Zonoff, one of the most promising IoT platform providers, closes shop after Honeywell reportedly reneges on acquisition. Security and home-automation giants ADT, Icontrol and Alarm.com figured into the demise.
Julie Jacobson
Julie Jacobson is founding editor of CE Pro, the leading media brand for the home-technology channel. She has covered the smart-home industry since 1994, long before there was much of an Internet, let alone an Internet of things. Currently she studies, speaks, writes and rabble-rouses in the areas of home automation, security, networked A/V, wellness-related technology, biophilic design, and the business of home technology. Julie majored in Economics at the University of Michigan, spent a year abroad at Cambridge University, and earned an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. She is a recipient of the annual CTA TechHome Leadership Award, and a CEDIA Fellows honoree. A washed-up Ultimate Frisbee player, Julie currently resides in San Antonio, Texas and sometimes St. Paul, Minn. Follow on Twitter: @juliejacobson
Julie Jacobson's Latest Posts
Inside the Vivint Smart Home Stores at Best Buy: A Huge Paradigm Shift
CE Pro’s Julie Jacobson visited several Best Buy stores in San Antonio, Texas, where Vivint Smart Home is testing a new business model for selling and installing security and home automation systems.
Advice from Expert: Builders Don’t Want DIY Home Automation
Tim Costello of the home-builder marketing firm BDX warns that homebuilders want built-in smart-home technologies to encourage consumers to buy new homes.
CEDIA Chairman Shames Us Into Being Better Mentors
Dennis Erskine at CEDIA Business Xchange: ‘I was a trunk-slammer once.’
Integrators at Azione: Embrace DIY Home Automation or Just Say No?
Dealers discuss DIY smart-home movement at Azione conference, debate whether to embrace the new IoT marketplace or cling to traditional custom home-technology models.
Leviton Launches Mass-Market Home-Automation Platform, Starting with Wi-Fi Lighting
Leviton launches ‘Decora Smart’ Wi-Fi lighting products, plus app and SHaaS (smart home as a service) platform to kick off new DIY initiative that could compete with Lutron’s Caseta IoT ecosystem.
UPDATE: JCPenney Plays Gender Card, Launches Home Automation Biz and Pro Installation
Capitalizing on its large female customer base, JCPenney is the latest big-box brand to get into home automation with new “Home Services,” featuring Samsung SmartThings and and other smart-home systems. [UPDATE: JCP is not installing the smart-home equipment, just the other five Home Services categories.]
At Last, Just-Add-Power HD-over-IP Integrates with Savant Home Automation
Just-Add-Power’s popular HDMI-over-IP systems now work with Savant smart-home systems without complex programming, thanks to free online tool from BlackWire Designs.
Exclusive: How Comcast Will Use Icontrol to Dominate Security, Home Automation Market
Comcast’s Dan Herscovici on the acquisition of Icontrol: new smart-home roadmap, a wholesale offering to other providers, thoughts on DIY, integration with TV and voice controls, IoT center in Austin, TX … and more.
Alarm.com and Comcast Close Icontrol Acquisition: What Now?
Icontrol, a pioneer in cloud-based security and home automation, has been acquired by Alarm.com and Comcast, despite antitrust concerns. Here’s what could be in store for the players and the SHaaS (smart home as a service) landscape.
Sonos Playbase Could Change Everything. Or Not.
The long-suffering category of “sound bases” might get a boost from Sonos Playbase, inspiring new paradigms in loudspeakers, TV mounting, and accessories like Sanus’s Swiveling TV Base.
WikiLeaks: CIA Hacked into Mobile Phones and Samsung Smart TVs, Listened to Conversations
“Most emblematic realization” of George Orwell’s 1984: WikiLeaks reveals that the CIA hacked iPhones, Android devices and Samsung TVs, turning them into covert microphones.
