high-performance automation controllers, intelligent lighting, thermostats, smart locks, touchscreens, multi-room audio/video solutions, and smart phone and tablet accessibility. New homeowners will also have access to additional automation capability and products via a network of independent automation specialists trained and certified by Control4 to customize the homeowner's smart home to their precise needs.
Integrated Systems Europe 2014 - HomeToys has all the news from this years show
Integrated Systems Europe is the world’s largest tradeshow dedicated to professional AV and electronic systems integration.
ISE 2013 attracted over 44,000 attendees to its Amsterdam location, where 894 exhibitors occupied more than 33,000 square metres of total net floor space.
For well over a decade HomeToys.com has been covering ISE and sifting through all the news pages and product announcements to bring you a special ISE Newspage devoted to the key trends and most important announcements to the Home Technology and AV Systems industry.
Make sure to check out our special ISE 2014 Newspage for Exhibitor news and announcements.
Beyond The Cable: 4K Sets the Stage for Tomorrow's Entertainment Opportunities
With cable companies losing their grip on the TV set viewing public and the growing use of streaming media solutions for 4K UHD TV sets and content owners the blowback has all but disappeared.
Google Bought Nest to Catch Up in the Contextual O/S Race
The fledgling home automation market is only a qualifying event for Google vs. Apple.
Keep Those Components Cool!
Here are a few short white papers to help you avoid problems with overheating components in your home theater installations.
The iDock by iRoom
Whether it's App driven or Big Control, the majority of our customers are controlling automation systems in homes, offices and retail spaces.
The Importance of Field Based Cable Length Measurement for Cable Installers
Quick, accurate determination of cable length and line continuity testing using hand-held cable length instruments brings value to the cable installer, the contractor, and the customer during installation, trouble-shooting and routine maintenance cabling jobs.
New Product Focus
We are often asked to publish more stories about new products so here are a few that came across my desk over the last few weeks.
The Internet of Things might not be what you're hoping for
Take a look at this chart. It shows Google's search trends for the term "internet of things", aka "IoT". That blip at the end lines up with CES -- the tipping point where suddenly talking about "IoT" became immensely fashionable.
CES may have started the flywheel spinning, but it was Google's acquisition of Nest that built up sufficient momentum such that the whole IoT thing may not stop for years.
But there's a problem with IoT, and it's ably summed up by internet satirists Joy of Tech :
Joy of Tech's riff keys into some online chatter that happened after Google's announcement about trust and privacy. In essence, whilst people were generally cool with trusting Nest's founders with private data about their home, they were not generally cool with trusting Google.
In this scenario, can you think of anyone who would be generally trusted? Microsoft? Apple? Facebook? They all have their own agenda when it comes to personal data. Really, they have the same agenda, namely that in order to realise their enormous investment in technology, they somehow have to turn you into some kind of asset . Cont'd.
Former Barnes & Noble CEO William J. Lynch Appointed CEO of Savant Systems
Today, Savant Systems, LLC, a leader in smart home products and technology, announced William J. Lynch has been appointed Chief Executive Officer. Robert Madonna, the company’s founder and CEO since 2005 will continue to help steer Savant’s innovation in his ongoing role as the Chairman of the Board.
“To take the innovative Smart Home platform the Savant team has built and refined over eight years, and be able to offer to a broader consumer audience for the first time is an incredible opportunity,” said William J. Lynch, CEO of Savant Systems. “Until now, the business has been concentrated in the luxury housing market. Starting this spring, we’re delighted to be able to offer incredible home automation, built upon the rigorous engineering principles that Savant established and continues to uphold, to the mass market. We look forward to working with our valued dealers to bring Savant Smart homes to millions of consumers. It’s an exciting time to be joining the company.”
Lynch, the former CEO of Barnes & Noble, transformed the bookseller into the leading retailer of content, digital media and reading devices. Lynch was responsible for leading the creation of the critically acclaimed NOOK devices and software and brought them to the consumer market. Under his leadership, Barnes & Noble introduced many award-winning, popular devices, including the world’s first Android color tablet and the first commercially successful touch eReader. During his tenure, more than 10 million devices were sold and the company achieved a strong share of the U.S. eBook and digital magazine market. Prior to Barnes & Noble, Lynch held leadership and executive positions at HSNi, IAC, and Palm Computing.
All-Seeing Security System Allows Complete Home
Developed by Ontario-based smart monitor company Blacksumac, Piper received the necessary funding through Indiegogo in September 2013, earning over $300,000 in a single month. This recently-released product uses a Z-Wave to turn appliances off and on, video-monitor rooms, detect motion, record video, and provide home stats (temperature, humidity, etc.), all of which are accessible from a smartphone.
The system even allows you to add if/then commands from the phone in case of intruders. For example, it’s easy to input a command for when a specific door is open, such as “send me a text” or “sound the siren.” Even if you have a furry friend at home, Piper’s setting can be altered so that your pet won’t set off alarms meant for a robber. The device is still a work in progress, with Blacksumac working to integrate voice command technology in the near future.
When you arrive home, there’s no need to input a code to turn off the alarms you’ve set. The system will use Blutooth to detect when you are in the area (assuming you have your phone) and shut off all security settings. By having the system completely accessible from your phone, there are some concerns about whether the system can be hacked, though no cases of such have arisen thus far.
Securing the Smart Home, from Toasters to Toilets
Hackers have long wreaked havoc on PCs via the Internet, leading to data breaches and computer crashes. Now that the rush is on to add connectivity to everything from crockpots to light bulbs, the stakes get even higher—and more personal (see “More Connected Homes, More Problems”). Antivirus software helped PCs, but you can’t simply install a software suite developed for your desktop on a smart toaster; as a result, connected home devices typically rely on the user going online and setting up a username and password for protection.
A number of tech companies and industry groups say that “smart” devices are hitting store shelves with little in the way of security protection. Security experts blame a number of factors for the problem: startups may put security in the backseat in their haste to get products out the door, and established companies that have traditionally operated offline—like stereo or TV manufacturers—could simply fail to realize that they need to protect against threats when it comes to Internet-connected gadgets.
“They’re not being stupid,” says Marc Rogers, lead security researcher at mobile security company Lookout. “It’s just not something they’ve had to deal with.”
So while companies roll out everything from “smart” lights and door locks that you can control with a smartphone to connected toilets and blood-pressure monitors, a movement is also afoot to make these products as secure as possible.
Records 571 to 585 of 3529
First | Previous | Next | Last
Featured Product
Platinum Tools - The New EZ-RJ45® Crimp Tool
Platinum Tools is proud to present the newly patented EXO Crimp Frame® and EZ-RJ45® Die as our new EZ-RJ45 Crimp Tool! Built to terminate the original EZ-RJ45 connectors, which have been a staple in the industry for almost two decades, this crimp tool improves the trim and crimping processes of EZ-RJ45 connectors by using a single cycle crimp and flush trim.
