automation

In conjunction with its 2016 interim result sprue announced that they have acquired IoT software provider Intamac for up to £2.8 million.  Sprue whose principal products are smoke alarms, CO alarms and accessories acquired Intamac as part of its new connected homes strategy, said its chairman Graham Whitworth.  Sprue acquired the source code and development rights to the software developed by Intamac to enable its customers to connect and monitor Sprue’s whole range of wireless products over the internet.

The cloud-connected smart home is expected to create a $28 billion US  market by the year 2020; this is according to research firm ON World.  With money like this on offer, I am sure it will draw a lot of attention anyone with the money to invest. One UK mobile operator, O2 has decided they want in and has decided to offer the service to UK households.

Core Brands has announced the release of Auriel 2.0 with added features such as streaming audio, climate and lighting control, plus remote access.  Now custom installers installing the Niles Auriel MRC-6430 Multi-room audio system can offer smart home control as well.  The Auriel 2.0 multi-room audio platform is built on the ELAN Control Platform.  The new software update enables any existing Auriel system to easily upgrade to the additional control features.

For most people Intel is associated with the slogan, “Intel Inside” which is used as a common badge for a standard desktop or laptop PC.  But Intel’s technology is used in many other things such as those for IoT solutions.  The latter part of 2015 saw a lot of announcements from Intel giving glimpses of the vision they have for IoT in the home and industries.

Toyota has setup a new connected solution company in partnership with Microsoft.  The new collaborative partnership will offer data analytics and connected car services.  Located in Plano, Texas, the data science centre will offer integrated connected car services to Toyota drivers and using cutting-edge data analytics to provide feedback into product development for Toyota at large.

As an IT manager responsible for hundreds of server systems I know the benefits of smart monitoring and getting an alert at the slightest indication of a problem on any of my servers. That is why almost a year to the date I wrote how I think the Connected Home will blur the line between business and domestic services and the direction of the connected home. Therefore, I was excited to hear that British Gas is developing a smart boiler solution that does just that.

Get one App to manage all your Apple HomeKit devices, for just $5.99 US the new PowerHouz App offers new advanced functionalities to help you manage your connected devices.  The App removes the need to have an App for each device in your home.  New features include triggers, which allow you to preset events for your devices based on pre-programmed events happening. These can be based on your location, the time of day and even special events like Sunset/Sunrise/Twilight.

If you were at this year’s  CES and visited the connected home section you would have seen this new connected home solution from Lucis Technologies.  Only available in the U.S. at the moment, the NuBryte smart home console offers a range of connected home services, such as home security, Intercom and automated lighting.  NuBryte also has an accompanying iPhone app that extends its functionality to your phone for ease of use.

IoT (Internet of Things) is one of the most exciting things in technology at the moment and Marvell is positioning itself to provide the necessary solutions for OEMs to capitalise on this growing market.  Marvell said they have a number of chips and reference designs with the necessary software that takes manufactures from quick prototyping to production in a short time.

If you have not considered getting a home automation kit then maybe now is the time to think about getting one.  You might not see what the craze is in sticking up gadgets around your home to monitor it, but there is a lot gain from having a reasonable priced home automation kit. Behind all the technology is the idea of having a connected home, one where all home appliances are able to communication with each other and you are able to communication with then at home or while you are away.  With a home automation kit, you can monitor your home and your microwave, refrigerator, home entertainment system and washing machine will allow you to communication with them from work on the road or from anywhere there is an internet connection.