Being internet ready is a necessity if not a big selling point for hardware vendors. Many manufacturers haven’t got the resources to redevelop their devices that need internet connectivity. Therefore, they struggle to take advantage of the “Internet of Things” market. Electric Imp has come up with a solution with their Imp card; looks like an SD Card, but is much more powerful.
In 2013, approximately 15 per cent of Mexico's electricity production was lost due to theft or defaults, and in some areas of Mexico City, that increases to more than 35 per cent, that’s according to Mexico's Comisión Federal de Electricidad’s (CFE), the largest utility in the Americas. To reduce theft and stem its losses the CFE under the Megacable and Hola Innovacion consortium is working in partnership with Silver Spring Networks and Mexico's Tecnologías EOS to implement a number of smart grid solutions in Mexico City’s Central District.
Insteon integration with Apple products has been extended to the new Apple Watch; the company announced that Insteon customers can use their Apple Watch to control Insteon connected home solutions. Your home lighting, thermostat and other appliances con now be control from your wrist. In addition, they can view Insteon cameras and monitor a variety of sensors—including motion, door/window, smoke/CO, and water leak—as well as receive instant alerts as soon as they are triggered.
No Country’s government can hide or turn a blind eye to the development of smart technologies; especially if it relates to smart cities. A smart infrastructure has the potential to save a country billions of dollars and enhance the lives of its citizens. Before, these can be realised there a few key areas that if not supported will hinder smart city development and rob a country and its citizens of the benefits.
You might never think of it but the global Home Media Server market will worth over US $200 billion, by 2020. This is due to the growth in digital media services, according to a report titled “Home Media Servers: A Global Strategic Business Report” by Global Industry Analysts. The easy installation of networking devices, such as PCs, Laptops and Tablets and the power of mobile devices and their ability to provide wireless Internet access help by our willingness to share is fuelling the need for home media servers, said the report.
Poly-Control has taken advantage of the new features in the Z-Wave Plus certification program in a new range of smart clocks for the connected home market. The next generation of smart lock are due out in spring this year and will offer Z-Wave Plus' richer feature sets such as 250 percent higher data rate.
Todo today, announced at CeBIT that they are partnering with IFTTT (If This Then That) to enable the use of the tado's geolocation feature for purposes other than smart heating or cooling. They are also offering developer and partner API for to further Tado's integration with other IoT and home appliances.
Lantig's new GRX350 Processor comes pack full of features for today's digital home. These include True Quality of Service (TrueQoS), Trusted Execution Processor (TrustWorld) and hardware-enforced virtualization. With its carrier-class network processing power, the GRX350 has the capability to manage the millions of packets from both wired and wireless devices.
Car manufacturers using the AT&T Drive, an infotainment platform have been given another feature to offer their customers; this is the option to control and monitor their home from the vehicle’s dashboard. AT&T has recently announced the integration of AT&T Drive with AT&T Digital Life, its home automation and security platform.
The introduction of IT into any process, system or environment invariably changes our expectations of the level of service, for both service provider and customer. By introducing the telephone and email the telegraph and letter services feel too slow. Why send a letter when an email will do? I can see the same scenario playing out in the connected home market space, where the line blurs between Business and Domestic Service Levels. The idea that everything will be connected means customers expectations will change and it does not matter if the service is domestic or business.