Tag: smart home

Amazon Echo Integrates StubHub For Event Info

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Amazon’s connected speaker is quickly expanding beyond its initial functionality, adding support for a handful of new third-party platforms, including popular event booking and ticket sale platform StubHub, as well as several smart-home platforms such as Cree. The StubHub integration, in particular, stands out for it customizes the information based on location and utilizes Alexa, Echo’s embedded virtual assistant, to offer info about events nearby within a natural, conversational context.

What Brands Should Do
As a nascent media platform, devices like Amazon Echo and, allegedly, Apple TV – both well-poised to become the central hubs of connected devices and all sorts of services – are slowly and surely gaining momentum as the future standard of digital interactions. And brands, especially those in the ecommerce and smart-home space, need to be mindful of its potential. For brands that wish to experiment with Amazon Echo, there is the Alexa Skills Kit, a free SDK that allows for creating new features for Echo’s platform and integrating branded digital assets with Alexa’s conversational U/I.

 

Source: Engadget
Header image courtesy of Amazon Echo Product Page

The Business Use Case For Smart Home Appliances

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Door sensors have long been a common item in smart home installations for security and surveillance purposes. Now a Syracuse-based startup named Density is putting them to work for businesses. The company offers a smart door sensor that monitors the real-time population of places, such as restaurants, bars, gyms, and retail centers, and shares the information via the cloud on its mobile apps. It also provides businesses with a “Requested” service that will allow customers to request a discount once a certain low-traffic threshold is reached.

What Brands Can Do
Placed in storefront entrances, the Density sensor can measure the in- and outflow of people—giving business owners and retail brands a great amount of data on foot traffic and producing insights that can turn into smarter business planning. More importantly, Density points to the undervalued versatility of the connected devices, the majority of which are currently being developed for smart home automation. As the Internet of Things continues to evolve, we expect more business-oriented use cases for such gadgets to pop up, improving and streamlining the in-store experience to the benefits of both brands and customers.

 

Source: PSFK

Header image courtesy of Density

Apple WWDC Preview: Updated Apple TV As Central Hub For IoT Devices?

Posted on by Lab Team

We reported back in March that Apple might be updating Apple TV to include supporting functionality for smart home devices compatible with its HomeKit platforms. Now a new Apple support document has surfaced with clauses confirming that an Apple TV is required to remotely control HomeKit devices, potentially positioning it as the control hub for the connected devices. Although The New York Times is now reporting that there won’t be any new Apple TV hardware debut next Monday, it seems reasonable to predict that Apple will at least mention its central role in its smart-home ecosystem.

Of course, nothing is set in stone until Apple unveils its plan for the next iOS next Monday at its Worldwide Developers Conference, which may include major upgrades for its music app, Maps app, and the spotlight search feature. As always, the Lab will be live-tweeting @ipglab during the events, followed by our original posts highlighting the brand implications of the new announcements. So remember to check back next Monday to learn more.

Image courtesy of support.apple.com

What You Need To Know About The “Home” App in iOS 9

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original article on: 9to5Mac

A new report has surfaced regarding the upcoming iOS 9 ‘Home’ app. Just as Apple used the HealthKit framework to create the Health app as a highlight in iOS 8, HomeKit will rely partly on this new Home app to securely manage a connected home full of accessories and data.

Sources claim that Apple is planning to officially unveil the new Home app alongside iOS 9 at WWDC early next month. The primary functionality includes:

  • Utilizing the new Apple TV as a hub to connect all of the HomeKit devices
  • Wirelessly discovering and setting up compatible HomeKit devices
  • Creating a virtual map of rooms in the home to easily organize and connect devices supporting HomeKit.
  • Offering a series of screens to help users find new HomeKit devices and apps.

As an increasing number of devices and home appliances become connected to form the Internet of Things, brands should be aware of the opportunities these emerging media platforms could provide. We are already seeing cable companies enter the smart home space, and as the smart home market starts to take off, we expect to see some more players getting in on the action.

 

Cable Companies Also Want A Piece Of That Smart Home Pie

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original article on: Fortune

When it comes to the smart home market, tech companies like Apple and Google seems to be enjoying an early lead with their smart home hubs like HomeKit and Nest-based platform. But cable companies such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable, already controlling the home wireless network of millions, are also making a play for the market as well.

Earlier this year, Time Warner Cable partnered up with BestBuy to give customers of its security-focused IntellegenceHome service a better deal on smart home devices. And now, Comcast announced their Xfinity home platform, controlled by a branded tablet under monthly lease, is now supporting the connected home gears from its new partners, which include Nest, August (locks), and Rachio (sprinklers), and Lutron (lighting).

Furthermore, the cable behemoth is also planning to expand its smart home offering later this year with a SDK, which would developers to create officially sanctioned services using the Xfinity system. As the smart home market starts to take off, we expect to see some more players joining in the ring before it solidifies.

Amazon Echo Adds Smart Home Integration

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: TechCrunch

Back in November when Amazon launched Echo—an intriguing hybrid of connected speaker and virtual assistant—we wondered about its potential in becoming a control hub for smart home devices. Today, Amazon announced a software update for Echo, which will add support for a variety of connected home devices from companies such as WeMo and Philips. This will enables users to, for example, turn on Hue lights in the hallway or turn off the coffee maker plugged into Smart Switch by WeMo, all by voice command.

Apple TV To Transform Into Smart Home Hub

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original article on: BuzzFeed

Apple will be releasing a major update of Apple TV at its upcoming WWDC in June, and it will reportedly be equipped with an App Store, an official SDK, Siri support, increased onboard storage, and perhaps most importantly, a long-awaited HomeKit integration that uses Siri to command connected home devices. Previously, Apple has been reported to be testing and positioning its set-top box to become the central hub for all smart home devices supporting Apple’s HomeKit, and it seems like the Internet of “iThings” will become a reality soon.

Top Five Trends From Today’s Apple Event

Posted on by Richard Yao

There’s no dispute that Apple is a market trendsetter, and today’s “Spring Forward” media event will undoubtedly keep people talking until the new products hit the shelves. Here are the five trends from today’s event that marketers need to know:

Wearables Peak With “Glanceable” Notifications
With the Watch’s official launch set for April 24, the wearables market is poised to hit a historic boom as all wearable makers gear up to capitalize on the forthcoming public attention. And as notifications move from mobile devices to the user’s wrist, it will become more important to provide “glanceable” content that can be easily addressed or ignored. Brands will need to experiment to deliver the right notification at the right moment or risk overwhelming the consumer.

Tech and Fashion Continue To Converge
The Apple Watch has three different collections, each with two finishes and six watch bands made of different materials. Among all these stylistic options, however, the one that stands out is undoubtedly its 18-karat gold edition—priced at $10,000—which marks Apple’s official entry into the luxury goods market. By limiting distribution, Apple is clearly taking a page out of high-fashion brands’ playbook, furthering the convergence of tech and fashion.

Further Integration Across Interfaces
Besides continuity between the Apple Watch and new MacBook, Apple is also making a play for the connected car and smart home. Not only are all major car manufacturers committed to integrating Apple’s CarPlay into new models, Apple also mentioned it is working with leading brands in home automation to expand the reach of its HomeKit platform. During the Watch demo, for example, Apple showcased a remote garage door control powered by alarm.com.

The Quantified Self Connects With Healthcare
Further integrating self-generated health data and healthcare, Apple highlighted a new ResearchKit that could potentially revolutionize the field of medical research. By partnering with several prestigious medical institutions, Apple’s new open-source platform will allow medical researchers to easily create apps that gather medical data. The company is also carefully balancing privacy concerns by making all studies opt-in and hiding results from Apple.

Displays Keep Getting Thinner And Sharper
Apple also stunned the crowd with the thinnest and lightest MacBook to date (13.1mm at the thickest and weighs just 2 pounds), and improving image quality with a 12-inch Retina display. As more and more devices upgrade to retina screens, brands need to make sure they are developing high-resolution content.

Header image taken from Apple.com

AT&T To Bring The Smart Home Into The Car

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: CNET

At the Mobile World Congress last week, AT&T announced that its Digital Life and Drive platforms are joining forces to allow drivers to check on home security and set up smart home automation straight from the user’s connected car. With this new partnership, Digital Life subscribers will be able to access the app on their vehicle’s control panel or via voice control without checking their phone.

On Trend: Interoperability Within The Connected Home

Posted on by Lab Team

Devices within the connected home may work well in isolation, but companies are still working to enable their connected home products to link up and work together.

Staples launched the Staples Connect System in 2013 and voiced that a number of connected home products showcased at CES 2015 were compatible with their platform. Similarly, Lowe’s smart home control system, Iris, announced their new partnerships with device companies such as First Alert, Honeywell, Schlage, and Whirlpool at CES. This consolidation is made possible through open communication protocols like WiFi, Z Wave, ZigBee and Bluetooth. Consumers will soon be able to take advantage of this seamless interoperability experience as we begin to see new partnerships and gadgets hitting the market.

The value of the connected home has also been heavily focused on mobile experiences, which can be convenient when managing your devices outside home. When inside, however, consumers may be interested in utilizing simple software configurations that allow you to access and control connected home devices from one hub installed within the house. Flipping a light switch has now evolved into controlling an entire lighting system with one touch. A software-defined switch can also have multiple actions associated with it such as setting the alarm system while simultaneously locking the doors. The connected home will become an ecosystem of multi-tasking with the incorporation of this technology.

With software-defined interfaces programmed into the home and numerous partnerships forming between gadgets and companies, a more unified and interoperable control experience within the connected home is on the horizon.