All Articles Tagged Zigbee

Robert Archer | 04/04 03:53 AM,

Home Automation, Inc. (HAI) is one of the most diverse and aggressive manufacturers in the custom installation market. Adding to its line of convenience products the New Orleans-based company recently introduced its new MicroControl (part #81A00-2WHZB) stand alone remote control that can be used by property owners to lock and unlock ZigBee enabled door locks and to control other wireless devices. HAI says that it has verified the MicroControl's operation with Black & Decker's Kwikset SmartCode locks, but it adds that the remote should work with other brands of ZigBee… View this story

Robert Archer | 03/28 03:30 AM,

This past fall during the annual CEDIA trade show in Indianapolis, Remote Technologies Inc (RTI) introduced its new Pro Control line of products. Recently Pro Control started to ship its Pro24.r and Pro24.z touchscreen controllers and ProLink.r and ProLink.z central control processors to provide electronics professionals with a choice of powerful and easy to use control solutions. The new touchscreen controllers incorporate 2.4-inch TFT LCD touchscreens, programmable five-way joysticks and backlit hard buttons to allow users to execute specific commands in dimly lit rooms. The ProLink.z and ProLink.r processors store… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 03/05 09:08 AM, 0 Comments

Xfinity is easing consumers into the smart home. When it launched its home automation service in 2010, the cable company called it Comcast Home Security. Now Comcast is Xfinity and the service is called Xfinity Home. Period. “We had planned the name change for quite some time,” says Mitch Bowling, SVP and general manager, new businesses, Comcast Cable. “When we launched the service in 2010 in Houston, consumers did not really understand what the smart home and home automation was, but security did resonate so we decided to go out… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 02/24 12:17 PM, 0 Comments

Some say home automation will not need dedicated protocols such as Z-Wave and ZigBee because smartphone makers will never embed those technologies in their mobile devices. Wrong! French-based TazTag is introducing what appears to be the first ZigBee-enabled mobile phone next week at the GSMA Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona. The TPH-ONE, which also includes Near Field Communication (NFC) is touted as an ideal controller for home automation and smart energy applications as well as RF4CE, the ZigBee-based A/V control protocol that we’re starting to see in some consumer… View this story

Robert Archer | 01/23 07:51 AM,

When top dealers such as Nick Tamburri of AHA Design consistently laud HAI for its line of home control, home automation and security products, it says the company must be doing something right. Validating those opinions are actions such as the New Orleans-based company's recent announcement that it is releasing a software update to enhance its control and security systems' usability. Just after the start of the new year HAI revealed that it is updating its controller software to allow for the two-way integration of ZigBee and Z-Wave wireless door… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 09/19 10:25 AM, 3 Comments

Soon you'll be able to open your doors simply by holding a smartphone near the lock, thanks to new consumer-grade NFC-enabled door locks from Yale. NFC (near field communication) is a fast-growing technology that enables simple data exchanges between two devices in close proximity. Today, the technology is used almost exclusively in commercial applications, for example, to provide product information when users hold their smartphones near an NFC-enabled poster. NFC also is gaining traction for mobile payment and is the technology behind Google Wallet, expected to launch today with much… View this story

Steven Castle | 09/14 08:34 AM, 0 Comments

Home Automation, Inc. (HAI) now touts a suite of devices that can provide energy management in the home independent of utility-based smart grid programs. The systems use the wireless RF-based ZigBee home automation protocol. A small tabletop or wall-mounted ZigBee Interface Module (ZIM) for HAI's Omni and Lumina controllers or a ZigBee MicroControl touchpanel for a standalone systems is required. You can add OmniStat2 RC-2000ZB thermostats or RC-1000ZB t-stats for single-stage conventional and heat pump systems, 30- and 5-amp control modules and 300-watt plug-in lamp modules to the system. The… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 09/02 05:06 AM, 0 Comments

Control4 is largely a ZigBee shop, but efforts have been made in the past to bring Z-Wave RF technology to the home automation system. It never took. Now, true Z-Wave integration is available, thanks to a new Control4 driver from UK-based Extra Vegetables, which creates “side dishes” for Control4 and other automation systems. The driver connects Control4 systems to the Vera 2 home controller from Mi Casa Verde. Vera, a low-cost Z-Wave-enabled control system, has an enthusiastic following among do-it-yourselfers but has never quite made it to the custom channel.… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 08/10 09:53 AM, 0 Comments

Coming soon to iBAHN IPTV screens: Control4 automation iBAHN, a major broadbrand infrastructure provider for the hospitality industry, is letting Control4 piggy-back on its IPTV service. Control4’s guest-room controls are being integrated with iBAHN’s on-screen user interface in three new properties from the Dorchester Hotel Group: 45 Park Lane in London, and the Hotel Bel Air and Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles. Through the unified interface, guests will be able to control lighting, HVAC, blinds, and wake-up settings in the same environment as they control their iBAHN-powered in-room entertainment.… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 06/08 05:50 PM, 4 Comments

Today we learn a few things about Xfinity Home Security that we hadn't reported before: The monthly cost for the security/home automation service is cheaper than most, but hardly free; six more cities will get the service after last year's launch in Houston; and Xfinity will do its own security installations, rather than use a third-party provider. And one more thing: Xfinity will use iControl SMA, the home-control platform formerly known as uControl. Just as we suspected. Neither Xfinity nor iControl has made a formal announcement about the iControl deal,… View this story