All Articles Tagged Alarm.com

Julie Jacobson | 05/21 11:43 AM, 4 Comments

Telguard, a subsidiary of cellular provider Telular, recently announced a cloud-enabled security and home automation platform called Telguard HomeControl, powered by iControl and compatible with 2Gig alarm and automation panels. Now Alarm.com, a pioneer of cloud-based solutions for remote monitoring and management of security and home automation systems, is suing Telular for infringing on four Alarm.com patents. Previously, Alarm.com was the only interactive service provider for 2Gig Technologies—now owned by Nortek subsidiary Linear—which has sold more than 800,000 panels since 2009. (Linear and 2Gig are not mentioned in the suit.)… View this story

Steve Crowe | 05/13 10:32 AM, 0 Comments

Alarm.com has acquired home energy management startup EnergyHub. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. EnergyHub, which was founded in 2007 and sells software for utilities designed to help cut home energy consumption, will continue to operate as an independent company within Alarm.com, led by founder and president Seth Frader-Thompson and the existing management team. Alarm.com, a key partner of Vivint, the No. 2 company on the CE Pro 100, has been moving further into connected home offerings recently, raising $136 million in 2012 to expand the business. “We believe… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 10/04 08:26 AM, 19 Comments

Countless home-control start-ups have touted their new technologies as “disruptive” (most recently Utz Baldwin’s new company Ube), but is that what we really need to achieve widespread adoption of home automation? I don’t think so. As with Ube, we’ve seen many promising new companies with affordable, easy-to-use, simple-to-install products, but none of them has achieved the critical mass that Ube is seeking – some 4 million users within five years. Some of the inhibitors do relate to technology and price points (the subject of my editorial in the November issue… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 04/02 09:16 AM, 4 Comments

2Gig, which sells more than 300,000 self-contained security panels per year, is adding a unique feature to its Go!Control systems: built-in DVR capabilities. The company demonstrated the solution during the International Security Conference (ISC West 2012) in Las Vegas. A self-contained security panel is one that includes the security processor, keypad/interface, sensor hub, back-up battery and (usually) built-in GSM module for cellular communications with the central station. Normally, all that is needed is a power source. In addition, most self-contained panels today also include home automation capabilities, with built-in Z-Wave… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 02/28 08:20 AM, 7 Comments

Alarm.com, one of the original providers of cloud-based home automation, is introducing perhaps the smartest thermostat ever, the new “Smart Schedule” system. It learns the comings and goings of the family and adjusts the temperature automatically based on a household’s activity patterns. “For most households, we’re able to put together a pretty accurate profile,” says Alison Slavin, co-founder and VP product management for Alarm.com, which was founded in 2000 and now boasts about 1 million monitored accounts. Only thing is, this “smart thermostat” isn’t a hockey puck on the wall.… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 07/19 07:44 AM, 4 Comments

Verizon demonstrated a home automation and security solution at CES 2011, but the telco hasn’t said much since January. Now it appears we have a price for Verizon Home Monitoring and Control, which is powered by Motorola 4Home: $9.99 per month for basic service. The Tampa Tribune reports that Verizon will offer three levels of service, with the basic package enabling remote monitoring and control of cameras and Z-Wave devices (lighting, motorized door locks, appliances). A second option includes “energy-monitoring gadgets like automatic thermostats, special Wi-Fi adapters that control appliances… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 07/14 04:49 AM, 16 Comments

The security company most famous for its summer “door-knocking” campaigns thinks it can sell home automation door to door. Formerly called APX, that company just reinvented itself as Vivint, signifying its transition “from a residential security company to a provider of simple, affordable home automation services that deliver increased safety, improved energy efficiency, and greater convenience for customers,” according to a press release announcing the name change in February. Since 1999, Vivint has amassed nearly 500,000 security accounts -- generating roughly $20 million in recurring monthly revenue (RMR) -- mostly… View this story

Steven Castle | 07/12 12:12 PM, 0 Comments

Alarm.com's emPower security and energy management system now has an “Extreme Temps” feature that relies on weather information to turn thermostats up or down to automatically save energy and money. emPower lets consumers automate and control their lights, locks and thermostats remotely from a web-enabled computer or cell phone. Extreme Temps allows customers to set the target temperature of their thermostats based on the weather in the area. For hot days, users choose an outdoor temperature threshold between 80 and 120 degrees Fahrenheit. On cold days, the feature works similarly,… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 06/16 07:49 AM, 5 Comments

Motorola Mobility (NYSE: MMI) is building a turnkey security/home automation system with the help of Honeywell Security Group, putting the duo in direct competition with iControl and Alarm.com (and possibly Honeywell's own Total Connect 2.0) -- all providers of SaaS (software as a service) for remote home monitoring and control. Motorola began its latest foray into the connected home last year when it acquired 4Home, a developer of home-control software. But 4Home never really had a product to sell with its home automation platform. That’s where Honeywell comes in. The… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 03/09 10:31 AM, 0 Comments

2Gig Technologies is hoping to take on the established manufacturers in the security business with a self-contained security system that offers modest home-automation capabilities. The system can communicate directly with the dealer's choice of monitoring station, but for advanced features -- such as video surveillance and remote management -- 2Gig recommends a subscription to Alarm.com. 2Gig eliminates the usual mess of wires and adapters with its self-contained Go!Control alarm system. The touchscreen panel includes three wireless radios: GSM for communicating with Alarm.com or a traditional central monitoring stationLow-rate proprietary RF… View this story