News By Graham Templeton May. 29, 2014 10:40 am
In the wake of*Google’s multi-billion-dollar bet on Nest the networked home has gotten a lot more attention in conventional media. And now that an international recall has gone out for*the company’s primary product,*potential rivals have smartly jumped*to fill the resulting vacuum of power. While Google sees the Nest thermostat technology as a*foothold they can use to take over*the home in general, these would-be competitors are trying to gain an advantage by*jumping straight to the real thing.
The latest and perhaps most impressive such product is Homey, a new Kickstarted project from two Dutch students. It promises to quickly and easily integrate with your online profiles, media hardware, and even your appliances and utilities. The pair claims that with Homey you could control your DVR, adjust the lights, pre-heat your oven, and change the heat, all with a few spoken commands. More impressive is the mobile app, which ought to let you do all these things from the office, the car, or the other side of the world.
Though the command*phrase “Hey Homey” may be one of the worst in tech history, we’ll give the foreign inventors the benefit of the doubt and say that it was unintentional. More problematic is the simple believability of these claims. Homey is supposed to be able to automatically integrate with a Phillips smart-fridge, a Samsung TV, and a Bose sound system — but such wide-ranging software compatibility is simply hard to achieve. If they manage it, that will be quite an achievement indeed.
Some of the compatible brands – at least, for now.
In terms of hardware, Homey features*seven*different wireless devices, allowing it to talk to the*vast majority of commercial products — whether or not those products were designed with this sort of functionality in mind. Many of the products Homey will need most are made by companies that might decide they have a vested interest in blocking integration with such outside hardware; almost certainly, companies like Sony, Samsung, and Apple*have some roughly equivalent project hidden away in an*R&D lab somewhere. I doubt this product will take off if it requires that I periodically jailbreak my microwave, or my air conditioner.
They are very committed to versatility, however, even including an Infrared Power-LED, so it can replace your remote controls for older devices — a line of sight will presumably be necessary for this one. The team has also built in support for*802.11b/g/n,*Bluetooth 4.0,*NFC,*ZigBee,*Z-Wave,*433.92 MHz,*nrf24l01+.
Take a look at the Kickstarter to decide for yourself just how hopeful you are.
More...
The latest and perhaps most impressive such product is Homey, a new Kickstarted project from two Dutch students. It promises to quickly and easily integrate with your online profiles, media hardware, and even your appliances and utilities. The pair claims that with Homey you could control your DVR, adjust the lights, pre-heat your oven, and change the heat, all with a few spoken commands. More impressive is the mobile app, which ought to let you do all these things from the office, the car, or the other side of the world.
Though the command*phrase “Hey Homey” may be one of the worst in tech history, we’ll give the foreign inventors the benefit of the doubt and say that it was unintentional. More problematic is the simple believability of these claims. Homey is supposed to be able to automatically integrate with a Phillips smart-fridge, a Samsung TV, and a Bose sound system — but such wide-ranging software compatibility is simply hard to achieve. If they manage it, that will be quite an achievement indeed.
Some of the compatible brands – at least, for now.In terms of hardware, Homey features*seven*different wireless devices, allowing it to talk to the*vast majority of commercial products — whether or not those products were designed with this sort of functionality in mind. Many of the products Homey will need most are made by companies that might decide they have a vested interest in blocking integration with such outside hardware; almost certainly, companies like Sony, Samsung, and Apple*have some roughly equivalent project hidden away in an*R&D lab somewhere. I doubt this product will take off if it requires that I periodically jailbreak my microwave, or my air conditioner.
They are very committed to versatility, however, even including an Infrared Power-LED, so it can replace your remote controls for older devices — a line of sight will presumably be necessary for this one. The team has also built in support for*802.11b/g/n,*Bluetooth 4.0,*NFC,*ZigBee,*Z-Wave,*433.92 MHz,*nrf24l01+.
Take a look at the Kickstarter to decide for yourself just how hopeful you are.
More...
