A&S SMAHOME #10 Sep./Oct.

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EDITOR’S NOTE

HOW DO YOU SEE SMART HOME MARKETS? I was at IFA show in Berlin this Sept. As one of the concrete applications of IoT, smart home was hot at the show. There were more connected home related exhibitors than last year. If you were at the show, you would agree with me that startups are very dynamic in this field. Just as Gartner’s report, “50% of IoT Solutions come from startups in the next two year,” IFA’s extended TechWatch Zone, which was the gathering of startups, showcased diversified solutions for different needs of smart home.

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Startups are not the only enthusiasts. This year quite a few repeating exhibitors who are specialized in networking, satellite TV or computer accessories have been putting the home security or smart home solutions at the central areas of their stands. Other than the big enterprises, mid-scale companies were also showcasing the related launches. The whole show has provided numerous ideas of smart home solutions and given us a very vivid scene of the market development.

However, with the increased amount of exhibitors, the visitor flow in smart home stands did not grow spontaneously. Some exhibitors even commented “this is an overheated market.”

It is a consensus that we are still at the very early phase of smart home. Most of smart home enthusiasts anticipate that we may need two or three more years to take off. Apple’s HomeKit can be the market trigger. The technical solution of interoperability can be the push for more users’ acceptance. Let’s wait and see.

Being interested to see which startups working on smart home? Check out the 40 enthusiasts in Feature. And among many crowdfunding projects of smart home, intelligent products that are sensor related are always popular. In Exploration this issue, we discussed the benefits and challenges of multifunctional/hybrid sensors with a detail look into the IC designing trends for sensors or node on Report.

Enjoy!

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2 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

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Security, Monitoring, and Automation Solutions for Homes

ISSUE 10 SEPTEMBER 2015

MESSE FRANKFURT NEW ERA BUSINESS MEDIA

Taiwan Branch: 2F, No. 8, Lane 360, Sec. 1, Nei-Hu Rd., Taipei 114, Taiwan Phone/886 2 2659 9080 Fax/886 2 2659 9069 Website/www.mysmahome.com a&S SMAhome magazine is published bi-monthly, 6 times a year on every odd month, by Messe Frankfurt New Era Business Media Taiwan Branch. It is a professional trade magazine for smart home professionals in the worldwide smart home industry since 2014. a&s SMAhome magazine and mySMAhome. com are the authoritative sourcing guides to provide comprehensive coverage of significant trends, latest technologies, innovations and successful business models on the smart home industry.

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Messe Frankfurt New Era Business Media Ltd., a company formed by Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd. and former A&S Group in 2009, is an integrated media service provider in the security industry. Our service covers magazines, Web sites, events and trade shows. The portfolio of a&s magazines includes a&s SMAhome, a&s International, a&s Asia (above published in English), a&s China,a&s Installer, a&s Solution, and a&s Taiwan (above published in Chinese). a&s Turkiye, a&s Adria, a&s Italy, a&s India, a&s Japan and a&s Vietnam are licensed editions.

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4 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

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CONTENTS Issue: 10 | September/October 2015 | mysmahome.com

COVER STORY

EDITOR'S NOTE Welcome to a&s SMAhome

2

FOCUS SMART DOOR PHONE/BELL

54

Dahua Technology has become a wellknown leading Chinese brand for video surveillance and the world’s second largest video surveillance solution provider.

The company shares its strategy for the residential market.

REVIEW TAIWANESE SMART HOME SPECIALISTS DISCUSS INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT JOINTLY

DAHUA TECHNOLOGY RATTLES SMART HOME WITH ITS ABOUND ADVANTAGES IN PROFESSIONAL SECURITY 12

76 EXPLORATION

MULTI-FUNCTIONAL SENSORS SEARCH FOR NEW APPLICATIONS AND VALUE 16 Smart home sensors are categorized into single-functional and multi-functional sensors. The former belongs to the mainstream market with competitive unit prices and large sales volume; the latter, some makers calling it the “hybrid sensor.

VIEWPOINT ABI RESEARCH ILLUSTRATES SMART HOME DESIGN TRENDS ON GATEWAYS AND COMPONENTS 69 NORDIC CONNECTS BLE TO INTERNET

BY SUPPORTING IPV6

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SILICON LABS MAKES IOT NODES EASYTO-DESIGN, HIGHLY-INTEGRATED, ENERGY-EFFICIENT 72 BATIO: SMART HOME CAMERA CHANGES CCTV MARKET 6 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

75

SMART SENSOR MAKERS’ MULTIPLE SALES STRATEGIES

22

SUPPLIER LIST

24

PRODUCTS

26

form to get 3 cost now!

FREE COPY Fillissuesin theat zero

REPORT

FEATURE 40 SMART HOME STARTUPS

IC DESIGN TRENDS FOR SENSORS AND NODES

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According to Gartner, Inc., startups and small electronics companies spent US$78.3 billion on semiconductors in 2014, representing 23 percent of the total semiconductor market.

Level of integration, energy efficiency, intuitive technology, IP-Based and mesh networks are the main design trends of key components applied for smart home sensors and nodes. These makers aim to provide smart home suppliers with maximized benefits such as low BOM cost, shortened time to market and steady device performance.

PRODUCT

PRODUCTS

48

SUPPLIER LIST

52

FEATURE

YEAR 2015 H1 NEWS REVIEW: 5 ONGOING SMART HOME INDUSTRY SCENES

HOME CAMERA

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ENERGY MANAGEMENT

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GATEWAY & HUB

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SOFTWARE

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HEALTHCARE

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DOOR RELATED

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INTEGRATED SYSTEM & KIT

89

SENSOR

90

OTHER

90

NEWS

34

WHAT HAPPENED

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Smart home news highlights from Aug to Sept 2015 Everyday smart home has something new.

You may have read the news. But let’s put them together methodically.

By looking back the important news released in the first half of year 2015, SMAhome sees the five ongoing industry scenes that may change the future of smart home development.

8 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

SHOW CALENDAR 2015-2016 WORLDWIDE EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS RELATED TO SMART HOME 84

STATS & FIGURE COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH AND STATISTIC CHARTS ON THE SMART HOME MARKETS, APPLICATIONS AND INDUSTRIAL OUTLOOK

91

COVER STORY

DAHUA TECHNOLOGY RATTLES SMART HOME WITH ITS ABOUND ADVANTAGES IN PROFESSIONAL SECURITY

By Weili Lin

Dahua Technology is now the world’s second largest video surveillance solution provider, 15 years after its establishment. The company leads the global video security industry with top-notch technology, and creates its own industrial standard.

Dahua is the first and only Chinese corporate in the security industry that established a global technology standard called HDCVI. Besides the explosive growth in sales and unprecedented achievements in technology development, the company’s innovations are honored by prestigious global awards, such as Red Dot Design and iF Design awards as well a&s Security 50 for eight consecutive years. In the professional security industry, Dahua’s brand stands for the quality product, and the company represents a trustworthy and forward-looking manufacturing partner.

Well-known for its high caliber design, engineering and manufacturing services, its global footprint spans more than 180 countries and areas.

More than 1/3 of its sales revenues are generate from the overseas market, and the figure has been accelerating. In the next decade, Dahua sees a bright future from its fast expansion in the overseas market and new product lines in the residential market.

12 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

Established in 2001, Dahua Technology saw an exponential growth in sales performance from US$133.3 million in 2009 to US$1.2 billion in 2014. In 2015, the company predicts continued success with over 30 percent annual growth. As an outperformer in the video surveillance industry, its global presence spans over 180 countries and areas with tight relationships with over 1,000 global partners. According to IHS report 2015, Dahua Technology is the second largest provider of video surveillance solutions worldwide.

Besides, Dahua’s global market shares in terms of DVR and network security cameras are ranked as runner-up and 4th place respectively.

The Internet of Things and cloud service drive the demand of smart home security and automation. Seeing the growing opportunity, Dahua leverages its rich manufacturing experiences and know-how to cater to the emerging market. At smart home, Dahua positions itself as a total solution provider and robust manufacturer partner. Tim Shen, Marketing Director for Overseas Business Center at Dahua Technology said, “Besides our strong manufacturing and R&D capabilities, we offer a complete product lineup of home security systems for both system integrators and DIY users.” Dahua see the smart home products as the future stars, and believes it’s the best timing to venture into the industry.

TOTAL SOLUTION PROVIDER The company entered the smart home from the professional installation market, and offers surveillance kits to its branded customers with aftersales services in the United States. The residential market currently accounts for around 10 percent of the company’s export sales. The sales revenue is predicted to reach over US$15 million in 2015. Shen said, “Before 2014, Dahua had focused on the video surveillance business. After we achieved the sales target at US$1 billion, we plan to extend our product categories and business scopes. We offer home security and automation products as the line extension of our commercial surveillance business for entering the smart home. Dahua has strong integration capability and complete product lineup as well as good reputation among our customers, which are our competitiveness to work with system integrators.” Based on video surveillance, access control and intrusion alarm, the company extends its product scope to the home automation and entertainment applications.

Dahua’s smart home system integrates video intercom and surveillance,

As a daring pioneer, Dahua is the first Chinese corporation in security that has established a global technology standard—HDCVI, an over-coaxial-cable analog HD video transmission standard. In the smart home market, Dahua aims to be the leading smart home solution provider and solid manufacturing partner in the world.

wireless alarm, home automation control, emergency call and home entertainment. The indoor station, used as the control panel, is available in 7-inch and 10-inch panel sizes.

Its indoor station, also called the video intercom, functions as the home gateway and control center for home security and automation systems. The control panel supports TCP/IP protocol to connect to the outdoor station, and to the Internet via P2P technology. The system will inform the security center when the alarm is triggered or an emergency call is made.

LIQUAN, FU PRESIDENT OF DAHUA TECHNOLOGY

FLEXIBLE AND INTEROPERABLE When considering communication protocols, wide acceptance and easy integration are two major concerns for the company. Allan Liu, product manager at Dahua Technology, indicated, “For system integrators, flexibility and integration capability are vital.

That’s why we adopt Wi-Fi, Z-Wave and TCP/IP to enable easy installation whether for installers or DIYers. The protocols are compatible with most existing smart home systems currently. Furthermore, Wi-Fi and Z-Wave are the most popular and acceptable wireless home automation standards in North America. We make sure that our systems stay connected and are easy to integrate with other

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 13

COVER STORY

Allan Liu, Product Manager, Tim Shen, Marketing Director for Overseas Dahua Technology ua Business Center, Dahua Technology

smart products.” To well and quickly serve the local customers, the company has a subsidiary in the United States with a small-scale assembly line. Shen said, “North America is the world’s largest smart home market in high demand of DIY products. Our US subsidiary aims to strengthen the cooperation with our OEM customers, and expands our business to the residential market. Also, we are planning to launch DIY products to cater to the market.” Dahua plans to launch a DIY kit that contains an IP cameras, alarm systems, and video intercoms, including indoor and outdoor stations for the consumer market. The DIY kit is scheduled to be released in October 2015.

Software is regarded as an important element for Dahua’s smart home systems.

Its smart home system adopts Android O/ S that is easy to connect to smartphones.

With its exclusive mobile app, users can remotely control home appliances, open doors, and watch surveillance videos. With the mobile app, users can set up different scenes based on locations or scenarios with just one click. Liu explained, “We make our systems easy to use without hassle. A wellfunctioning smart home system should be able to integrate smart home devices and make them interoperable.

Besides, user experience is also important in the market.

We care about the user experience and customer services.” With the accumulative user experiences in the professional surveillance industry, Dahua believes it can provide a solid foundation in the user-centric smart home market. To differentiate itself from other competitors in the world, the company has set up an independent R&D team for software development.

CORNERSTONES FOR SUCCESS Based on previous successful experiences on OEM and ODM business for the branded customers, Dahua has become a well-known leading global brand in the video surveillance industry. The company’s monthly production capacity of IP cameras alone reaches more than 700,000 units. Mass production capability, cost leadership and fast market responsiveness are cornerstones of its success. Also, the company remains competitive with everlasting innovations and strenuous efforts on product quality.

Dahua is a R&D-oriented company that over 50 percent of its employees focus on R&D engineering. At present, the company has 3,000 R&D professionals, and invests more than 10 percent of sales income on R&D development every year.

Nowadays, the company owns a total of 556 patents with 27 owned invention patents. As a customer-centric company, Dahua conducts Collaborative Product Development (CPD) Procedure, including five stages—concept, plan, develop and test, verify and release, and product life-cycle management stages. The five stages help the company and its clients to set quality points, define input and output clearly, and ensure 100 percent customer requirement fulfillment, and deliver new products in time.

Besides advanced design capabilities and strong investment in hardware and software development, the company persists on stringent quality assurance system by taking strict control of every production

14 mySMAhome.com om September/October 2015

process. The company owns a world-class testing center measuring 4,000 square re meters. Regarding the manufacturing nufact cttu urriin ng system, its factory is certified ed with with ISO 9001 quality management nt systems, syy stems, and implements lean manufacturing ufaccturing to ensure efficient production and d quality qual qu alit ityy assurance. Moreover, Dahua ua conducts Total Quality Management (TQM) and six sigma quality management systems to continuously improve its ability to deliver high-quality products and services to customers. The company pays much attention on details related to quality control, from product design, production to distribution. Specifically, the company adopts full in-house inspection and equipment testing. Its inspection processes include incoming material, routing and sampling inspections, function test, and GMP audits. To ensure the quality of finished products, the company furnishes testing equipment, such as mechanical aging, thermal shock, insertion force, salt spray, dust, waterproof tests, and so on. Constant pursuit of quality and continuous upgrading of quality shows the company’s endeavor on customers’ satisfaction.

Shen commented, “The home automation market is controlled by system integrators. With more and more device makers and retail brands entering the market, the market will face a drastic transition. We keep flexible manufacturing and stable product quality to survive in the competitive market.

Applying our successful experience to the overseas market, we are sure to provide products that enhance consumers' comfort, security, convenience with compelling user experiences.” There are different routes to smart homes. Dahua will lead the way to success with our global partners, bringing innovative solutions to benefit every smart home user.

Contact information TEL: +86-571-87688883 Email: overseas@dahuatech.com www.dahuasecurity.com

Products Dahua’s smart home system provides video intercom, video surveillance, wireless alarm, automation, entertainment and emergency call services.

The system supports Z-Wave, and connects with 3rd party control panels and edge devices like air-conditioners and lights. Customized settings of scenes and schedules are provided.

Video intercom

Wireless alarm

• • • •

• 32 channel wireless alarm input • Sensor battery warranty for 3 years • Arms/disarms via the control panel and mobile phone • Controls and operates the system from the control panel and mobile app

Audio & video call Unlocks the door remotely Records videos and snapshots Controls and operates the system from the control panel and mobile app • Emergency call • Displays alarm info • Supports P2P technology to connect to the Internet

Home entertainment Video surveillance • • • •

Real-time monitoring Multi-channel display Multi-channel playback Controls and operates the system from the control panel and mobile app

• Video and photo playback • Push videos from phone to panels via Wi-Fi connectivity • Calendar reminders • Time display and alarm clock

Company Milestone: 2001 Founded in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China 2008 Public listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange 2014 • 6th Ranking of a&s Security 50, 2014 & 8-consecutive years • 2nd Largest market share in video surveillance (IHS report) • Global market share in terms of DVR and network security cameras ranks as runner-up and 4th place respectively (IHS report) • Won Red Dot and iF Design Award 2015 2nd Largest market share in video surveillance (IHS report)

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 15

EXPLORATION

MULTIFUNCTIONAL SENSORS SEARCH FOR NEW APPLICATIONS AND VALUE

By Weili Lin

A multi-functional sensor or detector is one that integrates multiple sensors.

Applications of multi-functional sensors can be found in environmental safety and security, healthcare, indoor air quality monitoring, or outdoor weather forecast and gardening.

The basic models integrate temperature and humidity sensors for indoor climate control. Thanks to hardware improvement, smart algorithms and support for remote control from the smartphone, more and more sensor types can be integrated into one multifunctional sensor for both indoor and outdoor uses.

It’s a trend to release products with multiple sensors to make the system smarter and make people’s lives better.

S

mart home sensors are categorized into singlefunctional and multi-functional sensors. The former belongs to the mainstream market with competitive unit prices and large sales volume; the latter, called “hybrid sensor” by some makers, belongs to the niche market for the early adopters. In recent years, there

16 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

Ales Spetic, CEO, CubeSensors

Bengt Rittri, CEO and Founder, Blueair

We spend a lot of time figuring out how to make use of the data that’s collected, which is a challenge any device with sensors has to face.

With the evolution of Internet of Things, we are developing the products that allow customers to monitor air quality at home or in the office as a natural extension of our product line.

Arthur Chu, Senior Director of Sales & Marketing, Philio

Ewa Bujak, PR Manager, Fibar Group

The homecare applications like air quality monitoring and healthcare are expected to grow in 2016.

There is no other way than cooperation of different protocols, which is the future of home automation.

Fred Potter, Founder and CEO, Netatmo

In less than 10 years, people won’t think about IoT as a trend, simply because all products will be connected. We won’t say a product is ‘connected’ or ‘smart’, it will just be assumed.

has been an increasing demand for multifunctional sensors to address needs from emerging applications.

E l g a t o P R D i re c t o r Lars Felber said, “The sensor is a great entrylevel solution for smart home beginners as they work similar to a fitness tracker. Users can gather information about their home and make smart decisions to improve their comfort.” Daniel P Dykes, Director of Business Development at Aeon Labs said, “Aeotec’s customers and the broader market are demanding multi-functional devices that are an area we’re particularly excited about. You can expect that trend to become mainstream. For instance, smart LED bulbs offer more than just lighting.”

BEYOND SECURITY PURPOSES Previously, smart home sensors were designed for home security and automation applications. In the coming years, there has been a convergence in the design of these two applications.

The combination will deliver more valuable products, offering benefits like energy cost savings. Moreover, we can see application-driven products that incorporate multiple sensors to achieve more precise detection and full functions, and to offer added value for customers.

Ewa Bujak, PR Manager at Fibar Group

said, “There are a number of reasons why IoT should be brought into the houses.

One important reason is for safety and comfort. For us, at the moment, the most important thing is to allow the elderly and disabled people to live dignified lives on their own.”

“The security benefits from a device that offers motion and vibration sensing are obvious. We have one company in Australia using MultiSensor 6 to drive a powerful energy saving system where electronic windows, curtains, dehumidifiers and air conditioning units are all controlled by MultiSensor 6. This particular system aims to cut down on expensive air conditioning use by layering wind forecasts with MultiSensor 6’s temperature, UV and humidity readings to create natural air flow and cooling systems in a home,” said Dykes of Aeon Labs. Aeotec MultiSensor 6 is a motion sensor capable of powering a connected home’s security or ambience needs by integrating temperature, light, humidity, UV, vibration sensors. The tiny device measures only 4cm in width. Dykes of Aeon Labs believes the ultimate trend is to develop smaller devices with multiple built-in sensors for the connected home.

Wulain has a new product called Dream Flower, which is not just used to grow flowers. The device works as a network router and control center, and it integrates environmental sensors,

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 17

EXPLORATION

Sensor: Wireless Communication Takes Control

APPLICATION-DRIVEN DESIGNS To attract consumers’ attentions, application-driven innovations are appealing. With regards to applications, the multi-functional sensors are commonly used for home security and safety, comfort and healthcare. Energy savings can be bonus value. Thanks to cloud services and smarter algorithms, collected data can be analyzed to improve living environment and prevent from weather threats.

Phil Smith, Chief Marketing Officer at Halo Smart Labs said, “The challenge for Brands is in developing products that have more than just a novelty value to the consumer. We are committed to purpose-driven innovation, by that we will only develop products that offer consumers a significant functional benefit that couldn’t be achieved without the application of any new technology, whether that be sensors, or something yet to be introduced.”

Indoor air quality monitoring for healthcare and sleep monitoring are

Ü

The majority of multi-functional sensor makers like Halo Smart Labs support wireless protocols only. The makers are exploring other wireless technologies to offer future-proof products. Z-Wave and ZigBee have been major home automation standards for years in terms of home control due to their low power consumption and mesh networking technologies. At smart home, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and NFC are emerging technologies in recent years. Wi-Fi and BLE technologies are widely adopted due to their ubiquity and ease of use.

Dykes of Aeon Labs said, “Recently we've seen a particular growth in BLE and NFC requests, while Wi-Fi has been requested for several years already.” Philio Technology, who is offering Z-Wave and ZigBee home automation devices, plans to integrate Wi-Fi protocol into its products to address some customers’ needs.

Interoperability is a major concern in the industry and selection criteria when choosing wireless protocols. Touillon of Airboxlab said, “We urgently need an open world for smart home and drastically improve the user experience by removing all unnecessary layers of process with rules and orders.” The wide user base is a major consideration when choosing communication standards. Dykes of Aeon Labs said, “When a consumer or a company selects Z-Wave, they’re tapping into a whole ecosystem of over 1,000 products. It provides us with a ready-market from gateway manufacturers to end consumers. And in the end, that number means the end consumer wins.” Touillon of Airboxlab said, “We decide to go with Wi-Fi as we want both a connection for anyone anywhere and also a two-way communication for firmware and software updates.”

Edyn adopts Wi-Fi technology because it enables end users to connect to smart devices, and then to access and monitor gardens anytime and anywhere. Netatmo uses Wi-Fi and BLE as they are standards in the IoT environment. Bujak of Fibar Group believes there is no other way than cooperation of different protocols, which is the future of home automation.

The CubeSensors adopts ZigBee technology because of the low-power needs of its devices.

Spetic of CubeSensors said, “The main things we consider when evaluating these technologies are their power usage, reliability and compatibility with devices that our users already have.”

Elgato is a promoter of BLE. Felber of Elgato said, “We use BLE exclusively. It enables the Eve products to operate wirelessly for a long time without changing batteries. Conveniently, Eve sensors can be controlled directly from an Apple device without any bridge or gateway.”

Wulian, the board member of ZigBee Alliance, chooses ZigBee because of its high security, two-way communication and low power consumption with lower radiation. Ren of Wulian said, “You can remotely check the device status lively. Also, the technology adopts bank-level AES128 encryption technology which provides high security.”

The hugOne uses Wi-Fi to connect to the set-top box, and minihugs connect to hugOne via proprietary RF868MHz technology. “In Europe, you cannot use Wi-Fi or Bluetooth for the whole-home coverage. That’s why we choose Sub 1GHz technology for connecting our minihugs to hubOne. I don’t think BLE is an ideal solution for our product at present because of its limited transmission range,” said Jaubertou of Sevenhugs.

including temperature, humidity, CO2, PM2.5 and noise sensors. Jennifer Ren, Overseas Marketing Sales Manager at Wulian (Nanjing IOT Sensor Technology) indicated that it’s a trend to combine multiple sensors into one device in the smart home space.

At smart home, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and NFC are emerging technologies in recent years. (Photo courtesy of Elgato)

18 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

Jacques Touillon, CEO, Airboxlab

Lars Felber, PR director, Elgato

The future of smart home will really take place once our homes will be fully conceived and managed as a fully integrated ecosystem and not an aggregation of hardware-based features.

The sensor is a great entrylevel solution for smart home beginners as they work similar to a fitness tracker.

Jason Aramburu, CEO, Edyn

Phil Smith, Chief Marketing Officer, Halo Smart Labs

The most promising applications satisfy a user’s need or improve efficiency.

two popular categories. Philio plans to release an air quality monitoring device and an outdoor weather sensor in the coming years. Chu of Philio said, “We see the smart home market for automation and security having robust growth since the end of 2015. The homecare applications like air quality monitoring and healthcare are expected to grow in 2016.”

Blueair, a leading air purifier company, will release Blueair Aware in October to address the market demand for accurate air quality monitoring. Blueair Aware connects smart devices like the Blueair Sense+ air purifier and Blueair Friend app. Users can monitor air quality wherever they are by using their mobile phone, computer or Apple Watch. Bengt Rittri, Blueair CEO and Founder, said “We provide air purifiers to government agencies, hospitals, leading hotels and private homes. The Blueair Aware is in response to their need for an air quality monitoring device to help guarantee good air quality for improved health and wellbeing. With the evolution of Internet of Things, we are developing the products that allow customers to monitor air quality at home or in the office as a natural extension of our product line.”

Besides Blueair Aware, Airboxlab’s Foobot is a full-functional device offering instant readings on the front panel with colored LEDs, indicating air quality conditions. Embedded with temperature, humidity and air quality sensors, Foobot is continuously monitoring for pollutants like volatile

The challenge for Brands is in developing products that have more than just a novelty value to the consumer.

organic compounds and particulate matter like PM2.5 in addition to temperature and humidity. Detailed measurements, charts, warnings and notifications are shown on the user’s smartphone. Jacques Touillon, CEO at Airboxlab said, “We are bridging smart home and connected health with data processing. We empower users to make decision with knowledge and information to protect their health and improve their wellness.”

Sevenhugs will roll out a family sleep monitoring device called hugOne in October. The product is designed to help the entire family sleep better by monitoring sleep phase, temperature, humidity and air quality. hugOne works as a hub and an air-quality monitoring device with the integrated volatile organic compound (VOC) sensor. hugOne monitors environmental temperature and humidity as well as the user’s sleep cycles by working with minihugs placed at one corner of the bed. The next-generation product might furtherintegrate asound or light sensor.

To ensure environmental safety and make people safer, the makers are adding unique features to make their products stand out from others. Smith of Halo Smart Labs said, “Most US smoke alarms only detect the smoke from fastmoving fires. Our Halo+ provides the added protection to guard against slowburning fires as well. Besides indoor safety, its Halo+, designed as an indoor weather alert system, provides verbal

Smart Sensor, Smart Home The smart home market will continue to grow. It will gradually evolve into a lifestyle and norm when the whole ecosystem is ready. Dykes of Aeon Labs said, ”When people use apps on their phone, they don’t think of themselves as using the Internet. The internet and phones have come together to create this new paradigm. And it’ll be the same with the smart home.

A few years from now people will have wholly responsive and intelligent homes, but they won’t think of themselves as having a smart home. They’ve just bought a better home than their neighbors have.”

Touillon of Airboxlab said, “The future of smart home will really take place once our homes will be fully conceived and managed as a fully integrated eco-system and not an aggregation of hardware-based features.” CubeSensor thinks the smart home market is evolving every day, but it still takes a lot of time for users to adapt to the systems. Spetic of CubeSensors said, “Most consumers won’t make the switch to a smart home overnight, but will gradually make their home smarter room by room, depending on their needs.”

(Photo courtesy of Netatmo)

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 19

EXPLORATION

alerts on impending dangerous weather conditions like tornadoes, hurricanes or floods. Users can program which external threats they wish to monitor.

OUTDOOR GARDENING AND WEATHER MONITORING Beside indoor units, outdoor weather stations and garden monitoring systems are getting popular. Aeon Labs thinks the outdoor market is a huge space and they are expanding that intelligence into ‘outdoor rooms’ such as the garage.

Edyn’s role in the market is to bring the smart home to the garden. Edyn CEO Jason Aramburu said, “The most promising application is to satisfy a user’s need or improve efficiency. For example, our Edyn garden sensor is used to help grow healthier gardens.” Edyn has developed a smart garden system that monitors and tracks environmental conditions to help users to growth plants in a smart way. Its Edyn Garden Sensor is a wireless soil sensor that constantly monitors the environment, and the Edyn app provides smart recommendations about what types of plants are best suited for the user’s garden, and how to ensure they thrive.

Archos released Weather Station and Elgato launched Eve Weather t o m o n i t o r i n g ou td oor w e a th er conditions. The weather stations and sensors generally integrate temperature, humidity and air pressure to sense the outdoor environment. The Archos Weather Station lets users to know all measurements detected by the different station modules, including indoor temperature, humidity, CO2 level and atmospheric pressure, along with temperature and humidity for outdoor and soil.

Compatible with Apple’s HomeKit, Elgato Eve Weather supports voice command and can connect directly to an iPhone or iPad using Bluetooth Smart technology, without requiring a hub, gateway or bridge. Felber of Elgato said, “We offer outdoor and indoor sensors that are both controlled by the Eve app, so they will work standalone or as a combination.”

(Photo courtesy of Nest)

Major Multifunctional Sensor Categories & Suppliers Indoor Applications Environmental Safety and Security

Aeon Labs, Archos, Areawell, Aroma Technology, BRK Brands, Climax, Elgato, Everspring, Fibar Group, Halo Smart Labs, Nest, Nietzsche Enterprise, Notion, Philio, Quirky, StarVedia, Vision Automobile Electronics (VAE), Wally, Wulian

Healthcare / Air Quality Monitoring

Airboxlab, Aroma Technology, Birdi, Blueair, CubeSensors, CoAsia, Sevenhugs, Withings, Wulian Outdoor Applications

Weather Station

Archos, Elgato, Netatmo

Gardening

Edyn, Parrot, SmartBee

The Netatmo Weather Station is used to monitor indoor and outdoor environments, including temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, CO2, sound, rainfall and wind, helping to improve lifestyle habits. The device comes with additional modules, the Rain Gauge and the Wind Gauge, to provide accurate professional measurements.

DATA ANALYSIS PROVIDES VALUE Besides hardware improvement, it’s essential to effectively collect

20 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

and analyze data as well as related services to create true value. Spetic of CubeSensors said, “It’s not just by adding more sensors, that’s usually the easy part. At CubeSensors, we spend a lot of time figuring out how to make use of the data that’s collected, which is a challenge any device with sensors has to face.” Touillon of Airboxlab said, indicated that indoor air pollution is complex. He thinks the most interesting trend would be the deployment of sensors network to provide more precise measurement on

granularity as well as the sources of pollution.

Touillon of Airboxlab said, “Outdoor pollution is both less complex to monitor and different from indoor pollution. Furthermore, there is already a lot of existing and available data for the outdoor pollution.

Therefore, instead of recreating another outdoor sensor array, we will collect existing data and use them as the benchmark for our indoor products.”

CubeSensors connects data from existing sleep trackers people already wear like Fitbit, Jawbone UP with environment data collected from CubeSensors in bedrooms, enabling users to have better sleeping quality and stay healthy. The product helps users to find the right balance between temperature and humidity by reminding them when to open the

windows along with advises on proper ambient conditions like lighting and noisiness.

Besides collecting and analyzing data from the devices or cloud server, the markers work with third-party devices to offer more intelligence. hugOne work with Nest thermostat and Philips Hue smart bulb for better environmental control. “Our smart alarm design analyzes the user’s sleep cycle and identifies the best wakeup time in the morning. When the user wakes up in the morning, the hugOne will trigger the Hue to illuminate the room. Besides smart lighting, hugOne also works with the Nest thermostat for automatic temperature control to set up preferred environmental temperature. Also, our system will support IFFFT at the end of 2015,” indicated Stephane Jaubertou, COO and co-founder of Sevenhugs. Working

with the third-party devices also helps enhance the interoperability. Smith of Halo Smart Labs said, “Our Halo and Halo+ live within the IoT or smart home ecosystem, and are compatible with 95 percent of existing smart home systems, including iControl, and Iris.”

Internet of Things (IoT) is disruptive and reinventing our lifestyles by revolutionizing everyday life. Fred Potter, Founder and CEOof Netatmo thinks in order for IoT to be widely adapted by consumers, connected devices must be easy to use and provide a clear added value. “In less than 10 years, people won’t think about IoT as a trend, simply because all products will be connected. We won’t say a product is ‘connected’ or ‘smart’, it will just be assumed.”

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 21

EXPLORATION

SMART SENSOR MAKERS’

Photo courtesy of Apple Inc.

MULTIPLE SALES STRATEGIES

By Weili Lin

I

n regards to sales channels, there are multiple ways for B2B suppliers to distribute their products through OEM/ ODM business or project cases. Service providers like telcos and utility companies, real estate developers, distributors, dealers and system installers are major B2B customers. For B2C suppliers, they sell products through online and physical retail stores, including connected-home dedicated stores, electronics retailers and retailers like Walmart in the US, Dixons in the UK, and Media Markt in Germany, general online stores such as Amazon, and bricks-and-mortar retail stores such as Staples, Lowe’s and Home

22 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

Depot. HomeKit-compatible products are available at the Apple Store. For small-scale companies and startups, online sales channels are useful and can help them evaluate consumers’ feedback.

Talking about the market drivers, Stéphane Jaubertou, COO of Sevenhugs thinks that retail branding companies (retail brandslike Nest, Wi t h i n g s , N e t a t m o a n d A p p l e are major drivers; while, service providers follow the retail market leaders. Jaubertou sees the smart home market changing in France.

“Though the professional installation market is bigger, the DIY retail market has been growing that may surpass the professional installation market

shortly in a few years,” said Jaubertou.

Fibar Group provides Z-Wave solutions under its own brand Fibaro to service providers, telcos, utilities, system installers and real estate developers. The company also utilizesr retail channels for distribution. PR Manager Ewa Bujak said, “The majority of plug-and-play devices are sold to service providers, telcos, utilities and through retail distribution channels.

SIGNIFICANT ONLINE SALES Jacques Touillon, CEO at Airboxlab thinks the online retail channel is ideal for getting pre-orders and visibility for hardware startups. He said, “We started with pre-orders on

Ü Ü our website and then expanded the sales on Amazon.com. I think it is a great channel for startups when they are still very focus on improving the software part of the device. Also, we conducted a few first market tests in the U.S. with startup-friendly stores like Brookstone.” Touillon of Airboxlab thinks average consumers need to see, touch and feel the products, and get explanations from as well as be convincedby the seller. He thinks online channels are suitable for early adopters, and retail channels is ideal for the mass market.

CubeSensors sells its products directly through its own website.

Its customers come from the United States and Europe. Ales Spetic, CEO, CubeSensors said, “We’ve already tried some other online channels, including Amazon.com in the U.S. with limited quantities. We are eventually

For the small-scale companies and startups, the online sales channel is useful and helps them to evaluate the consumers’ feedbacks.

(Photo courtesy of Airboxlab)

planning to move into physical stores, and to work with distributors. That’s certainly a necessary strategy when our sales grows at scale and our product has mainstream appeal.” the startup company Edyn sells its products on homedepot.com and in Home Depot brick and mortar stores across the U.S, in addition to its Kickstarter backers in a number of countries. The company has future plans for expanding product distribution to outside of the U.S.

products for its partners worldwide, creating products that perfectly accommodate regional differences.

Spetic of Aeon Labs said, “The connected home trends are the same the world over. As a result, you’ll find our products available in mainstream markets such as the United States and EU, but also in markets further afield such as South Africa and the UAE.” Dykes thinks the biggest emerging market is the installer market. “Smart home system growth is such that there you'll find just as much stock in vans for installation by CEDIA type installers as you will on a physical retail shelf” Wulian (Nanjing IoT) sells its products through distributors and project-based cases, which take up more than 80 percent of its shipment.

The company is trying to cooperate with some B2C platforms to expand its distribution to online sales channels.

The company works with Chinese real estate companies like GreenLand, Country Garden, Wanda and Vanke.

Jennifer Ren, Overseas Marketing Sales Manager at Wulian explains that in China, DIY products like starter kits are sold through online and offline stores primarily, and house builders are in favor of the whole system currently.

REBRANDING OPTIONS Aeon Labs, a leading B2B manufacturer, rebrands its Z-Wave products to its customers, including service providers and security system customers. Dykes, Director of Business Development of Aeon Labs said, “At least 40 percent of our customers choose to rebrand our products. Our products have long been utilized by premium-tier telcos and utilities such as AT&T, rebranding is now an option pursued by even the most boutique and niche of platforms, particularly our security-system customers. What's most interesting about the connected home space right now is that these rebrands aren't segmented to one particular part of the market.”

Aeon Labs reengineers the company’s

NEW REVENUE STREAMS Makers who directly face end consumers are working on new revenue stream instead of making money from the one-time purchase Airboxlab builds its own backend data processing and analysis system, providing this service for free in order to build a database on air pollution a n d h e a l t h i m p a c t . To u i l l o n o f Airboxlab explains, “New revenue stream strictly based on data is only envisioned in 2 to 3 years. In the meantime, new business model could be based on reducing the cost of the device with a monthly or annual subscription fee.”

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 23

EXPLORATION

Multi-functional Sensor Supplier List Company

Product Name

Country

Website

Aeon Labs

MultiSensor 6

USA

aeotec.com

Airboxlab

Foobot

Luxembourg

foobot.io

ARCHOS

Weather Station

France

www.archos.com

AREAWELL

CO/GAS Sensor

Taiwan

www.areawell.com.tw

AROMA Technology

NEXTtoME

USA

www.aroma-technology.com

Birdi

Birdi

USA

getbirdi.com

Blueair

Blueair Aware

Sweden

www.blueair.com

Climax Technology

VST-852 Ultra

Taiwan

www.climax.com.tw

CubeSensors

CubeSensors

Slovenia

cubesensors.com

CoAsia

Air Mentor

Taiwan

www.coasia.com

Edyn

Edyn Garden Sensor

USA

edyn.com

Elgato

Eve Weather

Germany

www.elgato.com

Everspring

ST814 Wireless Temperature & Humidity Detector Taiwan

www.everspring.com

BRK Brands

First Alert Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Alarm

USA

www.firstalert.com

Fibar Group

Motion Sensor

Poland

www.fibaro.com

Halo Smart Labs

Halo, Halo+

USA

www.halosmartlabs.com

Nest

Nest Protect

USA

nest.com

Netatmo

Weather Station

France

www.netatmo.com

Nietzsche Enterprise

STH-03ZB ZigBee Wireless Temperature and Humidity Sensor w/ Battery

Taiwan

www.nhr.com.tw

Notion

Notion

USA

getnotion.com

Philio Technology

PAT02

Taiwan

www.philio-tech.com

Parrot

Flower Power

France

www.parrot.com

Quirky

Spotter

USA

www.quirky.com

Sevenhugs Labs

hugOne Family Sleep Monitor

France

www.seven-hugs.com

Samsung SmartThings

SmartSense Temp/Humidity Sensor

Korea

www.smartthings.com

StarVedia Technology

IC717z

Taiwan

www.starvedia.com

Vision Automobile Electronics (VAE) Multi-sensor

Taiwan

www.visionsecurity.com.tw

Wally

SNUPI

USA

www.wallyhome.com

Withings

Aura

France

www.withings.com

Wulian (Nanjing Iot Sensor Technology)

Dream Flower

China

www.wulian.cc

24 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

EXPLORATION

Environmental Sensors Edyn Garden Sensor

Birdi Smart Air Monitor

• Communication protocol: Wi-Fi • Solar-powered (in addition to a rechargeable lithium iron phosphate battery when not in full sun) • Connects to the cloud via Wi-Fi connectivity • Water and fertilizer resistant • Measures ambient temperature, humidity, light intensity and soil electrical conductivity to determine the soil nutrition

• Sensors: dust, pollen, particulates, VOCs, temperature, humidity, fire, CO, CO2 • Communication protocol: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n • Warns users about emergencies like fire and carbon monoxide • Air quality: tracks dust, VOCs, temperature, humidity, pollution, pollen and particulates • Fire: smoke alarm can be silenced from the phone • Signals for natural disasters like a tornado, flood or earthquake • In case the alarm goes off, Birdi will call the user with details about the alert and patch the user through to the authorities if it’s an emergency • Integrates directly with Twilio for immediate and reliable communication direct from home to user’s phone • Open API

Edyn Country: USA edyn.com

Birdi Country: USA getbirdi.com

ARCHOS Weather Station • Sensors: relative humidity, temperature, atmospheric pressure, noise level, CO2 • Communication protocol: Wi-Fi • Consists of three elements: indoor, outdoor and soil modules • Users can pass their hand over the indoor module to see levels of carbon dioxide • Indoor module pairs wirelessly (range of up to 100 m) with the outdoor and the soil modules, giving temperature and relative humidity readings for outside (or second room) and for plants • Weather data can be downloaded through ARCHOS Cloud • Detailed graphs of weather data for each elements and specialized weather alerts ARCHOS Country: France aeotec.com

Blueair Aware • Sensors: airborne particles, VOC, tempeature, humidity, CO2 • Communication protocol: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n • Data is collected in real time, transmitted to the Blueair Cloud and then displayed on the Blueair app • Blueair smartphone app translates data into precise indications of indoor quality • Recognizes specific pollution patterns and gives more informed, holistic advice over time • Timely alerts and notifications specific to the needs of user’s home and family

26 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

Blueair Country: Sweden www.blueair.com

Everspring ST814 • • • •

Sensors: temperature, humidity Communication protocol: Z-Wave Max. & min. ranger hold LCD panel with backlight that displays temperature, humidity, battery status and transmission indication • Built-in 60dB beeper for reminders • 0°C freezing point alert • Operates on 3 x 1.5V AA batteries Everspring Industry Country: Taiwan www.everspring.com

Airboxlab Foobot • Sensors: tVOC, PM2.5, temperature, humidity, CO2, CO • Communication protocol: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n • Light output – instant feedback on indoor air quality • Knock knock – users can tap the device twice to get the latest data • Multi-room monitoring • Community friendly – best practices and results can be shared with others • Actionable advices • Plug & relief – hassle-free setup & one step connection

• Machine learning – more personalized advice over time • Gamification Airboxlab Country: Louxembourg footbot.io

NHR STH-03ZB • Sensors: temperature, humidity • Communication protocol: ZigBee • Built-in high accuracy MEMS temperature and humidity sensors • Wireless transmission for scalability and easy installation • Operates on 2 x AA batteries that can last up to 1 year • Compatible with other ZigBee HA certified receivers • Over-the-air temperature and humidity using QuickView software Nietzsche Enterprise Country: Taiwan www.nhr.com.tw

check current status • Glow – colorful glows reflect indoor health

• Wireless operation. Powered by long-lasting, replacable batteries • Built for outdoor use with IPX3 water resistance

CubeSensors Country: Slovenia cubesensors.com

Elgato Country: Germany www.elgato.com

CoAsia Air Mentor • Sensors: PM2.5 & PM10, tVOCs, temperature, relative humidity, CO, CO2 • Communication protocol: BLE • Built-in industrial grade sensors for stable monitoring • App (Android & iOS) that shows real-time individual measurements and gives advice for improving the air quality • Records 3 days of measurements • Users can check hourly, daily, weekly and monthly air quality changes • Cloud infrastructure for analyzing air quality patterns CoAsia Country: Taiwan www.air-mentor.com

Netatmo Weather Station • Sensors: Indoor - temperature, humidity, CO2, sound, air quality Outdoor - temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, air quality • Communication protocol: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n • Consists of an indoor module and an outdoor module • Detailed 7-day weather forecast • Light indicator for direct CO2 reading • Sends warnings when the user needs to air out the home • Users can use the app to display all data in graphs Netatmo Country: France www.netatmo.com

CubeSensors • Sensors: VOC, temperature, humidity, noise, light, pressure • Communication protocol: ZigBee • Air quality – monitors CO2 and VOC levels • Temperature – users can save money and be healthier with the right temperature for every room and every season • Humidity – keeps mold, flu, viruses and bugs away from home • Light – users can know when it's too dark to work or too bright to sleep • Pressure – predict weather changes and see if the headache is weather related • Shake – users can know when somebody moves the Cubes and can shake the Cube to

Elgato Eve Weather • Sensors: temperature, humidity, air pressure • Communication protocol: Bluetooth Smart • Connects directly to iPhone or iPad using Bluetooth Smart technology, without requiring a hub, gateway or bridge • Works with Apple HomeKit • Users can use Siri to ask for temperature or humidity

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 27

EXPLORATION

AROMA NEXTtoME • Sensors: CO, temperature, UV, blood alcohol content (BAC), temperature, humidity, light, pressure, altitude • Communication protocol: BLE • Low power consumption – 2 months standby and 2 weeks operation time • Proprietary CO sensor – monitors air quality indoors and outdoors; measures the user’s daily, weekly and monthly pollution exposure; and sends immediate alerts to breathing hazards caused by fireplaces or other dangerous fumes

RF868MHz frequency • A package contains one hugOne and two minihugs sensors • Security: WEP/WPA/WPA-2-personal • Minihugs: temperature sensor, humidity sensor • hugOne: Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) meter, measuring ranges from 450ppm to 20,000ppm • Integrate sleep monitoring sensor to monitor sleep quality and quantity, and track sleep cycles • Safe communication mode: sensors stop electronic transmission when users are in bed • Supports iOS and Android O/S

AROMA Technology Country: USA www.aroma-technology.com

Parrot Flower Power • Sensors: moisture, temperature, fertilizer, light • Communication protocol: Bluetooth Smart • Assesses the plants' needs and sends alerts to the user’s smartphone • Measures temperature, fertilizer, soil moisture and luminosity • 6 months battery • IFTTT compatible • 7000 plants PlantDB • iOS & Android app Parrot Country: France www.parrot.com

Sevenhugs Labs Country: France www.seven-hugs.com

Wulian Dream Flower • Sensors: CO2, PM2.5, humidity, temperature, sound • Communication protocol: ZigBee • Multi-functional vase • Functions as a Wi-Fi router and smart home hub • Dimmable multicolored lighting • Links to the air conditioner or air system for temperature adjustment • Screwless setup Wulian (Nanjing IOT Sensor Technology) Country: China www.wulian.cc

SmartSense Temp/Humidity Sensor

Withings Aura Connected Alarm Clock

• Sensors: temperature, humidity • Communication protocol: ZigBee • Monitors indoor temperature and humidity levels • Sends immediate alerts if the climate fluctuates to unsafe or undesirable levels • Triggers the smart thermostat, or an A/C unit or portable heater to automatically adjust in response to temperature changes • Includes both adhesive tape as well as a mounting plate for placing the sensor on the ground, near a household item, or on the wall • One-year limited warranty

• Sensors: temperature, sound, light, sleep monitoring sensor • Communication protocol: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth Low Energy • Enhances user’s wake up and fall asleep faster with scientifically-validated light programs, Spotify playlists and over 20,000 web radio streams • Tracks environmental factors in the bedroom • Works as a reading lamp • Touch-control interface

SmartThings (a Samsung Company) Country: USA www.smartthings.com

Sevenhugs hugOne Family Sleep Monitor • Sensors: temperature, humidity, VOC, sleep monitoring sensor • Communication protocol: Wi-Fi 802.11n,

28 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

Withings Country: France www.withings.com

ADVERTORIAL

YESCAM ZWAVE-BASED ZER1 SMART HOME KIT YesCam Zer1 smart home kit from Taiwan consists of a smart camera, power plug and a 4-in-1 sensor.

Featuring easy installation and setup procedures with the unique CAMID numbers and automatic online-configuration services, users can enjoy the high video quality, security and automation based on Z-Wave Technology.

The Z-Wave IP Camera Zer1 The Z-Wave IP Camera Zer1 produces HD footage at 720p@30fps, while the IR LED function and the duel-lens design guarantee its excellent performance in terms of light sensitivity. Zer1 is equipped with two separate image sensors and lenses for day and night environments. It connects up to 20 users at the same time.

Moreover, this model is developed based on YesCam’s “Smart Home Solution on a Camera (SOC).” With a built-in Z-Wave controller, Zer1 can act as a multifunctional smart home gateway which is able to control all these Z-Wave devices, including power plug, curtain, color bulb, door lock and detect smoke sensor, PIR sensor, glass-break sensor, door/ window sensor, flood sensor, etc.

Combined with two-way audio and a built-in speaker, Zer1 will push notifications to mobile phones and activate the speaker whenever an alarm is triggered. Users are able to use this device to monitor, hear, talk and communicate as well. And Yescam Corporation

it allows the alarm notification for each Z-wave device connected. User can record the video on the SD card for 5 seconds of the pre-recording and long-time recording on the NAS device. By bundling with the free video management software, CamView, it supports triple video streaming on PC, mobile and SD card recording.

Z-wave’s Scene control system allows users to pre-program multiple scenes including light controlling remotely. Users can set the conditions such as light on/off or door lock/unlock periodically to create the scenario of an occupied house, even when the user is away from home. Or remotely access and control your vacation home. Zer1 enables users to enjoy audiophile sound for music, movies, TV, etc., while keeping an eye for the utility usage.

Zer1 works with mCamViewZ+ App It provides users a simple and clean user interface to see the video of a plug-n-play IP camera on Android and iPhone devices. Sync with Zer1, users can control the Z-Wave-based devices such as sensors, dimmers, power meters, switches, RGBW bulbs, door locks and so on via mCamViewZ+ App. YesCam Zer1 smart home kit will be demonstrated at GITEX Dubai (Booth: Hall 8, D8-30D) during 18-22 October 2015 and Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Booth: Hall 5, 5B-D15) during 13-16 October 2015.

www.yescam.com

Email: service@yescam.com

Zer1 Features • • • •

Z-wave based Mega-pixel, 1280x800 resolution at 30 fps Pan/tilt control Dual sensors/lens for day and night separately

• • • •

Two-Way audio with internal speaker SD card slot with 5 seconds of video pre-recording 802.11 n wireless with WPS support Connect up to 20 users simultaneously

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 29

EXPLORATION

Security Sensors and Others MultiSensor 6 • Sensors: motion, temperature, light, humidity, vibration, UV • Communication protocol: Z-Wave • Powered by Z-Wave 500 series chip • Communicates with other Z-Wave devices up to 150 meters/492 feet away • Can be calibrated for every room and environment with manual calibrations wirelessly available for its temperature, humidity, light and UV measurement • Vibration sensor detects, reports and records event-based vibrations within a home • Tamper protection and AES-128 bit data encryption • Works up to 2 years on two CR123A batteries

First Alert Fibaro Motion Smoke & Carbon Sensor motion, temperature, light, Monoxide Alarm • Sensors: vibration • • • • •

Sensors: smoke, CO Communication protocol: Z-Wave Effective at waking up sleeping children 11 pre-programmed home locations Photoelectric smoke sensor reduces nuisance alarms from cooking smoke or shower steam, combined with electrochemical carbon monoxide sensor for increased accuracy • Mute button to silence any nuisance alarms • Meets UL standards BRK Brands Country: USA www.firstalert.com

Aeon Labs Country: USA aeotec.com

AREAWELL Networks CO/ Gas Sensor • • • • • •

Sensors: CO, gas Communication protocol: Bluetooth 4.0 Power Source: 5VDC, max 500mA, USB type Compliant with UL2034 & UL1484 Card reader function App (iOS/Android)

Halo Smart Labs Halo • Sensors: photoelectric, heat, humidity, barometric pressure, ionization sensor • Connect to 95% of the connected home platforms currently in the US • Supports wireless connectivity • Detects the smoke from both fast-moving and slow-burning fires

AREAWELL Networks Country: Taiwan www.myareawell.com

30 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

Halo Smart Labs Country: USA www.halosmartlabs.com

• Communication protocol: Z-Wave • Multicolour LED pupil of the FIBARO Motion Sensor informs the user if it has detected any motion or of the current temperature of a room • User can set color and intensity of the multicolor LED pupil • Monitors how much time someone spends in a room, what time someone has gone out of or come back home, and the number of visitors Fibar Group Country: Poland www.fibaro.com

Nest Protect • Sensors: smoke, CO, heat, humidity, motion, light • Communication protocol: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n • Voice alarms with custom location – Friendly human voice to give early warnings and to tell the user where the danger is • App silence – quiet down the alarm from the Nest app • Phone alerts • Safety checkup – one tap to test all the alarms • Tests itself – checks its batteries and sensors over 400 times a day Nest Labs Country: USA nest.com

AdvertoriAl

LoongYee Smart Switch Lr7a-m13 meanS eaSY inStaLLation, SafetY and maSS cuStomization Lighting is the eye of a house.

Lo o n g Ye e h a s d e d i c a t e d i n developing the smart lighting and related products for years.

The company have established Research and Develop Department specially for consumer electronic products since 2008. LoongYee has own patented products of light switch and control systems.

Its latest one, OnTouch Smart Switch, is patented in Taiwan, North American, Europe, and other countries.

The innovative smart switch focuses on the DIY market and features easy installation, safety and mass customization, etc.

Easy Installation The smart light switch can be controlled by RF remote controller and installed without Neutral line. It is designed for the DIY market and accordingly the user friendly is the focused design for customers.

Safety First Switch includes over load and over temperature protective functions. The switch is guaranteed to operate over 100K times by using the patent circuit design. LoongYee values the users’ safety in the first priority.

LoongYee Industry Co., Ltd.

Mass Customization Switch can be controlled by user’s smart phone through the gateway. LoongYee also provides the customized models that work with different communication protocols such as RF, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Z-Wave, or ZigBee. According to the company, OnTouch smart switch comes in two solutions basically. One is multiple switches pairing with remote controllers and the other one is control switches in APP on both iOS and Andriod mobile devices. Smart switch features the capacitive touch panel, two wireless connection without Neutral and AC to DC transformer. There is no battery required.

Talking to the convenient part, smart switch has the RF remote and time delay functions. Remote controller is programmable for customers to schedule their own preference.

In addition to the functional features, LoongYee puts efforts on the switch design. “We subvert the traditional image of switches, and make our product suit for any interior design.”

loong-yee@mail.ehosting.com.tw

+886-2-29804861

www.loong-yee.com.tw

LoongYee Smart Switch LR7A-M13 • Electro capacitive touch function • Easy installation (No Neutral) • Auto switch off for overload and overheat • Wall mounted plate with elegance design

• Save energy and eco-friendly for time delay off • RF and app remote controller • Mass Customization

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 31

EXPLORATION

Notion • Sensors: temperature, water, smoke, natural frequency, light, motion, sound, angular rate, acceleration • Communication protocol: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n • Easy to install – pair, peel and stick • Custom alerts via push notifications • End-to-end encryption for over-the-wire transmissions

• Endless possibilitie – can be used for anything from baby monitoring to washer/ dryer notifications or perfecting your wine cellar

describing the issue and where it is in home • Back to work – once a leak is detected, users can dry off the sensor and Wally gets back to work

Quirky Country: USA www.quirky.com

SNUPI Technologies Country: USA www.snupi.com

Notion Country: USA getnotion.com

StarVedia IC717z

Philio PAT02-C Flood Sensor • • • •

Sensors: humidity, temperature, water (flood) Communication protocol: Z-Wave Built-in Z-Wave 500 series modules 1700mAh CR123A Lithium battery to guarantee 7 years of battery life • Higher output power to enhance the communication range (+5dBm output power as compared to -2.5dBm 300 series) • Slim, small design

• Sensors: sound, motion, temperature, PIR • Communication protocol: Wi-Fi 802.11n, Z-Wave • Smart home solution on a camera (SoC) – IP camera with built-in smart home gateway and inclusion of Z-Wave aware sensors and devices • Supports 64G microSD card, Dropbox Cloud Storage (2G free storage space) and NAS recording for data backup

Vision Automobile Electronics (VAE) Country: Taiwan www.visionsecurity.com.tw

Climax VST-852 Ultra

SNUPI Wally

• Sensors: motion, sound, light, temperature, humidity • Communication protocol: Wi-Fi • Requires Wink HUB or Relay • Monitors motion, sound, light, temperature, and humidity all from the mobile device

• Sensors: door/window, temperature, humidity, light • CR14250 battery • Low battery detection • LED status indicator • Magnetic separation trigger function • 100 feet line of sight

StarVedia Technology Country: Taiwan www.starvedia.com ww.starvedia.com

Philio Technology Country: Taiwan www.philio-tech.com

Quirky Spotter

VAE Multi-sensor

• Sensors: water, humidity, temperature • Communication protocol: PLC • Uses SNUPI (Sensor Network Utilizing Powerline Infrastructure) technology to eliminate the power burn required by Wi-Fi or Bluetooth and lasts over 10 years with no battery changes • Constantly communicating – Wally’s network of sensors, hub and the cloud are in constant communication with each other • Immediate alerts –when there’s an issue, Wally sends a detailed, specific alert

32 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

• • • • • •

Sensors: motion Communication protocol: ZigBee HA 1.2 Compatible only with ZBS security panels Integrated video camera function Three alarm image processing options 1 remote look-in color QVGA or VGA image upon request • Night surveillance up to 5 meters • Easy plug-n-play installation Climax Technology Country: Taiwan www.climax.com.tw

ADVERTORIAL

CLIMAX SECURITY & HOME AUTOMATION SOLUTION Without a doubt, user loves the simplicity and convenience of a smar t home. But people overwhelmingly agree that security tops the list as the most important feature of the smart home. Survey reports such as Icontrol 2015 STATE OF THE SMART HOME REPORT, 90% of respondents said personal and family security is one of the most important reasons for using a smart home system – with 67% ranking it as the number one reason overall.

Climax Complete Security & H o m e Au t o m a t i o n S o l u t i o n is a total solution integrating security monitoring, home automation, energy management, and senior care all-in-one. The solution provides users a smart and secure living. The products include: Security & Smart Home Gateway Series, Security Sensors & Automation Accessories, App, Web, Cloud Server Security, Control, Automation, Management, Senior Care All-in-One Positioned as an one-stop original design manufacturing specialist, Climax’s 30 years of experience with security enables the company to integrate security features into smart home solutions. Climax has a long history of working closely with alarm monitoring companies.

In addition to the convenience Climax Technology

and comfort benefits, Climax’s smart home solution highlights the security functionality such as alarm reporting, live visual monitoring, 24-hr emergency monitoring and visual verification solutions. Climax Smart Home Gateway Series enables users to control their home security and smart automation from anywhere in the world via smartphones, tablets, or web browser.

By having features of mobile remote control, energy management, advanced home automation and flexible expandability, the series is designed for users to live smarter, greener and enhance comfort, security, and convenience delivers security as well as convenience and comforts.

Extensive Range of ZigBee & Z-Wave Sensor/Accessories Climax develops smart home sensors based on the technology and the two popular protocols in the world: Zigbee and Z-Wave. Climax’s Zigbee and Z-Wave lineup offers a comprehensive range of sensors and accessories such as home security sensors, environmental sensors, lighting control, home automation, energy management, emergency monitoring devices for users’ greater safety, comfort and convenience.

Besides the current range of ZigBee and Z-Wave accessories, Climax is also continuing to expand the sensor/accessories line with Video Door-phone, Curtain PIR sensor, ZigBee Mini Smoke Detector with temperature and motion sensor, ZigBee Radiator Thermostat, Scenario Switch series, ZigBee Shock Vibration Glass Break Sensor, ZigBee Light Link Reset Button, Wireless Infrared Universal Remote Control, to name a few. SVGS-1ZBS is a ZigBee Shock, Vibration & Glass Break Sensor. This wireless sensor is easy to install on any glass surface to alert home owners when glass is tampered or broken.

Home Portal Platform Climax Home Portal Platform is an IP/GPRS-Based Solution to deliver smart home and mobile control services. It provides visual verification, home automation, mobile control, remote monitoring, energy management and location tracking.

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Climax Smart Home Gateway Series

Climax Home Portal Platform

• Alarm reporting • Live visual monitoring • Mobile remote control • Energy management

• Reliable and high-capacity IP/GPRS platform • Remote monitoring • Visual verification • Energy management • Home automation • Location tracking • Mobile control

• Advanced home automation • Flexible expandability • 24hr emergency monitoring

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 33

FEATURE

Year 2015 H1 News Review

5

Ongoing Smart Home Industry Scenes SCENE 1.

Non-stopping M&A in Key Components They said there is no one single company that can have the complete smart home solution as a whole. So is the key component industry. As smart home is one of the concrete applications of IoT, the key component leaders have been aggressively armed themselves in connected home. Acquisition may be the fastest method to have the critical technologies in hand.

• Intel to Acquire Lantiq; Advancing the Connected Home (February 2015) • Silicon Labs Acquires Bluegiga (February 2015) • NXP and Freescale Announced $40 Billion Merger (March 2015) • Avago Technologies to Acquire Broadcom for $37 Billion (May 2015) • ams Acquires CMOS Sensor Business from NXP (July 2015) • ARM Expands IoT Security Capability with Acquisition of Sansa Security (August 2015)

34 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

SCENE 2.

Improving Communication Plights Interoperability is the headache in smart home. Despite no answers for the question available yet, the protocols and standard bodies have been aggressively offering solutions on their technology plights.

• Bluetooth SIG Announces Formation of Bluetooth Smart Mesh Working Group (February 2015) • LoRa Alliance Officially Debuted for IoT and M2M (March 2015)

SCENE 3.

• Apple Becomes Promoter Member of Bluetooth SIG (June 2015) • Bluetooth Reveals Standardization of Mesh and Latest BLE Applications (June 2015) • Thread Wireless Networking Protocol Now Available (July 2015) • Eddystone, an Open, Scalable BLE Beacon Format

by Google (July 2015)

SCENE 4.

MESH

SCENE 5.

The Battle of IoT Ecosystems Continues

Cross-industry Cooperation for Better Chances

More Asian IT Bigshots March into Smart Home

IoT ecosystem is a complex market, with multiple layers and hundreds of players, including device vendors, communications service providers, IoT platform players, software vendors, and IT services providers. Choosing sides may be an issue for most smart home players. Above that, we see the innovative solutions for openness and interoperability the real Internet of Things Ecosystem.

It is a consensus that we are in the early stage of smart home. While waiting for the mass market awareness, the smart home pros are exploring every possibility to promote and sell their solutions. DIY products can be a good add-on for the professional installation market. Connected home devices can also be smart for other markets.

With the growing saturation of IT or 3C markets, Asian bigshots are looking for the next market. Smart home is one of the choices. Getting rid of the image of the device/hardware manufacturer, some Asian players recognize software the key of connected home.

• Nest Refreshes Entire Product Line; More Than 9,000 Developer Partners Using ‘Works with Nest’ Program (June 2015) • Icontrol Networks Enters Israeli Market with Bezeq Partnership, Using Piper for Smart Home Platform (July 2015) • IcontrolOne, New Cost-Effective Home Automation Solution for Independent Dealers (July 2015) • ADT Enriches Smart Security Ecosystem with Nest Partnership (July 2015) • Tyco Security Products, Alarm.com Partnership Extends Interactive Services to Commercial Market (July 2015)

• Asus Debuts Smart Home Series, Using Zigbee (June 2015) • Msi Upgrades Panocam With Night Vision and Launches Cubecam (June 2015) • Sunix Iolife, A Gateway Solution for IoTlife (June 2015) • Apacer Introduces ApacerCloud as An Integrated Service Platform (June 2015) • Acer Byoc Works with Marvell, MTK, Realtek, Ubuntu For IoT Development (June 2015)

• Smarthings and Samsung Announce A New Open Software for IoT Ecosystem (May 2015) • Samsung Announces ARTIK Platform of IoT Devices And Applications (May 2015) • Broadcom WICED Platform Supports Homekit Ecosystem (May 2015) • Google Announces New OS – Brillo (May 2015) • Open Interconnect Consortium Announces New Members And Standards (July 2015) • Microsoft Joins The Allseen Alliance (July 2015)

You can see all listed news details at www.mysmahome.com

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 35

REPORT

36 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

IC DESIGN TRENDS FOR SENSORS AND NODES Level of integration, energy efficiency, intuitive technology, IP-Based and mesh networks are the main design trends of key components applied for smart home sensors and nodes. These makers aim to provide smart home suppliers with maximized benefits such as low BOM cost, shortened time to market and steady device performance.

By Weili Lin

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 37

REPORT

Withings Aura (Photo courtesy of Withings)

Smart home products are composed of home hubs and sensors.

These sensors are also called nodes or edge devices, and their hardware performance is heavily relied on the microcontrollers (MCUs) and connectivity ICs. MCUs can perform real-time processing, gather sensory information and communicate with other connected devices.

MCUs have been gaining traction with an increasing demand from Internet of Things (IoT) and smart home. The research firm Information Network’s research shows that smart home MCU consumption will increase the greatest at a compounded annual growth rate of 35 percent in 2020, while smart cities' application share will drop to 48 percent of MCU consumption from 54 percent in 2014.

Seamless connectivity among nodes is crucial for high performance of the devices and good user experiences at smart home.

U.S. Unit Sales of Smart Home Controllers & Selected Smart Home Devices

Units of smart home devices include smart thermostats, networked cameras, smart door locks, smart water leak detectors, smart carbon monoxide detectors, smart light bulbs, smart switches, smart plugs and outlets, smart power strips (Source: Parks Associates)

38 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

Wei-Ning Gan, Head of SEEDS Business Unit at Marvell Semiconductor said, “The IoT design should emphasize on high connectivity rather than high bandwidth.

We believe there are a considerable number of sensors that require low data rate. The reliable connectivity is essential.

How to extend battery life of wireless connected devices is also critical.”

After speaking with IC companies, SMAhome sees the technological trends of ICs design for smart home sensors and node devices moving toward low cost, high energy efficiency, IP-based communication and mesh networking, high level of integration, and voice control.

The ARM architecture dominates the embedded systems. The majority of embedded design in the smart home sensors and nodes are based on ARM Cortex-M and Cortex-R architectures.

LOW COST AND HIGH INTEGRATION To lower cost and size, chip companies have released integrated SoCs that bring together the microcontroller function and connectivity. The beauty of the highly integrated solutions is that they can lower bill of materials (BOM) remarkably.

For example, CSR BlueCore CSRB5348 dual-mode system on chip (SoC) provides module manufacturers with significant BOM savings while speeding time to market for multiple IoT applications. It integrates microcontroller, battery charger, and analog and power management into a single platform. As wireless MCUs are popular offerings in the market, TI’s SimpleLink CC2630 wireless MCU supports IEEE 802.15.4-based networking solutions and easy IP and cloud connectivity through 6LoWPAN operation where each device includes an IPv6 address. Broadcom’s BCM20706 integrates

Bluetooth Smart onto a single chip with a built-in ARM Cortex-M3 MCU, enabling twice the data rate over a Bluetooth Smart link, and power-efficient 2 Mbps mode, anticipated to be standardized in Bluetooth 5.0.

It’s a trend to drive the IC’s cost down to $1 or lower for putting it into the mainstream market. For example, the price of ARM Cortex-M0 microcontroller is available at less than $0.5. Cees Links, CEO of GreenPeak Technologies said, “At present, a ZigBee chip costs around $1 or lower. Low cost is very critical for mass adoption. We are working very hard to drive the cost down.”

Some solutions further incorporate more than one communication protocol for future-proof performance. Matt Saunders, Director, Field Marketing of MCU and Wireless Products at Silicon Labs thinks that a successful IoT end node needs to integrate more functions and reduce components. Saunders of Silicon Labs said, “Cost and the size have to decrease, and the level of integration has to increase. Users may need to deal with two or three different protocols at the same time. It’s essential to find the right level of integration to develop cost-effective and simple-to-use systems.”

We s e e c o m b o o r h y b r i d S o C s supporting dual protocols like the combination of ZigBee and Thread, and Wi-Fi plus Bluetooth. GP691 ZigBee communications controller provides IEEE Standard 802.15.4-compliant spectrum in the worldwide 2.4 GHz band, supporting ZigBee 3.0 and Thread. Marvell’s 88MZ300 802.15.4/ZigBee wireless microcontroller

Bernard Aboussouan, VP of Business Development, GainSpan

Cees Links, CEO, GreenPeak Technologies

Jeff Baer, Product Marketing Director, Broadband & Connectivity Group, Broadcom

Niall Jenkins, Research Manager for Smart Home, IHS

Wei-Ning Gan, Head of SEEDS Business Unit, Marvell Semiconductor

Raz Kivelevich-Carmi, VP Marketing & Business Development, DSP Group

Richard Chen, Regional Sales Manager, Nordic Semiconductor

SR Tsai, General Manager, Wireless Connectivity and Networking Business Unit, MediaTek Inc

system on a chip (SoC) also supports ZigBee 3.0 and Thread. Thread integrates multi-protocol radio that makes it easy for connected devices to talk to more than one of those protocols simultaneously.

Links of GreenPeak indicated that it’s an important trend to integrate different protocols into one chip like the integration of Bluetooth and ZigBee. Hence, users can use their smartphones to connect smart home devices to the cloud. Links said, “We can expect to see combo ZigBeeBLE chips in the near future. Besides, it’s an important trend to integrate different protocols into one chip like the integration of Bluetooth and ZigBee. Hence, users can use their smartphones to connect smart home devices to the cloud.”

"It’s essential to find the right level of integration to develop costeffective and simple-touse systems."

ACCELERATING TIME TO MARKET

Time-to-market is the key to success in smart home. The IC suppliers provide production-ready modules, peripheral-rich solutions, and platforms that comprise multiple chips and SDK to address clients’ needs. Gan of Marvell said, “We offer IoT modules, or socalled smart modules, which comprises microcontroller and wireless connectivity solutions based on Wi-Fi, BLE and ZigBee standards. For example, we offer IoT modules for Xiaomi’s smart plugs and air purifiers, and for home appliance makers like Whirlpool, and Midea.”

MediaTek’s approach is to offer tailor-made solutions to address different market needs shortly. SR Tsai, General Manager of Wireless Connectivity and Networking Business Unit at MediaTek said, “We offer many SoCs with integrated processor, connectivity and power management functions.” Its Linux-based MT7688 SoC is designed for the smart appliances with complex features, such as IP camera and home surveillance that require high data transmission rate; while on the other hand MT7681 is based on MediaTek’s RTOS and is suitable for

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 39

REPORT

CO-COMPETITION AMONG COMMUNICATION PROTOCOLS Z-Wave, ZigBee, Wi-Fi and Sub-1GHz are widely-adopted wireless protocols for smart homes. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Thread are two promising wireless network protocols, which are predicted to have notable growth in the near future.

According to the statistics from IHS Smart Home Intelligence Service, shipments of Wi-Fi enabled smart home devices reached 9.8 million units in 2014, that of ZigBeeenabled devices reached 9.4 million and that of Z-Wave devices amounted to 7 million. Less than one million BLE smart home devices are shipped in 2014.

Ratliff Lee, Principal Analyst, Connectivity & IoT, IHS said, “Remote nodes with mains power are likely to use Wi-Fi as well. Nodes without mains power and which need more than one year of battery life typically

use other technologies. Bluetooth Smart is becoming popular for point-to-point connectivity with smart phones and tablets, especially for wearables and smartphone accessories. ZigBee and Z-Wave are popular for multi-point networks. Z-Wave has found a lot of acceptance in security and home automation. ZigBee is popular in smart bulbs and consumer electronics, especially cable set-top boxes for the remote control.

These are the four primary protocols being used today. Soon, the Thread protocol will be added to the list.”

When we think of smart home, we may think of the smartphone and remote control. Chen of Nordic Semiconductor said, ”In comparison with other personal area network (PAN) technologies, Bluetooth could connect to the smartphone directly. Also, its

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Thread are two promising wireless network protocols, which are predicted to have notable growth in the near future.

simple applications due to its compact size, including smart plug, lighting fixtures and sensors. MT7687 is MediaTek's first ARM Cortex-M4 IoT WiFi SoC with an enhanced security engine, designed for IoT end devices.

For fast deployment, Sigma Designs launched the Embedded Development Kit for end-devices, such as remotes, sensors, switches, door locks, lights, sensors and thermostats, running on RF868, 908 and 920 MHz. The solution provides quick prototyping with embedded sample applications and Z-Wave RF modules. It also provides application framework, for building new software applications, to modularize the

40 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

low power consumption is exceptional.”

Bernard Aboussouan, VP of Business Development, GainSpan said, “We believe that Wi-Fi, Thread and BLE will be the main wireless connectivity solutions in the home displacing Z-Wave, ZigBee and proprietary RF in the next3 to 5 years.”

Links of GreenPeak said, “In a growing market, we see different interests in different parties. ZigBee and Thread technologies are currently competing and cooperating at the same time. We support both ZigBee and Thread currently.” He thinks Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are complementary technologies to ZigBee. “ZigBee is designed for sense and control networks.

If consumers need high-power and highspeed solutions with larger bandwidth for content distribution at high data rate, Wi-Fi is an ideal solution for them. If users need low-energy connectivity to link devices to their smartphones, they can consider BLE. Bluetooth Smart is suitable for Body Area Networks,” added Links.

codes with predefined applications for easy task deployment. The versatile development modules enable easy hardware prototyping.

Jeff Baer, Product Marketing Director of Broadband & Connectivity Group at Broadcom Corporation indicated the real differentiator from the competitor is not just providing a chip. “Even if you give IoT customers great chips at a compelling price, they don’t exactly know what to do with that – it’s too complex to integrate.

Our WICED architecture offers the complete environment to pull the software, API, and hardware together, creating a complete and easy-to-implement hardware and software solution for time-to-market deployment. That’s what the companies in the United States and elsewhere are looking for. They don’t just look for the super chips or cost-effective solutions, but a complete solution can be easily integrated into existing products. This is

Advertorial

Dexatek ΣCASA: Complete Smart Home Ecosystem Dexatek Technology is a leading g l o b a l p l a y e r i n d e s i g n i n g, manufacturing and marketing IoT products, multimedia, Mobile TV receiver, capturing device and consumer electronic products.

Stepping into smart home, Dexatek designs its own smart home system in-house including hardware, ID, mechanism, firmware, cloud system/server and iOS/Android apps. ΣCASA is Dexatek’s smart home solution which consists of the 9 subsystems: ΣCentral, ΣDoor, ΣLight, ΣPlug, ΣWeather, ΣMotion, ΣSwitch, ∑Smoke and ∑Shock for the complete home security and automation performance. ∑Casa, A Complete Ecosystem ∑ Ca s a e c o s y s te m i n c l u d e s devices, apps, cloud server and management software, integrating f ro m h a rd w a re, s o f t w a re to cloud service vertically. Dexatek establishes an exclusive team to design UI/UX and develops functional iOS/Android apps corresponding to Dexatek’s series product. The team is also capable to integrate driver and firmware on windows, Linux and RTOS platform to have seamless integration with the hardware. ∑Casa, Various Product Choices for Smart Home Dexatek offers comprehensive IoT Dexatek Technology Ltd.

products. ∑Casa has a variety of products includes LED light, environmental sensors, and surveillance related sensors. Users can choose what they need to build their own smart home. The service range is from hardware design, manufacturing, software to cloud service to make life easier, simpler and better.

Smart Link System (SLS) According to Dexatek, the smart home is not about objects, but linkage.

“You can set the trigger condition (IF condition) for every device, and set the response action (THEN) to the controller of the devices. All gateways under the same user account should work together. For example, when your Senor A in your Paris home detecting smoke, your gateway in your New York home can activate the notification system.”

Strong Security Mechanism to Secure Your Privacy Smart home makes life more convenient and comfortable. However, there is more vulnerable chances to hackers at the same time. Dexatek’s Smart Home package helps relieve the fear against the invasion of privacy with its special Dynamic Authentication Security System (DASS), which turns your home into a fortress where home devices are exclusively under control of your family members. By adopting the 128 bit bank-level AES key exchange, DASS assures that every data exchange is completed via certain pin code and therefore blocks malicious attacks from the outside of your house.

Easy to Install, Energy Efficient ΣCASA is BLE and RF based for the low-power consumption. Most ∑Casa devices are batteries-included, except for light and plug. User can easily install those devices anywhere in the house without wires.

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Dexatek CASA Features • Complete ecosystem • Comprehensive IoT smart home products • Smart Link System (SLS) • Strong Security Mechanism (DASS)

• Control on the go • Connected to your loved ones byΣCASA chat • Easy to install, energy efficient

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 41

REPORT

Photo courtesy of Marvell

one of the challenges when working with original equipment manufacturers who do not have extensive background in radio frequency, which is a core strength of ours.”

ENERGY EFFICIENCY Saunders of Silicon Labs said, “A successful connectivity technology for IoT must be energy efficient. There’s an effort to bring low-power Wi-Fi, but it’s still not really coin-cell friendly with transmission requirements being up in the hundreds of mA current range to deliver messages.

When we’re talking about energy efficiency here, we’re referring to very low active current consumption for microcontroller, exceptionally low standby currents.” The company offers low-power solutions featuring low active and standby power consumption like EFM32 and Blue Gecko based on Sub-GHz and BLE technology.

ZigBee is another power-saving technology. For instance, GreenPeak claims its GP490 is cable to operate on a coin cell battery for over 10 years, eliminating the maintenance problem of frequent battery

42 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

replacement.

At present, short battery life is a key challenge for wide adoption of wireless connected devices. To solve the problem, Marvell has developed FLC (Final-Level Cache) technology to extend battery life by redefining main memory hierarchy. With FLC, there will be an increase in standby time by 10 times, and 100 times increase with MRAM FLC in the future.

The design enables solutions with a smaller form factor and less power consumption.

DSP Group's DHAN module offers application developers a turnkey platform for Ultra Low Energy (ULE) nodes, both battery and ACpowered. Built around the company's DHX91 SoC, the module can easily integrate into the smallest Smart Home nodes and can serve as a wireless connectivity channel for applications running on external MCUs, or act as a standalone solution using DHX91's internal processor.

“Consumers want a simple, secure smart-home experience that works with a wide range of devices and smartphones. The set-up process has to be simple and low maintenance with minimal need to change batteries,” says Anthony Murray, Senior Vice President, Business Group at CSR. “This latest version of CSRmesh meets increasing consumer demand for a much wider range of home automation applications that are seamless and secure.

INTUITIVE TECHNOLOGY It’s a trend to add voice control to make the nodes smarter and easyto-use. Voice control is regarded as a promising intuitive technology.

NXP’s LPC5410x is a dual-core ARM Cortex-M4F and -M0 based microcontroller, applied for voice-triggered IoT nodes. STM also offers

All-In-One Wireless Alarm System with Surveillance and IoT Devices

BARVOTECH INTERNATIONAL CO.,LTD

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www.barvotech.com

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 43

REPORT

at 35.2 percent from 2013 to 2020. The consumer segment is predicted to have CAGR at 32.4 percent, among which health and fitness is the most promising application, followed by home automation and energy management, and home security and safety.

Links of GreenPeak indicated that security, energy management and homecare are three fast-growing applications, driven by operators and service providers. Geographically, different regions have different priorities.

Links said, “In the US, we see a lot of priorities on the security side, including motion, and open/close sensors. In Europe, we see a lot of priorities on energy management segments, including lighting control devices and thermostats.

In Asia, we see a lot of interests in the homecare and assisted living.”

Aboussouan of GainSpan thinks the fastest growing market is in video applications, such as doorbells, security cameras, and baby monitors. “I believe there is a lot of potential for applications related to security that combines sensors and video. People will pay more for security, health, and things that save them money, but will pay less for conveniencerelated devices like smart appliances.”

44 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

Low energy standards <Source: GreenPeak >

a voice-control module that incorporates MEMS microphones and Cortex-M4 microcontroller. The device supports BLE technology and turns on the light via voice commands.

Raz Kivelevich-Carmi, VP Marketing & Business Development, DSP Group indicated that what makes ULE special and competitive is its voice control technology that makes the interaction with other devices more intuitive because it’s originated from DECT technology.

Kivelevich-Carmi said, “ZigBee and Z-Wave can’t play the video because they don’t have the bandwidth, and are not built around the voice technology. Wi-Fi technology has the bandwidth, but it isn’t low-power.” He believes interactions in the future smart home will be through voice technology, not touch technology.

Ü

According to statistics from Parks Associates, the market scale of smart home devices in the United States is much larger than that of smart home controllers, or so-called hubs. The smart home devices refer to sensors, nodes or edge devices in the semiconductor industry for the smart home. They are comprised of alarm and safety sensors, smart plugs, smart lightbulbs, thermostats, network cameras, home appliances and the devices that utilize wireless sensor networks technology.

The smart connected appliance market is forecast to be one of the fastest growing sectors in the smart home device market according to IHS. In unit shipments, consumer appliances are predicted to grow at a CAGR of 150 percent between 2012 and 2018. This category includes connected washing machines, dishwashers, refrigerators, airconditioners and ovens. Niall Jenkins, Research Manager for Smart Home at IHS said, “Adding connectivity to these products is relatively inexpensive when compared to the overall product price. Besides, it differentiates the products from traditional non-connected competitors.” He believes the growth in traditional smart home device markets, such as intruder alarms systems, video cameras, smart thermostats and smart lighting, is forecast to remain strong at a CAGR of between 50 percent and 90 percent over the same time period as new subscribers sign up to smart home services and an increasing number of competitive products enter the market.

Other faster growing market categories in terms of unit shipments include HVAC controls, remote control door locks, window/door contacts, and smart plugs.

According statistics from Gartner, there will be a 25 billion installed base of connected devices in 2020, with CAGR

Ü

POPULAR SMART HOME APPLICATIONS

ARM reference design

AdvertoriAl

ECOA FUEGO SEnSOr DEtECtS HAzArDOUS kAGE At A EArLy EAr GAS LEAkAGE StAGE

T

o ensure the air quality and safety at home, many sensors are required to detect the potential threats before any damage is done. However, with ECOA's FUEGO sensor, which can monitor up to nine kinds of environmental/ air status, users are able to gather the integrated information about his/her home environment with great efficiency.

Multi-functional Compared with general sensors which often provide only one or two environmental indicators, the FUEGO sensor is cable of gathering multiple data at one time from nine kinds of sources: temperature, humidity, pressure, VOC, CO, CO2, LUX, Gas and PM2.5. It helps SI and users simplify the installation process and reduce costs.

Besides, the FUEGO sensor is housed within an IP50 dustproof and comes with a LCD display which enables real-time monitoring.

When the PIR inside of the gadget senses any human presence, the screen would light up and display the data instantly.

As for installation, this sensor can be mounted on a wall of any room where air quality is a concern, via the RS485 MODBUS RTU protocol. It can be installed in the kitchen to detect

ECOA Technologies Corp.

gas leakage during cooking, or it can be settled in a living room to provide useful environmental info.

Early Detection The wide range of the FUEGO sensor allows an early detection and alert once hazardous gas leakage happens, before gas density reaches the dangerous level, giving users more time to react and greatly reducing harms.

As soon as the sensor detects potential threats, it would immediately warn users with sound alert. If the sensor is integrated on ECOA's smart control system, more interactions between the sensor and other devices would be available. For instance, as soon as the sensor sends alert, the alarm system would be activated and the gas shut-off valve would be turned off.

About ECOA ECOA Technologies has specialized in building management system (BMS) technologies since its establishment in 1993 in Taiwan. In 2014, the company started to recognize the flourishing smart home market as its new playground. With its specialty in both automation and energy management, ECOA has applied its smart control system and products to improve the living environment in homes or residential communities.

The ECOA hardware and software are developed and manufactured in house, which permits flexible customization for clients in professional installation market. In addition, to satisfy the growing needs for wireless connections in DIY market, ECOA is also focusing on developing new products that will support Wi-Fi and ZigBee and be available in the near future. www.ecoa.com.tw

ecoapatrick@gmail.com

FUEGO Sensor-Early detection intelligent system • • • •

Early detection Convenient installation Applicable to all environments Stable and efficient

• Digital communication • With LCD display screen

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 45

REPORT

B e s i d e s v o i c e c o n t r o l , N X P ’s JN5169 wireless microcontroller and accompanying smart home and smart lighting solutions, features a NFCcommissioning option that allows users to connect systems intuitively with just one tap. The solution supports ZigBee LightLink, Home Automation and GreenPower software stacks.

IP-BASED AND MESH NETWORKS

networking equipment, helps accelerate the mass adoption. There is no need to create a new way for connected home.

In August 2015, CSR announced CSRmesh Home Automation based on BLE technology for the smart home regarding control of heating, ventilation, air conditioning, door locks and window sensors. The sensors and nodes does not require a hub or router to function locally, or an end-to-end IP connection, providing simple and seamless user experiences. CSRmesh for Home Automation claims to significantly extend battery life for sensors and actuators such as door locks. Manufacturers can reduce the duty cycle of each mesh device to as little as two percent by grouping sensor devices with a mains powered proxy device, and holding data from a battery powered sensor device. This proxy device can then relay that information without ‘waking’ the battery powered sensor. The sensors and nodes would be in sleep mode at all other times, and only wake up when they are triggered by user activation such as a window being opened.

Thread technology is a new and IP-based wireless networking protocol designed for low-power connected products in the home, using proven standards like IPv6 and 6LoWPAN. Millions of existing 802.15.4 wireless devices like ZigBeecompliant devices already on the market can run Thread with just a software enhancement without new hardware required.

The sensors will have their own IP addresses for more smooth and secure communications based on IPv6 and 6LoWPAN technologies.

Bluetooth also supports IP connectivity since its 4.1 version, allowing Bluetooth Smart sensors to access the Internet directly via IPv6 and 6LoWPAN. It is ideal for connected home scenarios that need both personal and wide area control.

Seamless connectivity among nodes is crucial for performance of smart home devices. Eliminating battery changes increase operating convenience. While there are still arrays of technological plights to be diminished, IC makers and smart home suppliers are working together to improve user experience.

"People will pay more for security, health, and things that save them money, but will pay less for convenience-related devices like smart appliances."

There is an increasing demand for connecting the nodes to cloud servers and platforms via IPbased communication.

With more and more connected devices at home, it is necessary to integrate mesh network technology and different levels of integration to enable seamless connectivity for a large number of devices working together within a long range. Thread, BLE 4.1, ZigBee 3.0 and Z-Wave protocols support IP connectivity.

Saunders of Silicon Labs said, “The expected growth for IoT is coming because this is a technology that’s going to be applied to every aspect of our lives. In the mobile handset space, it’s an average number between 1.5 and 2 units per person in any developed country.

If we push that forward to where we’re projecting the Internet of Things, there will be 45, 50 or even more nodes that a person have in a house.”

It’s fancy to offer hub-less design when every node has its own IP address to link to the IP layer and cloud directly without buying a discrete hub. The sensors and nodes don’t require a hub or router to function locally. Nordic Semiconductor promotes IPv6-based communication technology to enable the nodes to be connected to the cloud without a smart home gateway or hub. Richard Chen, Regional Sales Manager of Nordic Semiconductor explained, “Our IPv6 over BLE technology, compatible with current

46 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

Photo courtesy of Sevenhugs

AdvertoriAl

EvErspring HomEsys, an idEal solution for HomE sEcurity and automation User-friendly and Secure Homesys, comprised of a cloud platform and several home devices, including the gateway IP Box, Magnetic Contact Detector, Voice Siren, Metering Plug, Remote Control, PIR Sensor and IP Camera is capable of offering security, home automation and surveillance services for home users.

This voice-oriented smart home is an easy and user-friendly solution.

Users are able to establish a RF link simply by powering on, and the reach length of RF connection is up to of 250m (outdoors). Moreover, the voice siren function adds some touch of humanity to the alarm system.

Via the gateway, these home devices can be easily connected to the highly secure cloud platform which is constructed based on a VPN-grade network. The video footage can also be stored in the cloud in case the IP camera is vandalized.

Critical alters in real time Through the cloud-based Homesys is able to monitor and facilitate real-time responses when events occur.

Homesys will immediately push alarm notifications onto mobile phones of users, who may be far away from home, as soon as the Everspring Industry Co., Ltd.

system senses the approaching of an intruder. Users can watch the real-time footage and catch snapshots of the intruder instantly.

Adopted and Field-proven by Telco Services Benefitting from Everspring’s 35-year experience in retail and security businesses, Everspring’s gateway products and RF devices have been adopted and truly field-tested in mass market via some value-added services provided by certain telcos.

In these cases, the system can combine an optional 3G/4G connection (as bundle package) for the telco operators. Besides, to ensure that notifications are sent precisely, optional SMS and voice calls are available as well.

About Everspring Everspring is a fast growing company with 35-year experience of designing and manufacturing competitive security products and smart home cloud-based solutions that focus on the users.

Since start-up in 1980, we drive a strong commitment enabling “Better solution and Better living” to people and partners. www.everspring.com

sales@everspring.com

4 key features of Homesys : • Integrating with Cloud-based server • HD Camera to check your home remotely

• All devices connected wirelessly • 4 kinds of notification ensures no alert loss

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 47

REPORT

18 IC Solutions for Smart Home Broadcom WICED Platform www.broadcom.com

GreenPeak GP490 www.greenpeak.com

• Supports for 802.11ab/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Smart • Software Development Kit (SDK) supports HomeKit. Bridging capability to connect endpoints that are not HomeKit-enabled • Compact design to support multiple microcontrollers (MCUs) and systems-on-a-chip (SOCs) • Low memory footprint • Integrated development tools • Reliable interoperability and integrated security • Upgradeable over wireless connections

• Low Power ZigBee PRO chip designed for low-cost and low-power smart home applications, including door sensors, window sensors, temperature sensors and light switches • Operates on a coin cell battery for over 100 yea years • Bi-directional commissioning and communiuniun cation • Wi-Fi interference rejection mechanismss for reliable full home coverage • ZigBee Home Automation (HA 1.2) Application Profile

Freescale Kinetis KW40Z www.freescale.com

CSR BlueCore CSRB5348 www.csr.com

• Enables Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) v4.1 and IEEE 802.15.4-2011 RF connectivity • Integrates a 2.4 GHz transceiver • Ultra low-power, highly-integrated single-chip family of devices • Support: FSK/GFSK and O-QPSK modulations, FSK/GFSK and O-QPSK modulations, an ARM Cortex-M0+ CPU, 160 KB Flash and 20 KB SRAM, BLE Link Layer hardware, 802.15.4 packet processor • Incorporates a high precision DAC and a 16-bit ADC for accurate sensor measurement • Includes 802.15.4 MAC layer as the foundation for ZigBee 3.0 and Thread IP-based mesh networking protocol • Anticipated Thread IP-based mesh networking protocol

DSP Group DHAN Module for ULE applications www.dspg.com

• Appropriate for both battery-powered and AC-powered ULE nodes • Embedded HAN-FUN ULE SW stack • Well-documented API for control via external MCU using the serial UART interface • Alternatively, the ARM926 32-bit RISC processor and memory can be utilized for standalone, customized DHAN solutions • Radio performance - Tx power: +23.5 dBm ; Rx sensitivity: -96 dBm @ 1000 ppm BER • Low-power Hibernation mode: <2uA • Support for EU, US and other regional DECT bands • Compliance with EN301406, FCC Part 15.329 & ARIB STD-T101 • Small form factor: 15 mm x 32.5mm x 3.8 mm

48 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

• Embedded Bluetooth v4.1 compliant radio, 80MHz RISC MCU, 40MHz DSP, USB charger and large I/O • Offers a significant BOM and real estate saving • Ultra-low power for optimal battery life • 22 fully configurable digital and 22 analog I/O for design flexibility • Supports SPP and GATT • Enables flexible data transfer including HID over GATT • The CSRB5348 SDK includes an MFi V4.0 add on, Android and PC support

GainSpan GS2000 Wi-Fi Shield www.gainspan.com

• Wi-Fi Shield derived from Arduino (e.g. Freedom development platform from Freescale) • Wireless connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n • Interfaces with MCU via UART or SPI • Small footprint drivers and reference code are available for most popular MCUs • Operates standalone by connecting USB interface to PC • Acts as host to other shields

SM

BUY OME ERS GU AH

IDE

Detectors with UART interface available for IoT application

st Recommended o !

M

Smoke / Heat , CO / Smoke and Gas Detector Products MD368SH optical smoke detector is designed to meet the needs of manufactures of wireless security systems. Not only the detector offers aesthetically appealing design but also comes with UART output to be integrated with RF module. The MD368 series is able to either merely own a heat sensor to become a heat detector alone or be with an optional heat sensor besides smoke sensor to further extend its capabilities as a combo smoke & heat detector. MD368 has a 10-year lithium battery option. This product is available for IoT application ..

MD760CS combination CO &smoke detector is designed to meet the needs of manufactures of wireless

Company security systems. Not only the detector offers aesthetically appealing design but also comes with UART output to be integrated with RF module. The MD760 series is able to merely own a CO sensor to become a CO detector alone except of its originally designed concept of combo CO & smoke detector.

This product is available for IoT application .

F918 gas detector is designed to meet the needs of manufactures of wireless security systems. This compact and stylish gas detector not only offers aesthetically appealing design but also comes with UART output to fit RF module. F918 is fully loaded with features and built with relay output function.

This product is available for IoT application.

+886 3 9906099 â&#x20AC;˘ sales.everday@everday.com â&#x20AC;˘ www.everday.com

Everday manufactures over one million of uniquely made smoke, heat and gas detectors annually, fulfilling a special role or function for each of our customers. Our company currently owns a number of testing facilities, such as a UL-standard fire testing lab, a UL smoke test box, , an EN-54 testing tunnel, anechoic chamber for sound-level testing and EMC test equipment. Owing to the consistent performance in supplying quality products and technical support , Everday has built the reputation and trust among clients in the field of fire safety and home security worldwide.

REPORT

Nordic nRF52 www.nordicsemi.com

• Cortex-M4F processor • Multi-protocol: Bluetooth LE, ANT, proprietary 2.4GHz radio • Total link budget of 100dBm, -96dBm sensitivity, +4dBm output power and -42dBm selectivity • Protocol stacks for Bluetooth Smart, ANT and Gazel (2.4GHz) • Power consumption: 5.5mA at 0dBm TX output power and 5.5mA RX • Runs from a supply between 1.7V and 3.6V • NFC-A tag on chip • 512kB flash + 64kB RAM on chip

MediaTek MT7687 www.mediatek.com

• Ultra-low-power Wi-Fi SoC • 1T1R 802.11b/g/n • Low power CM4 192 MHz • Security engine and security boot • Interfaces: UART, I2C, I2S, ADC, PWM • RTC for deep sleep mode • Integrated Flash with XIP • Applications: smart home appliance, smart plug, thermostat, smart lighting, HomeKit

NXP LPC54100 Series www.nxp.com

Marvell 88MZ300 www.marvell.com

• 802.15.4/ZigBee chip • Supports ZigBee 3.0 and Thread • Improves RF performance • Adds execution in place (XIP) • 120+dB link budget (+13dBm TX and -107dBm RX) • low standby current (1uA) and wide range of power supply from 1.8V to 3.6V • 512KB on-chip flash • High performance, low-power, cost-effective • Applications: Connected lighting, Smart appliances, Sensors, Home/building automation, Retailer electronic shelf labels (ESL), Remote controllers, Industrial controls

• Dual-core 100 MHz, 32-bit ARM Cortex-M4F/M0+ • Up to 512 KB on-chip Flash and 104 KB internal RAM • Ultra-low power consumption: 3 µA continuous sensor listening (Power down with RAM retention), Scalable active power/performance technology: Cortex-M0+ (55 µA/MHz) or Cortex-M4F (100 µA/MHz), Four low-power modes and power profiles • Low-power serial interfaces: Three Fast-mode plus I2C, four UART, two SPI, up to 50 GPIO • Packages: WLCSP49 (3.28 x 3.28 mm), LQFP64 (10 x 10 mm) • Operating voltage: 1.62 to 3.6 V

Qualcomm QCA401x www.qualcomm.com

• Low-power Wi-Fi performance • Fully integrated with free application memory up to 800KB • A wide array of integrated interfaces to enable comprehensive flexibility of design • Anti-tampering, data integrity and root of trust features • Reduced footprint • Low cost due to solution integration and optimization • Protocols include Wi-Fi, IPv6, HTTP and other cloud enablers • Pre-integrated with Allseen Alliance’s AllJoyn® software framework • Enables AllJoyn IoE clients

50 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

Realtek Ameba RTL8195AM www.realtek.com.tw

• Applications: compact IoT products, e.g. smart plugs, smart home appliances, home security systems, and smart sensor/lighting devices • High-performance CPU (ARM Cortex-M3) • Complete networking and Wi-Fi protocols, including hardware SSL engine • Multiple serial ports, e.g. UART, I2C, SPI, and PWM, and high-speed SDIO • Integrates with ADC and DAC

STMicroelectronics STM32L476 Nucleo

Samsung ARTIK 1 www.samsung.com

• 9-axis motion sensor with gyroscope, accelerometer andd magnetometer • Protocols: Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 4.0 • 12 mm x 12 mm module • Display resolution: WVGA 800x480 • Application processor: Dual Core @250MHz + @80MHz 0MHz • Memory: 1MB on-chip + 4 MB SPI Flash • Applications: wearables and IoT end nodes

www.st.com

• Cortex-M4 80MHz • 1MB flash, 128-KB SRAM • Two extension connectors: Arduino and ST Morpho • Embedded ST-LINK/V2-1 debugger / programmer • mbed-enabled

Sigma Designs Z-Wave Embedded Development Kit www.sigmadesigns.com

• Consists of the hardware and software tools • Embedded sample applications for quick prototyping • Framework for building new software applications • Z-Wave protocol sniffer tools for analyzing and resolving issues • Z-Wave RF modules for building prototypes • Versatile development module for easy hardware prototyping • Applications: Smart Home end-devices such as door locks, lights, sensors and thermostats

Texas Instruments CC2630 Silicon Labs BGM111 Blue Gecko Module www.silabs.com

• 256 kB flash and 32 kB RAM • Power: a standard 3 V coin cell battery or two AAA batteries • Integrated ARM Cortex-M4 processor-based MCU consumes 59 µA/MHz in run mode and only 1.7 µA down to 200 nA in sleep mode • Bluetooth Smart transceiver on-chip consumes only 7.5 mA in peak receive mode and 8.2 mA @ 0 dBm in peak transmit mode • Configurable up to +8 dBm and supporting exceptional line-of-sight RF range of up to 200 meters • Pre-loaded with the Bluegiga Bluetooth 4.1 • Abstract the complexity out of RF design, the Bluetooth Smart protocol and embedded programming • Applications: smart phone accessories, beacons, connected home devices, health and fitness trackers, personal medical devices, automotive diagnostics, industrial sensors and point of sale terminals

www.ti.com

• Designed for 6LoWPAN or ZigBee technologies • Applications: LED lighting control, home automation applications such as security systems, appliances, smart plugs and wireless sensor networks • Ultra-low power operation on a coin cell battery • Energy harvesting-based sensor nodes • A versatile portfolio of IEEE 802.15.4-based networking solutions • Easy IP and cloud connectivity through 6LoWPAN operation where each device includes an IPv6 address

Sonix SN9000 www.sonix.com.tw

• ARM Cortex-M0 base solution • Incorporates Wi-Fi technology to support WeChat hardware platform AirKiss • 80MHz ARM Cortex-M0 processors • Interfaces: I2C, UART, SPI, SWD, I2S, PWM, ADC, SDIO, GPIO and other interfaces. For data encryption, SN9000 supports RSA, AES, https and SSL • Development tools: Firmware SDK(software design Kit), Android APP SDK, iOS APP SDK and other tools • Applications: Wi-Fi fan control, G sensor, temperature hygrometer, illuminometer, UV measurement, PPM measurement, atmospheric pressure sensor, smoke detector, and carbon monoxide

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 51

REPORT

Sensors & Nodes IC Supplier List Company

Supported Protocols for Smart Home

Country

Website

Atmel

BLE, PLC, Thread, Wi-Fi, ZigBee

USA

www.atmel.com

Broadcom

BLE, PLC, Wi-Fi, ZigBee

USA

www.broadcom.com

DSP Group

BLE, ULE, Wi-Fi

USA/Israel

www.dspg.com

Dialog Semiconductor BLE, ULE, Wi-Fi

Germany

www.dialog-semiconductor.com

GainSpan

Thread, Wi-Fi

USA

www.gainspan.com

GreenPeak

Thread, ZigBee

Netherlands

www.greenpeak.com

Intel

BLE, Wi-Fi

USA

www.intel.com

Marvell

BLE, PLC, Thread, Wi-Fi, ZigBee

USA

www.marvell.com

MediaTek

BLE, Wi-Fi

Taiwan

www.mediatek.com

Metanoia

PLC

Taiwan

...

Microchip

BLE, Wi-Fi, ZigBee

USA

www.microchip.com

Nordic

BLE, Sub-GHz

Norway

www.nordicsemi.com

NXP Semiconductor BLE, NFC, Sub-GHz, Wi-Fi, ZigBee

Netherlands

www.nxp.com

Qualcomm

BLE, PLC, Wi-Fi

USA

www.qualcomm.com

Realtek

BLE, Wi-Fi

Taiwan

www.realtek.com.tw

Renesas

BLE, PLC, Wi-Fi, ZigBee

Japan

www.renesas.com

Samsung

BLE, Thread, Wi-Fi, ZigBee

Korea

www.samsung.com

Sigma Designs

PLC, Z-Wave

USA

www.sigmadesigns.com

Silicon Labs

BLE, Sub-GHz, Thread, ZigBee

USA

www.silabs.com

STMicroelectronics BLE, Sub-GHz, Wi-Fi

France/Italy

st.com

Sonix

BLE, Sub-GHz, Wi-Fi

Taiwan

www.sonix.com.tw

Texas Instruments

BLE, Sub-GHz, Wi-Fi, ZigBee

USA

www.ti.com

Xingtera

PLC

China

xingtera.com

Compiled by Editorial Department

52 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

$'9(5725,$/

TEMPUS SERIES BLE WEATHER STATION

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odyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Tempus Series BLE weatherr station is designed for home use and provides real tim me, up-to-the-minute microclimate data. Homeowners can choose either Tempus or Tempus Pro based on their level of enthusiasm for weather information. With the custom-designed app p, users can easily view and share weather data as well as set person nalized weather alerts.

The BLE weather station consists of three major units: the main console measuring the indoor data, the ch hild sensor measuring indoor/outdoor data, and the outdoor p pickup collecting the outdoor data. The main console and the child sensor feature a sleek and discreet design for blending in w with home dĂŠcor easily.

The hardy outdoor pickup can be easily mou unted in few steps.

The main console provides forecast for thee next 8 to 12 hours, as well as broadcasts data to unlimited mobile devices. Up to three child sensors can be added for multi-zonee monitoring. Weather information of up to 3 years can be trackeed in bar-chart format using the app.

IRG\#P\IRG\ FRP +. (OHFWURQLF )DLU $XWXPQ +DOO & %RRWK $ ZZZ P\IRG\ FRP &(6 6DQGV ([SR /HYHO %RRWK

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 53

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54 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

SMART DOOR

PHONE/BELL Ac din Accord ng to the e “20 2015 20 1 State e of The Smart Home Report” released by Icontrol Netw Ne t or orks kss, pe p rso onal and familly security continues to be a key driver in smart home on adop ad option n, where 90 90% 0% of the cconsumers surveyed agree that security is one of the most important reas re ason o s to o purrch chas ase a smartt home system. In home security, access control plays a pivotal role as it dete de term r in nes who ho can an be g grrantted entry into the home. The simplest form of access control for home invo in volv lves the use of d do oor lockss, doorbells, peepholes and video intercoms or door phones.

By Cindy Lin

By taking advantage of connected video intercoms, homeowners can not only monitor activities in front of their door but also answer the door from remote locations using a smartphone or tablet, and the visitor won’t know whether someone is actually home. We see that some companies in the access control industry have already made or are making the transition to upgrade their video intercoms to support remote access using a smart device. For instance, connected video intercoms supporting two-way talk, one-way video and door unlocking using the app from a smart device.

BEYOND DOOR PHONE Companies like Avadesign Technology and Kingdom Communication Associated (KCA) from Taiwan are working on integrating smart home applications into the intercoms they offer. Avadesign offers V-Bell DP-104 that can integrate with Vera's and Fibaro's systems. KCA is now integrating smart home gateways, sensors and energy management applications into its intercom systems.

Startups are also pushing their smart door products to the market. Skybell and Chui are two smart doorbells proposed by startups that got funding through crowdfunding. Skybell is a Wi-Fi video doorbell that kickstarted from an Indiegogo campaign, raising total funds of US$604,279; and Chui is a smart doorbell with facial recognition capabilities that received US$86,963 using Crowdtilt (name changed to Tilt in July of 2014).

It is worth noting that these smart doorbells may merge the features of doorbells, video intercoms and

home cameras. Skybell, Chui and Ring are called “doorbells” even though they are more than just a button to play the chime.

To encourage adoption, these smart doorbells are aesthetically pleasing and easy to install and maintain. Skybell, Chui and Ring support WiFi connectivity to save the trouble of connecting to an Ethernet cable.

However, this also means that the Wi-Fi signal has to be stable where the doorbell is installed. Skybell even offers theft guarantee that will replace stolen Skybells for free to attract more customers.

KEY POINTS Under the Wi-Fi environment, the challenge of a smart door phone is to stream two-way talk and one-way video to one or multiple mobile devices smoothly. According to makers, streaming technologies are crucial for smart door phones.

In addition, some products such as DoorBird support door unlocking.

This feature is available if the doorbell can integrate with existing or new locks.

Chui provides facial recognition capabilities and full integration with Lockitron as their value added features. Chui can even unlock doors for friends and family automatically if their faces are recognized.

This presents significant benefits because no smartphones or apps are required.

While traditional intercoms do not normally support motion sensing, many smart door phones/doorbells now support it as well as motionbased triggers. When motion is detected, it may trigger alerts, video recording or the alarm.

Furthermore, unlike traditional intercom systems that include at least an outdoor unit and an indoor unit, smart door phones/doorbells now can be stand-alone devices that are suitable for DIY. In this feature, SMAhome has collected 12 smart door phone/bell products that enable users to view and have two-way conversations with visitors on their mobile devices.

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 55

FOCUS

NORTH AMERICA Chui Smart Doorbell • Supports face detection • Real-time notifications via email and push notifications with the visitor’s face, time-stamp, and name (if recognized) • Supports live conversations with visitors via one-way video and two-way audio • Users can leave prerecorded/personalized messages for visitors • Automatic unlock - through integrations with popular internet connected door locks (such as Lockitron), users can grant access to friends and family via Chui’s web and mobile applications and Chui will automatically identify them and unlock the door • Manual unlock – users can unlock the door upon receiving a notification with a tap on the mobile application 214 Technologies USA info@getchui.com

Ring Video Doorbell • Wide-angle HD camera • Motion sensors activate the camera and trigger instant mobile alerts via the free Ring app (iOS and Android) when movement is detected • Instant mobile alerts when someone rings the doorbell • Users can watch recorded footage anytime with Cloud Recording (optional) • Dual power - connects to existing doorbell wiring or runs off the built-in battery • LED ring indicating the device’s current function • Two-way talk via the built-in speakers and microphone • Wi-Fi connected Bot Home Automation USA help@ring.com

Kuna • Smart Wi-Fic amera and intercom built into an outdoor light • 720p HD camera (116 deg. diagonal FOV) • Microphone, high fidelity speaker and 100 dB siren • PIR motion sensor for increased detection accuracy • Remote light control • Motion activated light mode, dusk-to-dawn light mode, and timer light mode • Supports Wi-Fi for Internet connectivity and Bluetooth 4.0 for easy setup with smartphone Kuna USA www.getkuna.com

Skybell • Wi-Fi video doorbell • Users can see, hear and speak to the visitor from an iOS or Android mobile device • Motion sensor - sends alerts even if visitor doesn’t press the button • On-demand access - users can activate the live feed from the app • Night vision • Direct power, no batteries • Multiple users - calls can be sent to multiple users and mobile devices • Theft guarantee - free replacement if stolen Skybell Technologies USA www.skybell.com

56 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

FOCUS

EUROPE DoorBird • Sends a push notification with sound when someone pushes the doorbell button • Pairs with up to 8 devices • Users can see and talk with visitors in real-time using a smartphone or tablet • Supports door unlocking using a smartphone or tablet • Connects via Wi-Fi or Ethernet cable • Visitor history with image, date and time • Integrated infrared motion sensor for alarms, to prevent burglaries • Supports iOS & Android Bird Home Automation Germany hello@doorbird.com

BUSCH-JAEGER ABB ABB-Welcome Welcome Outdoo Outdoor Video Station • Robust and resistant to environmental influences • Scratch-resistant camera module • 1 to 12 doorbell push-buttons • Power supply and data transmission via 2-wire bus • Hands-free function • Video camera with wide detection angle (H 86°, V 67°) and mechanical adjustment (H ± 15°, V ± 15°) • Automatic day and night switchover and infrared LEDs for illumination during the night BUSCH-JAEGER BUSCH BUS CH JAE CHJAEGER Germany German Ger manyy info.bje@de.abb.com man i fo.bj inf o bje@ j @de de.abb de. abb.co .com com

ASIA Compro TN70 • Doorbell camera with cloud service integration • Simple 3-step installation using a smartphone - no computer required • Sends push notifications to users’ smartphones when someone rings the doorbell • Supports 4-channel live video streaming on PC and Android smartphones and tablets • Audio alarm can be triggered to deter intrusion with just one click on the smartphone • Supports Dropbox for snapshot picture storage • Comes with a doorbell kit Compro Technology Taiwan security@comprousa.com

Avadesign V-Bell DP-104 • Supports VoIP and SIP for integration with other IP PBX and SIP based device such as Grandstream, Cisco, and Free PBX • 1280 x 720 HD camera with CMOS sensor • Supports H.264 Video codec and G711u Audio codec • Free app available for two-way talk from anywhere • Supports integrations with other home automation systems such as Vera’s and Fibaro’s systems Avadesign Technology Taiwan john@avadesign.com.tw

58 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

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ASIA Jiasun Android Villa Door Station • Hands-free video intercom with built-in HD camera • Tempered glass cover • Capacitive touch button • Digital signal transmission • Supports RFID card for unlocking the door or disarm • Displays indoor unit’s security status • Supports remote maintenance over the Internet • Supports two-way talk using the app JiaSun International Corp. Taiwan jou@jiasun.com.tw

KCA DC-500MC • Color 4.3-inch TFT LCD for easy configuration of message and video display • On-screen display of condominium residents list • PIR motion sensor with 4 detection ranges • Uses voice to prompt operation • Button for activating mute alarm under duress • Call buttons for calling the guard or other households • Supports two-way talk and door unlocking using the app Kingdom Communication Associated Taiwan kca@ms7.hinet.net

iSmart WIFI Doorbell P1015MIKIT2 • Video compression format: H.264, 720P • Resolution :720P (1280X720) VGA (640×480) / QVGA (320×240) • Built-in Wi-Fi module • Remote setting, control and viewing by smartphone (iOS & Android) • 2 way talk • Supports door unlocking • 120 degree viewing 2.8mm/3.6mm lens, • Local memory (supports 32G TF cards) Zhuhai iSmart Digital China sales@ismartcity.com.cn

TASHI MT200L • Smart doorbell running on Linux • IP camera (2MP resolution) and doorbell • V2oIP-based voice and video communication • Optional MiFare reader • User can access the video intercom either through a TASHI control panel or a smartphone • Supports remote access granting • Free Mobobell app alerts the user when someone rings the doorbell, if a disaster happens, or if the intruder alarm goes off • IP65 Unitech Electronics Taiwan www.ute.com

60 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

FEATURE

40

SMART HOME STARTUPS According to Gartner, Inc., startups and small electronics companies spent US$78.3 billion on semiconductors in 2014, representing 23 percent of the total semiconductor market. Gartner VP Jim Tully said recently, “50% of IoT solutions will come from startups.” SMAhome believes this applying to smart home as well. Startups play the critical role to push the product and technology forward. We list the 40 current crowdfunding projects on Indiegogo and Kickstarter that are related to smart home. Take a look at these brilliant ideas.

AGENCY 2.0 • United Kingdom • www.fridaylock.com/about • Indiegogo • $159,322USD total funds raised Original campaign was 141% funded on May 1, 2015

Friday / Smart Lock Friday is the Smart Lock to offer both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth out of the box, while also building in Apple HomeKit and Thread technology for connections with other home automation products. Use the dashboard to grant temporary, one-time access, or permanent access and cancel anytime. Users can also access log files to see activity via your phone.

AMARYLLO INTERNATIONAL • Netherlands • www.amaryllo.eu • Indiegogo • $341,853 USD total funds raised Original campaign was 23,777% funded on January 18, 2015

iCamPro / robotic home security camera Amaryllo’s iCamPro is the robotic home security camera that can actually see, hear, sense, and track moving objects in real-time at home or office, and even in a dimly lit environment. Standing just over 3” tall and powered by a high-speed CPU with a patentpending multi-sensor network embedded in the product let iCamPro to steer the camera in all directions.

62 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

AMBI LABS • Hong Kong • www.ambiclimate.com • kickstarter • $114892 pledged of $25,000 goal

Ambi Climate / Auto adjusts AC Ambi Climate is an IoT device that makes user’s existing infrared remote-controlled air conditioner smart. It allows users to sync their AC with the smartphone, giving them the access to monitor and control the air conditioner wherever you are. Ambi Climate uses predictive climate control by monitoring the temperature and environment both inside and outside.

BELLEDS TECHNOLOGIES • United States • www.belleds.com/en/kickstarter • Indiegogo • $104117 pledged of $100,000 goal

The Q / wireless smart LED bulbs The Q is the smart home lighting system that integrates light and sound. The energy-efficient and affordable LED light bulbs connect to the world through the Q Station router, allowing user to both create a Q (queue) of music and send lighting Qs (cues) from the same smartphone app.

BLUEGUARD

CURB

• United States

• United States

• www.lark-wi.com/index.html

• Indiegogo

• Indiegogo

• $25,000USD ($97,824USD total funds raised) Original campaign was 329% funded on August 20, 2015

• $25,566 USD total funds raised Original campaign was 343% funded on April 1, 2015

Curb / home energy monitoring system

Blueguard / Smart Lock And Wi-Fi Video Doorbell Blueguard is a smart lock and Wi-Fi video doorbell. Users can set two ways with Blueguard’s app to enter their houses. The first way is “touch to open”. Keep user’s smart phone or Bluetooth fob in the pocket or directly input a code, then touch the unlock button to open.

The second way is “auto unlock”. Keep user’s smart phone or Bluetooth fob in the pocket, then Blueguard unlocks hand-free.

CURB is a home energy monitoring system that helps users take control of home and all the energy it uses. With just one device attached to the control panel at home, they can see exactly how much each of the appliances and items plugged into outlets are costing in real time, enabling users to track down the energy hogs, discover potential problems before they happen.

ENGIMUSING LLC

EVA

EVE

• www.engimusing.com

• United States

• United States

• kickstarter

• www.evasmartshower.com

• www.eveirrigation.com

• $5041 pledged of $5,000 goal

• Indiegogo

• kickstarter

Engimusing / open source modules

• $129,259 USD total funds raised Original campaign was 102% funded on January 2, 2015

• $76971 pledged of $30,000 goal

Engimusing modules are designed for the DIY person and make it easy to connect the things in the home to the Internet so users can monitor and control them from anywhere. The modules work with openHAB. It is an OPEN app and it already exists and works with Engimusing modules as well as many other home automation products.

Eva / Smart Shower Eva is a smart shower device that saves up to 50% of the water usage, while maintaining an enjoyable shower experience. Features include such as shutting off the water flow once user’s desired temperature is reached making sure no water is wasted, a unique sensor system that adjusts the water flow, and a timer that notifies users when they are taking too long of a shower.

Eve / Smart irrigation system Eve Irrigation Controller and Sensors is the irrigation system with fully integrated moisture sensor feedback transforming the yard into a smart environment. Put a few Eve sensors around the yard and boot up the smart phone to check the situation of plants. Eve needs SmartThings as a home automation hub to connect to the Internet and the smartphone via a supported cloud infrastructure.

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 63

FEATURE

FLIC

GEEKLINK

GENICAN

• Sweden

• China

• United States

• Indiegogo

• www.geeklink.com.cn/english/

• www.genican.com

• $898,590 USD total funds raised Original campaign was 801% funded on January 16, 2015

• kickstarter

• Indiegogo

• $20778 pledged of $20,000 goal

• $6,886 USD total funds raised Original campaign was 128% funded on June 22, 2015

Flic / The Wireless Smart Button

Thinker/ Control Host with Routing Function

Flic is a wireless Bluetooth shortcut button that allow users to perform many actions with a simple click such as controlling lights, taking pictures, sending distress signal, snoozing button, playing music and finding user’s phone.

No need to touch the phone, user can create those shortcuts.

Thinker is the control host with routing function.

Via the app, user connect the mobile phone to the internet and can perform remote control on the home appliances anytime, anywhere.

Air-conditioner, television, sound box, lighting equipment and so on. Users can also use the RF switch, socket or other fittings provided

by Thinker to transform the traditional home appliance into an intelligent electrical appliance which could be controlled by Thinker.

GeniCan / Smart Garbage GeniCan is the device for the garbage can and is Patent Pending. It scans garbage to automatically create user’s grocery list, matches coupons to products, and optionally delivers items to your doorstep. GeniCan works with garbage and recycling, translating barcodes and spoken word into a customized grocery list stored on the GeniCan app.

GEO

HAZ

HICOSY

• United Kingdom

• Taiwan

• Italy

• http://www.comehometocosy.com/

• http://www.hazumbrella.com/

• www.hicosy.eu

• kickstarter

• Indiegogo

• Indiegogo

• £20676 pledged of £20,000 goal

• $15,000 USD

• $85,000 USD /2% funded 19 hours left

Cosy / Heating System

HAZ / Smart Umbrella

Cosy is the smart heating system from geo.

Cosy’s wireless thermostat either sits on its docking station or it can be moved around with user. With Cosy, users can schedule lamps, appliances or even the radio to switch on and off according to their home preference.

The HAZ Umbrella frees users from cumbersome traditional umbrellas by way a built-in high preci-sion motor, microchip controller, and high capacity li-ion battery, which allows it to open, extend, and close with the push a single button.

By integrating Bluetooth Low Energy technology, the embedded Bluetooth chipset is able to

Hicosy / Open Hardware Smart Energy Monitor

64 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

Hicosy is the open hardware smart energy monitor which takes control of user’s energy consumption and optimize production of the solar panels. Remotely control the energy plant or the smart home, on a dedicated Web Console or on users’ mobile device anytime, anywhere.

WICOZ INC

HOOK

IGIA

• China

• United States

• China

• www.milknanny.com

• Indiegogo

• Indiegogo

• kickstarter

• $8,732USD total funds raised Original campaign was 646% funded on August 9, 2015

• $10,000 USD

• $120684 pledged of $100,000 goal. The goal is achieved

Milk Nanny / Smart Milk Maker The Milk Nanny is self-cleaning and aesthetically pleasing. It produces smooth milk (no clumps), and is the smart home appliance that consistently produces ultra-clean, comfortably warm formula for the baby in just 15 seconds.

User can operate it from the mobile phone. After scanning the bar code on the formula container, the Milk Nanny app automatically syncs all the important information about the formula from our extensive database.

LARK-WI • United States • www.lark-wi.com • kickstarter • $40167 pledged of $12,500 goal. The goal is achieved

Creek / Wi-Fi Clock Creek is a smart connected appliance that is more than a traditional alarm clock, giving user a large screen clock at night. It is an elegant analog clock during the day and also charges the smart phone and tablet two times faster. Using Wi-Fi wireless network, all Creek Wi-Fi clocks are connected together and connected to the internet.

iGia/Home Security Kit

Hook / Home Automation Hook is a device that makes inexpensive remote controlled outlet adapters and bulb sockets smart with user’s phone and IFTTT to enable home automation on a Budget. Hook comes with a remote control. Plug an appliance into the outlet adapter or a bulb screwed into the socket can be turned on/off with press of the button on the remote.

LIGHTFREQ SQUARE2

iGia is a smart home security kit integrated with intelligent algorithm and smart sensors. iGia system contains central control unit, HD camera, motion sensor, door/windows sensor, smart smoke detector and alarm trigger. User can freely add or remove those smart sensors to build up your customized smart home guard.

MINDHELIX, INC. • United States

• United States

• www.getmyrico.com

• Indiegogo

• kickstarter

• $81,515 USD Original campaign was 144% funded on July 27, 2015

• $119120 pledged of $100,000 goal

Rico / Smart-home Security Device

LightFreq Square2/ Smart Lightbulb & HD Speaker LightFreq Square2 is the Smart lightbulb with HD audio speaker, 16 million colors, intercom and voice visual notifications. switCH app is compatible with iOS4 and up, Apple Watch, Android and Window devices. Also, it features automatic, motion-activated lights and music.

Rico is the smart-home security device that uses the spare smartphone as its brain and eyes. It features the multifunction sensor system that enables remote monitoring of home conditions, including humidity and presence of carbon monoxide or smoke. With hardware integration of a compatible smartphone, the system gains processing power and expanded functionality such as live audiovisual monitoring. It integrates via RF with programmable smart-socket accessories for basic home automation.

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 65

FEATURE

MUSAIC

NEEO

NEURIO

• United Kingdom

• Switzerland

• Canada

• www.musaic.com

• neeo.com

• neur.io

• kickstarter

• kickstarter

• kickstarter

• £64732 pledged of £60,000 goal/ achieved

• $1558280 pledged of $50,000 / achieved

• $267373 pledged of $95,000 goal

Musaic / HiFi System

The Thinking Remote

Neurio /Home Intelligence

Musaic Wireless HiFi Music System let user enjoy the music and integrate smart lighting, security and other home automation technologies in novel ways to create a fully connected smart home. Musaic works via Wi-Fi to play music from the mobile devices and can already control dimmers, bulbs and switches from leading lighting brand LightwaveRF.

NEEO is a smart home automation system. It connects and controls all the devices at home.

There are two parts of NEEO, the brain and the remote. The brain communicates with devices and the remote allows instant control. Users can manage the home by using the NEEO app on the smartphone and use the NEEO remote for the ultimate experience.

Neurio is a home intelligence technology that makes ordinary appliances smart and the home more efficient. Using a Wi-Fi power sensor and a cloud service with some smart pattern detection algorithms, Neurio monitors home electricity to figure out what those appliances are up to. Users do not have to install sensors on every device.

OOMI

OPEN SESAME

PEBBLEBEE STONE

• United States

• United States

• United States

• www.OomiHome.com

• Indiegogo

• www.pebblebee.com

• Indiegogo

• $41,000 USD has already founded / CAMPAIGN CLOSED This campaign ended on December 11, 2014

• Indiegogo

Open Sesame / Smart Phone Garage Door Opener

Pebblebee Stone/ Smart Button and Item Tracker

Open Sesame Garage Door Opener is a combination of a tiny Bluetooth box and a smart phone application that controls the garage door controller via Bluetooth box. It securely turns the smart phone into a garage remote. User can pair all the smart phones in the household, it is like buying unlimited additional remotes for free

Pebblebee Stone, a smart remote for users’ phone and smart devices. It is a tiny device that controls any app on the smartphone with a single button and helps finds lost items. The Stone is powered by a Bluetooth Low Energy iBeacon. By pressing the button users activate the Stone's iBeacon communication which automatically interacts with any BLE platform nearby (iOS or Android).

• $1,766,828USD total funds raised/ Original campaign was 3,418% funded on June 19, 2015

Oomi/Smart Home System OOMI Provides options of 4 kits for users to create a home that does exactly what they need. Oomi Cube is the brain of the system and is packed with 8 environment sensors, a night vision camera, and a bit more. Oomi Touch is the controller. The accessories include multisensor, door and window sensor, RGB bulb, Plug, Oomi Air, and streamer.

66 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

• $30,000 USD

PLAYBULB

RISE

ROGER YIU

• United States

• Estonia

• United States

• www.mipow.com/tc/index.html

• Indiegogo

• www.rogeryiu.com

• kickstarter

• 14,372EUR total funds raised Original campaign was 874% funded on January 15, 2015

• kickstarter

Rise / Smart Window Shades

Smart Power Strip

• $62852 pledged of $10,000 goal

PLAYBULB Rainbow / Color LED Light Bulb PLAYBULB rainbow is a stylish, smart and money saving color LED light bulb with mobile app control. PLAYBULB rainbow features stylish, smart and money saving. PLAYBULB rainbow is controlled by PLAYBULB X app which supports all iOS devices that are running iOS version 7 or above, Android devices running Android 4.3 or above and both having Bluetooth 4.0 or above.

• $109012 pledged of $100,000 goal

RISE is an easy to install, solar-powered device that turns the regular window shades into smart shades. All the movements of RISE are controlled by the smartphone application which communicates with RISE via Bluetooth. Users can move blinds in their rooms up and down whenever they like or create automated patterns and schedules for different rooms.

Smart Power Strip brings user a new way to control and monitor the home appliances. Using the Smartphone to connect and control any plugged-in devices at anytime, anywhere, users can know how much energy the home appliance consumes in real time. It does not require any complicated setup. Just Plug-n-Play. Android and Apple iOS supported.

SECURIFI

STEMP

SWITCHMATE

• Taiwan

• United States

• United States

• www.securifi.com

• www.getstemp.com

• myswitchmate.com

• kickstarter

• Indiegogo

• Indiegogo

• $855625 pledged of $250,000 goal

• $33,540 USD total funds raised Original campaign was 115% funded on April 15, 2015

• $185,487 USD total funds raised Original campaign was 341% funded on April 1, 2015

STEMP / Smart Temperature Patch

Switchmate / Smart Lighting Switch

The STEMP Smart Temperature Patch is the thermometer, sensor, medical-grade adhesives, and smartphone apps work together seamlessly to provide immediate, accurate, continuous body temperature measurement. It features smart alerts, data tracking and analysis, battery status, and an elegant, customizable interface (available now for iOS and Apple Watch, with Android under development).

Switchmate is a sleek solution that snaps over user’s standard light switch to automate it in seconds. Just snap Switchmate over the existing light switch, pair it with the smartphone, and users can control anything connected to the switch through the Switchmate app. Users can control multiple Switchmates, set timers and even see the status of lights within Bluetooth range (150 ft.)

Almond+ / Router Almond+ is the 802.11ac touchscreen Wi-Fi Router and smart home hub. The original Almond is the wireless router that can be setup entirely from its built-in touchscreen without the need for a PC or Mac or CD. Almond+ is not only the fastest routers (1.17 Gb/ s) but also a highly capable smart home hub.

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 67

FEATURE

THINK AUTOMATIC • United States • thinkottomatic.com • kickstarter • $36309 pledged of $35,000 goal

Luminode Wall Switches / Light Switch The Luminode Wall Switches is not just a light switch. They monitor electricity usage and help save energy. Each Luminode contains a microprocessor with built-in radio enabling them to communicate wirelessly to each other and/or a computer. It also enables them easy to integrate with our back end learning system which connects with other automation panels, AV equipment, smart phones, or even your own system if that’s your thing.

THE ROOST TEAM

TORRAP

• United States

• China

• smartroost.net

• www.plugaway.co.

• kickstarter

• kickstarter

• $96662 pledged of $50,000 goal

• $162,835 pledged of $50,000 goal. The goal is achieved

Roost Smart Battery / Smart Battery The Roost Smart Battery retrofits use’s existing smoke alarms as a simple, affordable entry to the smart home. The process to set-up Roost is just to select the home Wi-Fi network and enter the password. Then choose a smoke alarm and name it. The named smart battery connects to Wi-Fi and appears as a newly configured device in the Roost app.

Plugaway / Smart Plug And Bulb PLUGAWAY produces simple-to-use, affordable Smart Plugs and LED Bulbs, that let user wirelessly control and monitor the home from smartphones. Simply connect it to any appliance, and start Plugging Away. It syncs with the Wi-Fi network within moments and gives these basic, simple and clear functions including sleep/awake moods, energy monitor, schedule any appliance, light dimming, and device alerts.

UBE

UKNEKT

VERTI

• United States

• Australia

• United States

• plumlife.com

• www.uknekt.com.au

• Indiegogo

• kickstarter

• Indiegogo

• $10,000 USD

• $307600 pledged of $280,000 goal

• $13,464USD total funds raised Original campaign was 110% funded on March 19, 2015

Verti / Bluetooth Smart Tags

UKNEKT / Smart LED Lights

Verti Bluetooth Smart Tags is the device to locate lost valuable items. For users to tag it and track it, they will not lose things including Keys, phones, wallets, pets, luggage, etc. It works with the powerful cloud based mobile app.

Ube / Smart Light Ube's Wi-Fi Connected Multi-touch Smart Light Dimmer connects to home Wi-Fi router and allows user to control lights from Ube’s smartphone app either while one is at home or away. Simply remove the current switch or dimmer and wire in the Ube Smart Dimmer with just two wires. It connects and works soon.

UKNEKT lights is the smart color changing LED light. It is the idea of changing the decor to suit user’s mood or set a mood. Being able to dim the lights, set any color schemes, automate them to come on or off and operate remotely, all at the swipe of an app. Connected the smartphone with the bridge to control lights, there are no expensive wiring or controls.

*Drop us emails to showcase your smart home ideas on mysmahome.com! smahome-pr@newera.messefrankfurt.com 68 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

VIEWPOINT

Although there is a clear trend towards IPv6 solutions, not every end device will need to support IP, and there will be room for both IP and non-IP solutions across the various IoT markets.

Malik Saadi, VP, Strategic Technology, ABI Research

By Weili Lin

ABI Research Illustrates Smart Home Design Trends on Gateways and Components ABI Research talked about the design trends on smart home gateways from the perspectives of their components and product development, along with the cybersecurity issue.

Design Trends Smart home gateways have not seen significant change over the past few months, but there is a trend toward adding additional radios. Jonathan Collins, Principal Analyst said, “We expect to see Bluetooth Smart increasingly supported. The development of Thread as well offers potential for further protocol support.”

In addition, there is potential for gateways to be increasingly included within devices. Some cameras are designed with the sensor hub to connect to endpoints, or so-called nodes. Collins thinks the type of products may impact the smart home gateways to a certain extent. He said, “There are a number of approaches putting cameras as a key gateway integration point.

The value is in the attraction of video as a key starting point for many new smart home installations.“ Besides network cameras, Apple TV and set-top boxes (STBs) are regarded as new forms of smart home gateways.

Collins added, “There is potential for gateway functionality to increasingly

Smart home gateway is a control center for smart home systems. The shipment volume is expected to grow at a steady pace. According to statistics from ABI Research, nearly 30 million home gateways will ship annually worldwide by 2020, up from 5.1 million in 2014. In terms of ICs by 2020, those gateways will include 97 million RF ICs.

be embedded within smart home devices. Canary and Piper already combine gateway and video camera features, while there is clear potential for Google’s Nest Thermostat and Apple TV to bring gateway functionality for additional connected smart home devices.”

Besides, he thinks security providers will increasingly bundle gateways within security control panels. Gateways will have their own cellular modems for connectivity so that home broadband is not required. Increasingly, there will also be a shift to greater control and management of connected devices via management software on the gateway device.

Components and Architectures

When it comes to components, ARM-based architecture is dominant though there are still a number of IC suppliers use proprietary platforms. Malik Saadi, VP, Strategic Technology indicated, “Proprietary RTOS platforms based on open source code are dominant. The trend is very similar to what happened in the mobile phone market at its early stage of development in the early 2000s. Saadi expected that the industry will move to more advanced operating systems (O/S) as things get smarter, accommodate more features, and require better experiences.

While, he thinks IOT software harmonization will take longer to develop and mature compared to what happened within the mobile phone market due to the complexity of the IoT market segmentation.

Besides ARM, the x86 platform is an alternative when it comes to architecture. Saadi indicated, “Intel has already commercialized its Quark SOCs based on 32bit x86, and is, as far as I know, the only company deploying this architecture. This platform is designed for embedded OSs Only. The majority of ARM-based MCU suppliers are happy with the performance because the Cortex-M platform provides a great performance and scalability.

Therefore, I don’t see x86 architecture providing any major competitive advantage compared to the ARM architecture at present.” The MIPS architecture has been increasingly optimized for IoT. A number of other suppliers have also chosen it to develop proprietary architecture.

Saadi commented, “The MCU technology for IOT is still in its early stage of developments.

The industry is not fixed yet on who are the winners and losers. The situation will be clearer within the coming years.”

Talking about the adoption of wireless communication, 802.15.4 wireless connectivity and IP-enabled networking technologies are emphasized. The 802.15.4 wireless connectivity

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 69

by courtesy of Apple Inc Jonathan Collins, Principal Analyst

Besides network cameras, Apple TV and set-top boxes (STBs) are regarded as new forms of smart home gateways.

Michela Menting, Digital Security Practice Director

market is set to continue its transition towards IP-enabled solutions, increasing from 6 percent of the market in 2015 to over 30 percent by 2019, finds ABI Research. It further indicated that the market share of combo ICs from the total shipments of 802.15.4 chips is set to grow from 1 percent to over 12 percent.

The Emerging IP-enabled networking technologies such as Thread are expected to take a significant proportion of the 802.15.4 market, most notably in the smart home. The recent collaboration to enable the ZigBee Cluster Library to run over Thread networks is projected to bring about a more rapid development process and provide a boost to 802.15.4 chipset shipments as a whole.

“It is becoming increasingly clear that the market for the connected home and other low-power wireless networking environments will continue to adopt multiple connectivity solutions based on different needs and priorities. Although there is a clear trend towards IPv6 solutions, not every end device will need to support IP, and there will be room for both IP and non-IP solutions across the various IoT markets,” commented Saadi.

While it will take some time for 802.15.4 chipsets paired with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to gain traction, Saadi thinks there will be significant opportunities for “soft” combos that integrate multiple 802.15.4 protocols on the same chip and use the same radio layer in the short term. Notable products with this technology include GreenPeak’s GP712, a multi-protocol chipset supporting both ZigBee and Thread packets. In order

70 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

to drive demand, reduce costs, and improve time to market, suppliers need to have a connectivity portfolio large enough to allow customers to support numerous protocols.

Market Drivers The research firm observed the different markets from service providers and device providers. Collins indicated that the major market for smart home adoption is within the managed segment – where typically a smart home system is offered as a subscription service by a service provider that adds smart home alongside other existing services, offered by cablecos and telcos, security providers, utilities or some smart home services offered by retailers. While single smart home devices are also growing in popularity. He said, “It is pulling these devices together in a managed interdevice communicating system that is the primary trajectory of the market. That is the draw for players such as Apple and Google, to enable devices to interconnect and be controlled via their cloud platforms.”

Apple’s HomeKit platform creates a large ecosystem and accelerates market adoption.

Collins thinks HomeKit is almost unique in its dependence for its own firmware within the gateway and devices compatible with the system, making the system centralized and proprietary. Apple is entering into a market where there is a drive toward interoperability with its own, proprietary controlled offerings that have the potential to not only target the existing user base but also simplify set-up and popularize adoption.

Internet Security At last, Michela Menting, Digital Security Practice Director shared her points of view toward Internet security issue which has drawn much attention among smart home players. Menting explained, “Security at the individual protocol level is difficult. The various IoT protocols are constantly refined over time to allow for ever-lower energy consumption and processing power. Most M2M (and consequently IoT) applications require minimum packaging and presentation overhead, but the device still has to account for a networking stack, an operating system or firmware, and additional processes, including memory. Embedded and network security mechanisms then come to add to these requirements, increasing both cost and complexity—amplified availability and latency issues, for example.”

To revolve some of these issues, outsourcing the security mechanisms, such as encryption or antivirus engines, is a feasible way to the primary access point, such as a gateway. Menting added, “The gateway can relieve the devices from the more onerous security requirements, by allowing the gateway to perform the heavier functions on their behalf. While this may not solve all issues (in particular with regard to access control), it can alleviate some of the security burden.”

VIEWPOINT

To accelerate the mass adoption in an easier way, it’s essential to link the nodes to the cloud through home network routers directly without a discrete hub.

Richard Chen, Regional Sales Manager, Nordic Semiconductor

By Weili Lin

Nordic Connects BLE to Internet by Supporting IPv6 At present, the BLE technology accounts for around 50 percent of the company’s sales revenue. Its BLE chips are applied for four major categories—PC HIDs, wearable, sensor network and home automation applications. The sensor network category includes beacon and RFID; automation-related products include wireless lock, smart plug, LED bulbs, safety detectors, toys and A4WP-based wireless charging devices.

Richard Chen, Regional Sales Manager of Nordic Semiconductor believes BLE will be an important and must-have technology for edge devices and nodes in the smart home in the coming years. First of all, Apple HomeKit’s support is a major driver. Secondly, the technologies have advantages over others. In comparison with other technologies, Bluetooth could connect to the smartphone directly. Also, its low power consumption is exceptional.

Nordic Semiconductor promotes IPv6-based communication technology to enable the nodes to be connected to the cloud without a smart home gateway or hub. To accelerate mass adoption in an easier way, and make the connected home a reality, Chen thinks it’s essential to link the nodes to the cloud through home network routers

Nordic Semiconductor specializes in ultra-low power short-range wireless communication technology, offering integrated RF ICs, development tools and reference designs based on Bluetooth LE (BLE), ANT, proprietary Sub 1-GHz and 2.4GHz radio frequencies.

Nordic Semiconductor nRF51 Series Bluetooth Smart SoC simplifies development and accelerates time to market for HomeKitcompatible connected home products

directly without buying a discrete hub. He explained, “Our IPv6 over BLE technology, released at the end of 2014, is compatible with current networking equipment. There is no need to create a new way for connected home. We hope to break the barriers created by the lack of interoperability.” Also, its SoC supports IPv6 over BLE technology and OpenWrt embedded operation system, which is supported by network routers as well. “Our IPv6 over BLE technology is compatible with current networking equipments, without creating a new way for the IoT

market.”

It is a trend to offer system-on-chip (SoC). Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF52832 SoC features Bluetooth Smart connectivity, and a unique on-chip NFC tag for consumerfriendly Touch-to-Pair. It utilizes out-of-band (OOB) pairing via NFC to simplify the process of authenticated pairing between two Bluetooth devices by exchanging authentication information over an NFC link.

The nRF52832 incorporates a powerful Cortex-M4F processor, supporting complex arithmetic requirements. The IC supports DSP instructions, a Floating Point Unit (FPU), single-cycle multiply and accumulate, and hardware divide for energy-efficient process of computationally complex operations. The SoC supports multiprotocol radio, including Bluetooth Smart, ANT and RF 2.4GHz proprietary technology. In addition, the nRF52832 SoC is a power-efficient device that can run between 1.7V and 3.6V. Also, the IC has automated and adaptive power management features. These features range across the entire IC’s operation from power supply switching to peripheral bus/ EasyDMA memory management, to automated shut down.

About the distribution channels, Chen indicated that the professional installation market is larger than the DIY market so far. He thinks Google’s and Apple’s entrances could boost the DIY market in the coming years.

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 71

VIEWPOINT

Energy efficiency is a key to enabling the internet of things.

A successful connectivity technology for IoT must be energy efficient.

Matt Saunders, Director, Field Marketing of IoT MCU and Wireless Products at Silicon Labs

By Weili Lin

Silicon Labs Makes IoT Nodes Easy-to-Design, Highly-Integrated, Energy-Efficient Silicon Labs offers integrated solutions, enabling developers to take advantage of standard and simple-to-use prototyping environments. Matt Saunders, Director, Field Marketing of MCU and Wireless Products at Silicon Labs talked about the key challenges of IC designs for IoT and smart home industries.

“The mobile handset market was the first billion unit market. And we’re expecting the IoT to achieve the first 10 billion unit market that represents a significant growth in both the industrial and the consumer segments,” Saunders said. According to IHS research, there were about 19.7 billion connected devices in 2014, and this number will grow to 95.5 billion units in 2025. He added, “The expected growth for IoT is coming because this is a technology that’s going to be applied to every aspect of our lives. In the mobile handset space, it’s an average number between 1.5 and 2 units per person in any developed country. If we push that forward to where we’re projecting the Internet of Things, there will be 45, 50 or even more nodes that a person have in a house.”

“Simplicity, referring to the ability to instantly develop and deploy your solutions, is important. Besides simpleto-use development hardware, we’re putting a great deal of effort into developing tools and software stacks like our Simplicity Studio to deal with the issue. Simplicity Studio is the first combined open environment for working on a microcontroller and wireless device in the same instance.

Energy efficiency

Energy efficiency is a key to enabling the internet of things, and fundamental to design for the IoT end node devices. The company maximizes functionality from a limited power supply.

“If you have to change the batteries of tens of billions devices all the time, it’s difficult. So we have to look at this in a different way. The battery with 230 mA power capacity has to provide enough power to run the Simplicity application for 5 years, which means on average you When dealing with highly integrated devices, it’s overwhelming for an can pull in the range of 5 microns for that battery for the engineer to find the right solutions to actually start developing with it. lifetime of the application,” explained Saunders.

Energy efficiency relates to low-power, and optimizing energy consumption. Silicon Labs offers a series of 8-bit and 32-bit energy efficient When thinking about IoT microcontrollers like EFM8 and EFM32. EFM8 products are 8-bit devices, having stand-by applications, we should modes down in the range of 50 nano amperes, and fast wake-up times for lower complexity consider functionality, which nodes where the compute requirement is at the lower end. It provides solutions like EFM32 is related to performance.

Gecko featuring 32-bit processor to address the higher computational requirements, perhaps It depends on what kinds of a little bit of DSP required for sensor fusion, for more challenging application. processors and memory “When we’re talking about energy efficiency here, we’re referring to very low active are adopted. The other key current consumption for microcontroller, exceptionally low stand-by currents.” In the challenges are connectivity, standby mode, the ability to manipulate data from the outside environment to collect some level of integration, and sensor data and make some intelligent decisions without having to engage the CPU, also energy efficiency. Moreover, to have short wake-up times. It’s not wasting energy while transitioning from a low-power he compared pros and cons mode to a full-power mode using the CPU’s full spec. For example, the EFM32 can quickly of different communication enter one of the low energy modes, effectively halting the CPU and flash memory. After a technologies. wake up, all low energy modes return to EM0 within 2 µs, making it easy to enter the low energy mode and return to the high 32-bit performance when needed. Moreover, Silicon Labs announced Blue Gecko in February. Blue Gecko is a low-energy Bluetooth Smart enabled device, featuring low active and standby power consumption. The Gecko supports

72 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

power-efficient mbed APIs. The company provides developers with modular and system-on-chip (SoC) approaches. Both of those use the same Bluegiga chip. Its EZR32, featuring SubGHz technology, is designed for the systems requiring low power, long range and good sensitivity.

Connectivity A successful connectivity technology for IoT must be energy efficient. Wi-Fi is clearly a ubiquitous technology, which is very well deployed and easily accessible.

However, it is fairly power hungry. There’s been an effort to bring low-power WiFi, but it’s still not really coin-cell friendly with transmit requirements being up in the hundreds of mA range to deliver messages.

Bluetooth Smart is highly optimized for low power and low data rate transmission.

“Bluetooth Smart represents a brilliant choice if you have a small number of nodes, if you want to connect back to a host, and the range you need is small. If you require much larger networks, it makes sense to

consider some of meshing alternatives,“ explained Saunders.

The range of ZigBee can be greatly extended by deployment of mesh. It’s optimized for low power deployment. ZigBee has seen a great uptake in the industrial environment, and also in utilities. Therefore, companies that provide smart meters for gas, electricity and water are heavily embracing ZigBee as a communications mechanism for delivering smart energy to both consumer and industrial facilities. “There’s some limited support for IP, it’s kind of under the hood and being in development, but it’s not supported natively in the ZigBee environment,” said Saunders.

A second alternative for mesh networking would be Thread. The Thread Group was formed in 2014 and Silicon Labs is one of the founding members of the Thread Group. The Thread protocol provides a long range because of its meshing capabilities.

It’s highly optimized for low power, and truly IPv6 based. Wi-Fi supports all the high bandwidth requirement, and Thread works for low-power battery-powered devices at low-data-rate. Saunders explained, “Thread is intended to run as an augmented parallel fixture or function for Wi-Fi. Both of them being IPv6 compatible means communication on those two networks becomes very straightforward. The application layer runs on top of Thread, and anything that is IP friendly will work with Thread. So HomeKit from Apple, AllJoyn, or a number of other different IP-based applications will work together to achieve interoperability among different vendors.”

Silicon Labs offers an existing portfolio of devices like EM358x, which are both Thread and ZigBee compliant. With the future-proof platform, the developer who uses ZigBee for a smart plug, a window sensor, or any other nodes, could upgrade that system to a Thread system with the same hardware.

There’s a war going on with regard to which one of these protocols will win. Saunders believes that these things will coexist. “A successful development for IoT needs to accept this coexistence and embrace them. Each of these protocols has one or more

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 73

VIEWPOINT

EZR32 wireless MCU is a multi-protocol single-chip solution that supports wireless applications based on sub-GHz, IEEE 802.15.4/4g, Wireless M-Bus and Wi-SUN.

unique abilities that the others simply don’t provide. You’ll never get high bandwidth through Thread or ZigBee, and you need Wi-Fi for that,” said Saunders.

He further described the relationship among Sub-GHz technology, Thread and ZigBee. “Sub-GHz today is predominantly the domain of proprietary protocols. We’re all seeing a significant push to deliver Thread and ZigBee implementations into that Sub-GHz space. And this is largely driven by construction techniques in different countries,” commented Saunders.

A lot of houses in Europe are built with brick or stone where the high-bandwidth and high-frequency protocols such as WiFi don’t penetrate to give enough range and effective network. It requires several repeaters in the house to extend the network. However, the Sub-GHz by its nature could deliver much further range.

Saunders indicated that if users would like to use something like Thread on a sub GHz deployment in the same environment, they don’t need anything special, and they can simply put out the nodes as they normally do. “We’re seeing a strong push to deliver both of these, and there is a plan to do that.”

Integration For smartphone design, Silicon Labs uses multiple separate chips, including discrete microcontroller, external memory and other components, making the smartphone a much bigger system. On the contrary, Saunders indicated a successful IoT end node needs to integrate and reduce a lot of functions and components. Cost and the size have to decrease, and the level of integration has to increase. Saunders said, “The level of configurability and scalability has to be considered. Users may need to deal with two or three different protocols at the same time. It’s essential to find the right level of integration to develop cost-effective and simple-to-use systems.”

“We’ve got a MCU based on Cortex-M3 or Cortex-M4 that has some sensor interfaces to have the ability to pick up information from the outside world without actually having to involve the CPU, keeping that at a very low power state. The memory would be integrated into the product. It’s a trend to integrate one or two megabytes of memory into the product for basic functions, without adding external memory chips.”

Integrating multi-protocol radio makes it easy for connected devices to talk to more than one of those protocols simultaneously. “If a user uses the smartphone to commission a node onto Thread network, then press a button on the device itself, and it starts being a Bluetooth and Thread device. It’s automatically connected into that network, making the installation process for the home user very simple and straightforward,” commented Saunders.

In 2015, we expect to see dramatic reductions in energy consumption, and lowpower wireless standards like Thread and ZigBee to be widely deployed. In addition, there will be a continued level of deployment and evolution of IoT SoCs which bring more functionality in a simple-to-use package. Saunders concluded, “The products that have been developed have a significant impact on people’s daily lives like the energy problem. It’s really an exciting time to be an engineer, and together we’re changing the world.”

74 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

VIEWPOINT

The smart home camera market changes rapidly from professional installation into DIY! Jake Lee, CEO of Batio

By Veronica Chen

Smart Home Camera Changes CCTV Market Batio is a Korea-based company that specializes in smart home and network cameras. “The technology for home IP camera product has been there for many years already. However, the successful home IP cameras in the market have been delayed due to the strong market share of existing industrial CCTV products and the high cost of digital IP cameras,” commented Jake Lee, CEO of Batio.

However, based on Batio’s observation, the smart home camera market trend has rapidly changed to a DIY-based market in the recent years. The trend was led by some of leading names such as Dropcam, Piper, Canary, etc.

“Our ideal home camera should be designed for a user who can install the device by oneself, pay it with at reasonable price, and use it easily,” said Lee. With that in mind, the most focused feature of Forview Pixie is the simple installation process which was achievable

by Batio’s experience of various network circumstances and many different environments for individual users. “We know the fact that when users try to install an existing network camera for household use, the installation is usually stressful and uneasy due to the network environments, different setting and so on.” Lee added that the product

Batio is never afraid of experimenting and attempting new things. we intend to show what we can achieve when a group of young and energetic people get together and challenge meaningful targets. Under this spirit, we will grow into a company that contributes to providing a happier life to all customers around the world who know our company,” concluded Lee.

supports various standard networks like 3G, 4G LTE, and Wi-Fi which ensures stable connection from anywhere in the world.

Not just Hardware Maker

Batio creates the easy-to-use but powerful Forview app, which has Pixie camera as its first family member in its home solution, displaying the power to understand and satisfy end users' needs.

For now the Forview app combines main functions required for home surveillance. It enables live monitoring and recording, alarm notification, 2-way communication and voice recording, all operable via its user-friendly interface. When a motion is detected, the monitoring and recording function would be automatically activated. Users can access the footage anytime anywhere. The Pixie camera offered along with the Forview app has a unique and attractive exterior. It is simple to use and can be powered via USB. “We have demonstrated that we are able to create a solution easy enough for every user to utilize,” said Lee. “We will collaborate with more hardware manufacturers and add new functions on our Forview app.”

Further than Home Cameras “Since our technological specialty lies in the field of hardware for image and visions.

And our software specialty are making applications for such h/w device to run on the smartphones. So our future product roadmap would be for expanding of our current home IP camera to further communicate with other devices or modules in the house via wireless network in the house,” said Lee. Covering diverse areas starting from a linked home network to support a convenient life for customers, Batio will create more advanced and innovative values in consumers’ lives by providing smart home total solutions that combine the content, platform, network and device.

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 75

REVIEW

TAIWANESE SMART HOME SPECIALISTS SMAhome magazine invited Acer, Amroad, Askey, ASUSTeK and Unitech to the panel discussion to deliberate the winning strategies for Taiwan smart home industry in the global market while Nietzsche, Dexatek and Good Way shared their views on smart home protocols and market at SMAhome Seminar on August 13, 2015 in Taipei, Taiwan.

SMAhome hosted its seminar on the topic of the global smart home market and industrial status on August 13, 2015 in Taipei, Taiwan. The seminar has gathered more than one hundred Taiwanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s IC vendors, hardware manufacturers, platform providers, and system integrators in the industry.

Veronica Chen, the Editor in Chief of SMAhome talked about five major global and Taiwan market trends, and European smart home market and product development trends. Besides, the industry leaders, Nietzsche Enterprise, Dexatek and Good Way shared

76 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

their observations regarding international standards, strategic partnership, opportunities and challenges from Taiwan manufacturer's perspective. At the end, the panelists Acer, Amroad, Unitech, Askey and ASUSTeK discussed the current industrial status at the panel discussion.

BEING ENTHUSIASTIC IN PROTOCOLS “As a member of ZigBee Alliance, NHR has been focused on developing the ZigBee standard. We joined international standard group because we can refer user experiences that other alliance members worldwide have collected and incorporated into their own standards, and this allows us to better understand how to improve user experiences for the future and to gain insight into the global market,” said Johnson Lin, executive vice president at NHR. He added that through sharing and competing with other alliance members in the ZigBee standards, partnerships also emerge. For example, NHR has partnered with The Kroger Co. and has launched a new version in June.

BEING LOOKING FORWARDS TO HOMEKIT Dexatek has sided with Apple by adopting its HomeKit framework. The company has worked with its long-time partner in Germany for nearly 2 years to develop HomeKit products based on BLE. Jerry Chen, chairman of Dexatek, talked about the launch of these products.

“We were one of the first companies to launch HomeKit-based products this year, and we started shipping last month (July). We have received positive

feedback from our clients as well as their clients, who are consumers. We are optimistic about HomeKit and believe that it will be an important player in home automation or smart home,” said Chen.

Chen believes that HomeKit offers a standardized framework that companies can follow, which lowers barrier of entry to smart home for manufacturers and consumers alike. Consumers do not have to purchase an entire smart home system from a particular brand, and they can just choose products that are HomeKitcompatible.

BEING COLLABORATIVE Andrew Hsiao, vice general manager of Good Way Technology, shared his view on how Taiwanese companies can grow the smart home market together while facing strong competitions from Chinese companies. He noted that Chinese companies are fast in launching new products. He thinks that the key to success in smart home for Taiwanese companies is collaboration, as there is not one company that can offer everything for the smart home. With many protocols available in the smart home, companies can choose protocols based on their needs, but companies that have chosen different protocols can still partner with each other.

On the cooperation topic, at the seminar, SMAhome further invited Acer, Amroad, Askey, ASUSTeK and Unitech to the panel discussion as panelists to discuss the winning strategies in the smart home space.

To take the lead in the competitive market, they all believe the cooperation across different industries is the most essential way. The standardized and

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 77

Ü

REVIEW

To take the lead in the competitive market, Taiwan’s smart home specilaists all believe the cooperation across different industries is the most essential way.

mass-produced products are easily copied in today’s world. Therefore, they prefer to develop the whole systems instead of the single product line to enhance competitiveness. In addition, they also emphasize the importance of user experience.

Gibson Lin, Partner Account Supervisor, IoT Solutions Division at Acer suggested that the industry should build an ecosystem to strengthen the supply chain and competitiveness. “Taiwan makers should change their mindsets. They should pay more attention to the real value of IoT and what’s the real value it will offer instead of thinking how to increase profit from hardware manufacture. They need to know their core competence and think right ways to work together.”

Lack of interoperability is quite an issue to hinder the market growth at a fast pace. Aurther Li of Askey thinks the problem won't be fixed in two years. Facing the fragmented market, Shelly Wu of Unitech believes the open platform can enable the connected devices to talk to one another even they are made by different vendors with different standards.

USERS FIRST Wu of Unitech said, “In the consumer market, the word-of-mouth recommendation from consumers is important. We have to pay attention to quality of service instead of the product itself.”

Jim Yeh of ASUS explained the company’s design concepts. “When it comes to design, we should pay attention to usage scenarios and user experiences in addition to thinking of technological innovation. The differentiation will create value on the products.” He

78 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

stated three major design considerations—product stability, compatibility, and user experiences. He thinks the smart home products should be easy to use and set up for good user experience. To enable high compatibility, its products are compatible with multiple connectivity standards, and with application layers like AllSeen, OIC and HomeKit. Li of Askey stressed that Taiwan makers should pay attention on life taste. "Smart home is a kind of life style. To make the product truly fitting people's daily lives, especially in the western countries, we have to improve the product exterior design as well as the functional consideration of the product."

To survive in the market, James Su, Chairman and CEO of Amroad said it’s important to find the right target market. He explained that it’s not so easy for Asians to get familiar with the housing and living styles of other geographic regions. “We focus on the Asian market where there is lower entry barrier. As for those who would like to develop specific product lines instead, they should choose a right platform like HomeKit, for instance.”

Su commented that product stability and company's unique strength are two elements to maintain competitiveness in the market. He said, “Take one of our use cases for example, there are more than 2,000 connected sensors and nodes, we have to make sure they are always connected. Therefore, a stable system is crucial. Moreover, I believe every company should have its unique value to stand out from others before choosing the right partners.”

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The company provides the total solutions, including devices, systems, apps and platform to facilitate smart home deployment. The company stated three new development directions—telehealth, introducing thermostats to hospitals, and incorporate DALI protocol to its systems.

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Acer started out as a hardware manufacturer; now has its own data centers for the cloud service business. The company has more than 15 years of experiences in cloud services.

By far, there are 18 companies of SoC vendors, branded companies and IP cam providers, using Acer Open Platform to develop their own solutions.

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September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 79

NEWS

WHAT HAPPENED Smart Home News Highlights from August to September 2015

ON YOUR SMART PHONE. Scan the QR code or see mySMAhome.com/news for more info.

CORPORATE

TECHNOLOGY

SK Telecom Cooperates with Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics to Expand Smart Home Platform

3rd Generation Nest Learning Thermostat Introduces HighResolution Screen, Slimmer Profile

SK Telecom in Korea announced its cooperation with Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics to interconnect its Smart Home Platform with respective smart home platforms of Samsung and LG. Once realized, SK Telecom's Smart Home users will be able to control and monitor Samsung and LG's electronic products equipped with their own smart home capabilities via SK Telecom's Smart Home App.

Nest Labs, Inc. announced the 3rd generation Nest Learning Thermostat, which has a slimmer profile, a highresolution screen thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 40 percent larger, and an updated user interface to make it easier to read temperatures, alerts and messages. New software features include Farsight, which automatically displays the target temperature or time when it senses movement in the room, and Furnace Heads-Up.

CORPORATE

SmartThings Launches New Product Line, Developer Tools and Partnerships to Expand Its Open Platform SmartThings launched its new line of products, including an upgraded Hub, sensors, and intuitive mobile app. The company also introduced a new set of developer tools and partnership programs to enable deeper integrations and collaboration across its open platform and the industry at large.

CORPORATE

ams Acquires CMOS Sensor Business from NXP ams announced that the company has acquired the CMOS Sensor Business from NXP Semiconductors. The acquisition expands amsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; environmental sensor portfolio with advanced monolithic and integrated CMOS sensors that measure several environmental variables such as relative humidity, pressure and temperature in one sensor device.

80 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

CORPORATE

Swisscom Provides SmartLife Security Kits with Subscription Services Swisscom launched SmartLife, a new, flexible control and security system for use in the home. There will be two SmartLife package options: the Security Starter Kit contains the SmartLife Box as well as a door and window contact and remote control. The Security Surveillance Kit contains all of the above as well as a mobile HD camera with motion sensor and an adapter.

CORPORATE

TECHNOLOGY

Acer Looks for “Being Makers” in Smart Home

IEEE Extends Standard IEEE 802.21d to Define Management Primitives and Protect Group Communication

Acer provides the open cloud platform for young makers such as startups to jointly build 'Wangdao' Ecosystem under the concept of Internet of Beings, IoB. By featuring Secure, Reliable, Easy-to-use and Own-your-data of Acer BYOC, 'Wangdao' IoB Ecosystem aims to achieve Sustainable Development, Balance of Interests and Value Creation with Build Your Own Cloud (BYOC™) alliance partners.

CORPORATE

Smart Home Startups Visit Taiwan for Manufacturing Partnership; Taiwan is IoT Hardware Hub Peeple, Owlet Baby Care from USA and Swocket from Germany visited Taiwan to look for the hardware manufacturing partnership. According to Lee Feng Jian, Site Director of Google Taiwan, "Hardware is the key for IoT. And Taiwan is the world's IoT hardware hub.” Jian believes the combination of startups’ creative ideas and software design with Taiwan's hardware manufacturing will be a very powerful integration.

IEEE announced that the IEEE Standards Association has approved IEEE 802.21d Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks.

The standard is also applicable to home networking reliant on secure signaling and keying of a growing number of connected devices, service providers and operators by providing a means for secure and efficient device configuration and management.

CORPORATE

Alarm Grid Expand Alarm Monitoring Business in Partnership with Alarm. com and 2GIG Alarm Grid has partnered with interactive service powerhouse Alarm.com. Well-known as the pioneer of modern-day interactive, the Alarm.com product, along with Total Connect and Telguard, are well-known names in the industry. In an effort to expand their reach, Alarm Grid, best known for making Honeywell panels accessible to end users, is now offering 2GIG panels.

CORPORATE

Nordic Releases HomeKit-Supported nRF51 Series Bluetooth Smart SoCs Ultra-low power (ULP) RF specialist Nordic Semiconductor ASA announced the availability of its HomeKit solution for the nRF51 Series Bluetooth Smart SoCs. Meeting the HomeKit technical specifications the complete solution offers simplified development and accelerated time to market for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch enabled connected home products.

CORPORATE

Toshiba Expands Line-up of ARM Cortex-M-based Microcontrollers Toshiba Corporation announced that it has enhanced its current “TX Family” of ARM core-based microcontrollers and started to develop three series of microcontrollers, “TXZ0 series”, “TXZ3 series”, and “TXZ4 series”, as part of the “TXZ Family,” a new family of flash microcontrollers that support low-power consumption and high-speed operation for IoT and M2M ecosystems.

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 81

NEWS

TECHNOLOGY

ALLIANCE

Samsung IoT.js IoT Platform Expands Interoperability to Lightweight Devices

Semtech and Partners to Launch LoRaWAN for a Smart Metering Platform

Samsung Electronics opened the development of IoT. js, a web-based Internet of Things (IoT) platform that connects lightweight devices. Examples of lightweight devices include micro-controllers or devices with only a few kilobytes of RAM available.

The IoT.js project is one of activities Samsung is undertaking to make all devices interoperable in the IoT space by enabling more devices to be interoperable.

Semtech Corporation, a supplier of analog and mixed-signal semiconductors, along with two partners, Mueller Systems and Senet, launch a low-power, wide-area network in Ventura County to wirelessly track groundwater pumping data from the Fox Canyon aquifer, which sources water to most of the region. The new smart metering system should significantly reduce costs associated with the countyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s data collection process.

ALLIANCE

ULE Alliance Joins the AllSeen Alliance to Broaden the Adoption of IoT The ULE Alliance, a non-profit organization of companies, which is promoting the worldwide adoption of the ULE (Ultra Low Energy) a new generation wireless technology for IoT, announces that the organization became a sponsored member of the AllSeen Alliance.

ULE Alliance continues its journey as an open and cooperation minded organization for the benefit of IoT solutions for consumers worldwide.

CORPORATE

Fibaro Sensors Integrate with HomeSeer Home Control Systems with Enhanced Functionality FIBARO announced that its three most popular sensors now integrate with the HomeSeer home control system.

The three sensors join a lineup of eight FIBARO devices that already integrate with the HomeSeer system. The FIBARO Motion Sensor is a highly advanced wireless device with a built-in motion sensor, temperature sensor, light sensor, and accelerometer.

TECHNOLOGY

Open Interconnect Consortium Unveils Cloud-Native Support for Internet of Things The Open Interconnect Consortium, Inc. (OIC) announced the public availability of its candidate IoT specification. This significant technical milestone, guiding the OIC-sponsored IoTivity open source project, is a cloud-native architecture for IoT documented in a formal specification. Cloud-native design is critical to unlocking the cost, scalability and reliability that the deployment of millions of devices requires.

82 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

CORPORATE

Essence and Assa Abloy's Yale Brand Partner for Enriched Smart Home Offerings Essence, a provider of M2M, cloudbased connected-living solutions, and Assa Abloy, a global provider in door opening solutions and parent company of Yale, have partnered to combine Essence’s connected home solution WeR@Home with Yale’s smart locks.

Essence’s WeR@Home multi-service platform, which provides home security, safety, and remote home management, quickly and easily integrates with Yale Z-Wave smart locks.

MARKET

1 in 3 Consumers Likely to Use Smart Home Solutions by 2018, Says ON World One in three U.S. online adults will adopt a smart home sensing system within the next three years, according to global technology research firm ON World. The primary adoption drivers are safety and security followed by energy savings and remote web access.

Smart LED light bulbs are the most likely products that consumers plan to purchase within the next two years.

Include us in your media list. We want to know what you launch or are involved in smart home. Email your press releases to a&s SMAhome Editor: SMAhome-pr@newera.messefrankfurt.com

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 83

SHOW CALENDAR

2015-2016 WORLDWIDE EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS RELATED TO SMART HOME a&s SMAhome magazine will be distributing magazines at the checkmarked shows.

LONDON, ENGLAND SMART HOME SUMMIT

BERLIN, GERMANY INTERNET OF THINGS WORLD EUROPE

smart home market, together with the multiple options for success in this market. Boasting an interactive, cutting edge agenda with visionary speaker line-up, the Smart Home Summit is the platform for global authorities to present their “how-to” strategy and vision for a smart future.

An IoT focused event that takes place in Berlin, the heart of the European App ecosystem. Internet of to 7 Things World Europe will attract the entire ecosystem together under one roof to build business relationships and learn from industry experts across two days. Attend Internet of Things World Europe and get updated on the latest trends and developments happening in this space.

• +44 (0) 330 335 3900 • www.smarthomesummit.net

• +44 (0) 20 7017 5506 • iotworldeurope.com

SEP

The Smart Home Summit will bring together the complete

OCT

29 home automation ecosystem to discuss challenges in the

5

to 30

DALLAS, USA CEDIA EXPO 2015 OCT

LONDON, UK BROADBAND WORLD FORUM 2015

CEDIA EXPO is the connecting point for manufacturers, home

14 technology professionals, media, industry partners, and more. Attend to 17

the event to expand network, explore growth opportunities, inspire and be inspired alongside the industry’s leading experts and futurists. On top of gaining extraordinary access to the most visionary thinking, products and resources in the world, one will have the chance to receive in-depth training and earn industry-recognized certifications.

• +1 317 328 4336 • expo.cedia.net

VERONA, ITALY HOME & BUILDING – CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION ON HOME AUTOMATION AND BUILDING TECHNOLOGIES

OCT

One of the world’s largest telecoms, media

20 & technology events with attendees from to 22

fixed, mobile and cable operators, OTTs and other market disruptors, national and international governments and the world’s leading solution providers.

• +44 (0) 20 7017 5506 • broadbandworldforum.com

SEOUL, KOREA IOT KOREA EXHIBITION 2015

Home & Building combines an exhibition with vocational training for professional qualification. The to 28 participating companies offer in-depth workshops, seminars, training courses and case studies.

27

Key exhibits include IoT Application Service, IoT Devices, IoT Platform, IoT Security Solution, Sensors and its to 30 Components, and Wired/Wireless Communications and Network Solution. In 2014, it gathered 144 companies from 9 countries and 15,244 visitors from 22 countries.

• +39 0255181842 • www.expohb.eu

• +82 2 3454 1225 • www.rfidkorea.or.kr

OCT

OCT

28

List your exhibitions here if they are related to smart home. Email your show profile, website and a 60-word introduction to a&s SMAhome Editor: SMAhome-pr@newera.messefrankfurt.com

84 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

VIENNA, AUSTRIA EUROPEAN UTILITY WEEK 2015

SEOUL, KOREA SMART HOME BUILDING KOREA

An annual landmark event for the entire Smart Utility market, accumulating over 10,000 international smart energy to 5 stakeholders & 420 exhibitors. This 3-day event offers a multi-track Strategic Conference Programme, and the Hub Sessions on the exhibition floor are free to attend.

Smart Home Building Korea provides one with the opportunity to share the latest technology and to 6 products in the Korean market. Attend the event to find business opportunities!

NOV

3

• +31 346 590 901 • www.european-utility-week.com

NOV

4

• +82 2 6000 1516 • hnbshow.com/eng

LAS VEGAS, USA CES 2016 CES is the world’s gathering place for all who thrive on the business of to 9 consumer technologies. It's where business gets done: on the show floor, in and around our conference program, in impromptu connections and in planned meetings and special events. Experience the mind-blowing technology and awe-inducing innovations with us at CES 2016.

JAN

6

• +1 703 907 7605 • www.cesweb.org

Aside from the above, SMAhome Magazine will also attend the following security shows.

CPSE 2015 SICUREZZA

29/10/2015 - 01/11/2015 03-05/11/2015

Shenzhen, China Milan, Italy

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 85

PRODUCT

HOME CAMERA

ENERGY MANAGEMENT

KIBBI

EXIBEA AB

KIBBI

ELIQ Energy Display

www.kibbi.io

eliq.se

• • • • • •

• Energy display with touchscreen to provide visualization of electricity usage in real time • Calculates heat consumption automatically to prevent energy costs from running away • Forecasts, trend analysis and history

Smart home security system with window and door sensors HD wide angle security camera Custom alerts Free cloud storage Movement, vibration and temperature monitoring Multi-room music streaming • Works seamlessly with IFTTT and other smart devices • No monthly contracts or fees

PHILIO TECHNOLOGY

Z-Wave Smart Energy Plugin Switch PAN15/PAN16 sales@philio-tech.com

NANJING IOT SENSOR TECHNOLOGY

Wulian LookEver Camera overseas@wuliangroup.com

• Supports IEEE 802.15.4 and IEEE 802.11/b/g/n • Talkback function for video chat with your family even when away from home • Motion detection • High compression ratio (H.264 compression format) and low bandwidth for clear and smooth image of remote camera shooting • Video playback on client side • Multi-user access • No dead angle monitoring with 360 degrees of pan and greater than 180 degrees of tilt

86 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

• • • •

Z-Wave RF signal repeater Z-Wave 500 chip Z-Wave Plus certified (PAN15) Supports Protection Command Class and Security Command Class • Resistive load 13A/1430W/110V • On/Off button with the LED indicator • Supports OTA firmware update

SENSIBO

Sensibo

www.sensibo.com

• Turns any remote controlled air conditioner smart and reduces its energy consumption • Sticks to air conditioner and connects it to the Internet • Supports any air conditioner that has a remote control • Mobile app for controlling the air conditioner remotely • Works with IFTTT

TELLDUS TECHNOLOGIES

TELLDUS PLUG-IN SWITCH ON/OFF info.tech@telldus.se

• Employs Z-Wave technology • Controls on/off of lights and other electronic equipment up to 2300W • Can be used as a repeater for the Z-Wave network • Can accommodate two plugs in a standard 2-gang socket outlet • Easy to install and integrate with smart home system - Telldus Live!

• LED indicator for displaying status • Only 78 mm tall

• Based on smart analytics engine combined with a personal emergency response system (PERS) and safety devices for extra care • Monitors and analyzes daily activities, and alerts the healthcare warning signals providers and family members when early warn appear in order to prevent any emergency situation situa

WIBUTLER

GATEWAY & HUB SENIC

Nuimo senic.com

• Freely programmable controller for computers and connected devices • Compatible with Bluetooth devices, smartphones, computers and smart home hubs • Supports Sonos Speakers, Philips Hue Lights, Soundcloud or Spotify and more • Rechargable lipo battery featuring an average life of 4 months for each charge • Tangible controls – click button, capacitive touch and 360 analog ring • Gesture control - responds to gesture-based inputs for touchless control • Visual feedback – LED indicator lets users switch apps and show feedback

wibutler pro server www.wibutler.com

• Converts home into a smart home in three simple steps – get wibutler server, download wibutler app and choose products regardless of communication standard and manufacturer • Supports Z-Wave, EnOcean, ZigBee (Bluetooth support coming soon) • Operates via cable or WLAN • Can create an individual access point without using the Internet • Supports If / then rules, Time automation rules, scenes (coming soon) and sounds (smart devices or automation rules can be connected to the sounds of wibutler pro)

SOFTWARE EVRYTHNG

IoT Smart Products Platform evrythng.com TRONICO TECHNOLOGY

Smart Home Gateway Controller kuju@tronico.com.hk

• Includes a robust intelligent M2M solution, seamlessly learning the elderly's living patterns to provide proactive and personalized care • No wearables

• Assigns a unique digital identity to each physical product to make it smart • Products can be Connected (e.g. a washing machine using embedded technology) or Tagged (e.g. a bottle of wine with a QR code or printed electronics sensor label) • Active Digital Identities (ADIs) - smart software objects corresponding to physical products, which provide a

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 87

PRODUCT

persistent, unique presence and data profile for that physical object on the Web, independent of how it connects to the Internet • ADIs enable products to be interacted with by authorized applications using an API • Supports multiple protocols for device-to-ADI communication, including MQTT, CoAP and REST; and for ADI-to-application communication, including REST and WebSockets

HEALTHCARE ESSENCE

Smart Care essence-grp.com

• Includes a robust intelligent M2M solution, seamlessly learning the elderly's living patterns to provide proactive and personalized care • No wearables • Based on smart analytics engine combined with a personal emergency response system (PERS) and safety devices for extra care • Monitors and analyzes daily activities, and alerts the healthcare providers and family members when early warning signals appear in order to prevent any emergency situation

MEDIOLA

AIO CREATER NEO www.mediola.com

• Flexible design and configuration software for creating a personal control app to operate home or office using a smartphone or tablet • Modular design with optional plug-ins • Can integrate various devices and functions such as home technology (e.g., lighting, shutters, heating…), safety technology (e.g., smoke detector, door/window contacts…) and audio/video (e.g., TV, hi-fi systems…)

• Allows users to customize app interface and functions • Supports drag and drop for simple operation

88 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

OWLET BABY CARE

Owlet Vitals Monitor www.owletcare.com

• Includes Smart Sock and Base Station that connect to each other using BLE • Smart Sock uses pulse oximetry to measure heart rate and oxygen levels • Base Station would sound an alert if the heart rate dips too low or spikes too high, or if the oxygen saturation dips below 85% and stays below 85% for too long • Stores data on the cloud and supports remote viewing • Fits any child up to one year and most children eighteen months old • Works on any device running iOS 8 or higher

DOOR RELATED BUILDING 10 TECHNOLOGY

Peeple

info@peeple.io

• Small camera that mounts on user’s existing peephole or sticks on the glass of user’s door • Sends notifications when someone knocks or opens the door • Connects to home WiFi network • Built-in sensors • Battery-operated

SCHELLENBERG

Alarmgriff (Alarm Handle) service@schellenberg.de

• Invisible integrated alarm system in window handle • Responds to shocks at the window or the door • For windows and patio doors • Audible 115 dBA (measured at the sound outlet) alarm for 180 seconds • Activated by the closing of windows and doors 24/7 • Powered by two AAA batteries • Quick and easy retrofitting in minutes

INTEGRATED SYSTEM & KIT DATA INFORMATION SERVICES

MOBILE ALERTS info@mobile-alerts.eu

• Sensor-based home surveillance system that can be expanded • Starter set includes a gateway and a temperature transmitter

• Easy installation in 2 minutes – install the app, connect the gateway to the power adapter and the router, insert batteries into selected sensors, and scan the QR code of the sensors to see all the data in real time on the smartphone • Sends push notifications when problems occur

DIRECTV

LifeShield Wireless Home Security Kit – Security Essentials www.lifeshield.com

• Includes 4 x door & window sensors, 1 x security touchpad, 1 x base, 1 x keypad, 1 x keychain remote, 1 x pet-friendly motion sensor, 1 x fire-safety sensor • Whole-home fire protection and 24/7 professional arm monitoring • 3 layers of protection – broadband Internet, cellular and landline phone • Smash & crash protection – base and keypad are separate so a signal is still sent if one is broken • Whole-home & fire protection – help arrives whether user is home or not with the fire safety sensor • Free iOS and Android mobile apps – user can arm/disarm the system or watch live video

ELKO EP

House under the thumb elko@elkoep.com

• Kit for controlling the household via a smartphone • Consists of 1 x Smart RF box, 2 x colored wireless bulbs, 1 x switching socket and 1 x camera • Smart RF box is connected to the home network (router) through LAN cable and can communicate with a smartphone

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PRODUCT

GRID CONNECT

GOOD WAY

Z-Wave Home Security Kit sales@goodway.com.tw

• Cloud-based home security solution • Remote monitoring and control using a smartphone or a tablet • Instant alerts • User-friendly interface for easy and efficient operation • Includes 1 x WiFi to Z-Wave Gateway, 1 x Door Sensor and 1 x Siren

ConnectSense Water Sensor www.connectsense.com

• • • •

Easy setup in a few minutes Connects using Wi-Fi, no need for an extra gateway Battery-powered Can be mounted on basement walls with the included industrial-strength Velcro, or users can use the sensor’s mounting holes for permanent application

SENSOR

OTHER

ALPHAEOS

alphaEOS SENSE Raumklima-Sensor www.alphaeos.com

• Self-powered sensor for sensing temperature, humidity and brightness in a room and sending the data to the alphaEOS BASE • Powered with a solar cell or a button cell (CR 1632) if the room does not have sufficient natural or artificial light • Temperature: 0 - 40 ° C / Humidity: 2 - 100% RH / Brightness: 0-60000 lx • Radio: EnOcean 868MHz, bidirectional

SCIENTECH ELECTRONICS

TX-3AC

scientech@lifesos.com.tw

• Wireless and battery powered AC current sensor • Suitable for power monitoring & energy saving applications • Programmable high/low limit for alarm report or device control • Cloud server and mobile app • Provides charts for tracing up to 4 weeks in history

90 mySMAhome.com September/October 2015

NEXTDRIVE

NextDrive Plug nextdrive.io

• Micro IoT computer in the form of a small plug • Wirelessly connects smartphones to USB devices for file sharing/backup/streaming • Supports Wi-Fi connectivity • NextDrive Connect App available • No monthly fees

STATS & FIGURE Scan the QR code or see mySMAhome.com/market for more info.

US RESIDENTIAL SECURITY MARKET CONTINUES TO OUTPERFORM EUROPE IHS predicts the U.S. market will continue to outperform its European counterparts, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.3 percent between 2015 and 2019. Growth in the residential market in the United States in recent years has been spurred by strong construction rates.

ON YOUR SMART PHONE.

PURCHASE LOCATION FOR SMART THERMOSTATS (U.S. BROADBAND HOUSEHOLDS) National or local retailer

Other Security Dealer

US Residential Market Growth Forecast 10.0%

Heating/ cooling contractor

9.0% 8.0%

Custom installer without retail location

Growth

7.0% 6.0% 5.0% 4.0%

Online-only retailer

3.0%

Broadband service provider

Source: Parks Associates

2.0% 1.0% 0.0%

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Year

Source: IHS

2020

PROJECTION OF SMART ROBOT BOTT MARKET FOR DOMESTIC APPLICATION

$2.17 Billion

The smart robot market size for domestic application is projected to reach USD 2.17 billion by 2020.

STARTUPS AND SMALL ELECTRONICS COMPANIES OFFER SEMICONDUCTOR VENDORS FAST AND STABLE GROWTH According to Gartner, Inc., startups and small electronics companies spent US$78.3 billion on semiconductors in 2014, representing 23 percent of the total semiconductor market. Semiconductor vendors are concerned about the risk of relying on large customers.

Source: MarketsandMarkets

CONNECTED HOME STILL IN INNOVATION TRIGGER STAGE In Gartner's 2015 Hype Cycle Special Report, connected home is one of the technologies that Gartner believes have the potential for significant impact around the world. Its plateau will be reached in 5 to 10 years, at the same pace of IoT platform.

Source: Gartner

SMART LIGHTING MARKET FORECAST The total Smart Lighting Market is expected to reach USD 8.14 billion by 2020, growing at a CAGR of 22.07% between 2015 and 2020.

2015 Source: Gartner

2020 USD

8.14 Billion

22.07% (CAGR)

Source: MarketsandMarkets

September/October 2015 mySMAhome.com 91

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