HomeSeer launched a line of Z-Wave-based wireless lighting products. Plug-in modules and light bulbs began shipping Monday, and the HS-WD100+ wall dimmer and HS-WS100+ wall switch are set for Thursday shipping, said the company. The dimmer and switch can be programmed to initiate scenes using double-tap, triple-tap and press-and-hold operations, it said Monday.

Amazon’s Alexa-enabled devices can now enable banking transactions and provide financial information, Capital One said in a news release Friday. Owners of Amazon’s Echo, Echo Dot, Tap and Fire TV can request by voice financial information such as balance, recent transactions and credit card payment due dates, and they can request payment toward a credit card bill, Capital One said. Alexa customers can enable the banking capability in the Alexa mobile app on iOS, Android or Fire tablets -- or at alexa.amazon.com -- and then pair their Alexa and Capital One accounts using their Capital One username and password. “More and more voice experiences are coming,” said Rob Pulciani, director of Amazon Alexa, in a statement. On questions about security safeguards in case of miscommunication between users and the Alexa voice engine, a Capital One spokesman told us the company “placed a major emphasis on security,” including: (1) When a customer enables the Capital One skill on the Alexa app, Capital One performs local security checks and then asks customers to sign in using their Capital One username and password, “both of which are encrypted and not shared,” and (2) Customers who want an extra layer of security can create a four-digit "personal key" that Alexa will ask them to say before providing account access, the spokesman said.

Fifty-two percent of U.S. Internet homes have at least one TV connected to the Internet, 6 million more than in 2014, said an NPD email Monday. Some 734 million connected devices are in use in U.S. Internet homes, averaging 7.8 per home, a jump of 64 million installed and Internet-connected devices over the past year. Driving the momentum are increased adoption of smart TVs and streaming players, plus growing libraries of streaming video, said NPD. The average connected TV home had nearly 2.9 devices installed from which they could stream programming, including videogame consoles, streaming media players, Blu-ray disc players and embedded TV apps. More than 5,000 U.S. adults were surveyed during Q4.

That FCC-proposed set-top box rules are "wholly unnecessary" is shown by AT&T's plans (see 1603010046 and 1603020031) to offer the video services from its recently acquired DirecTV via streaming over mobile devices, smart TVs and PCs in Q4, a telco spokesman told us Wednesday. The features confirm the rules would be "backward looking and would impose significant costs with no corresponding benefits," he said. "Our new services will demonstrate that we and the market generally are moving beyond set-top boxes, and providing consumers more choices than ever to watch what they want, when they want and on the device of their choosing anywhere they happen to be. Rather than imposing a government technology mandate that will never keep pace with the vibrantly competitive video marketplace, the Commission should allow competition to work." Last month, commissioners voted along party lines (see 1602180065) to seek comment on changing set-top rules to make it easier for consumers to see the encrypted video conveyed by the devices without leasing one from their pay-TV provider. Agency spokespeople didn't comment Wednesday.

Forty-nine percent of U.S. broadband households plan to buy a smart home device by the end of the year, Parks Associates said at its Smart Energy Summit in Austin. Speakers discussed ways utilities can integrate smart home devices into energy programs, Parks said Tuesday. Some 40 percent of thermostats sold today are Internet-connected and 46 percent of owners bought the device through retail, it said. Addressing the role of energy management in the smart home, Ramon Alvarez, SmartThings senior director-strategic consumer solutions, outlined in a statement two challenges facing the residential energy management market: (1) Not all energy-consuming devices have the capability to get connected and provide energy consumption data, and (2) the industry needs “better cross-industry collaboration between utilities, service providers, and consumer electronics companies.” Dennis Mathew, vice president of Comcast Cable's Xfinity Home, said many consumers aren’t aware of the value of energy management in a smart home ecosystem. To increase engagement, the key is “finding a direct path to deliver the automated energy solution at little cost or effort,” he said, citing Xfinity’s interactive EcoSaver tool consumers can use to measure energy savings.

Ecobee3 connected thermostats are the latest devices to be controllable by the Amazon Echo, said ecobee Friday. Echo’s Alexa will be able to facilitate requests from across a room through commands for setting temperature to a particular level or raising or lowering temperature, said ecobee. The ecobee3 is the first thermostat directly compatible with Echo, it said.

Comcast announced a partnership with Earth Networks’ WeatherBug Home software that's designed to help Xfinity Home customers lower heating and cooling costs by reducing energy use. WeatherBug Home provides data and analytics for Xfinity Home’s EcoSaver tool that learns the heating and cooling patterns of a home and makes automatic adjustments to the thermostat, said the companies. Earth Networks processes 25 terabytes of “hyper-local,” real-time weather data daily for 20 million unique consumers, combining data from neighborhood-located weather sensors and a home’s HVAC usage to a build a unique thermodynamic model of each home’s energy usage, Earth Networks Chief Marketing Officer Leslie Ferry emailed us. Earth Networks has deployed more than 10,000 commercial-grade weather sensors, primarily in residential areas, said Ferry. On average, a weather station is located within six kilometers of U.S. homes, “so we can more precisely determine the impact of weather on a homes’ energy usage,” she said. Consumers can opt out of a single event or scenes programmed with EcoSaver, said Ferry. The cost of heating and cooling can account for almost half of an overall household utility bill, and integrating WeatherBug Home with a connected thermostat can provide 16.5 percent savings on home cooling, said Daniel Herscovici, general manager-Xfinity Home, in a statement. Integration with WeatherBug data will add more information to help Xfinity tracking tools “become more accurate and effective for users,” said Herscovici. Intelligent learning, coupled with Earth Networks’ modeling, delivers cost savings to consumers and energy efficiency and demand response to meet utility mandates, said the company. Comcast also announced new devices for the Works with Xfinity Home certification program: August Smart Lock, Chamberlain MyQ garage controller, Lutron Caseta wireless controller and dimmer, and Nest Learning Thermostat.

Netgear’s Arlo security camera can now be integrated with Telguard’s HomeControl Flex, an interactive solution that enables control of a professionally installed security system from a smartphone, the companies said Monday. Users can remotely arm, disarm and receive security system notifications on their phones, the companies said, and they can receive HD video streaming on a smartphone, tablet or PC. Netgear called Arlo the first “100 percent wireless Wi-Fi security camera with HD video.” The outdoor-ready cameras are equipped with night vision and use batteries to eliminate the need for a nearby electrical outlet, Netgear said. HomeControl Flex can be added to existing home security systems via a Telguard accessory that’s sold by home security dealers, the companies said. The wireless connection replaces the landline path between the home and monitoring center with cellular technology, they said. Flex can integrate with “hundreds” of smart home products and services through IFTTT (if this, then that), Telguard said.

The FCC should reject changes to set-top box rules being proposed (see 1601280064) by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in an upcoming NPRM, CALinnovates said in a news release Friday. "This proposal is wrong for consumers, wrong for creators and wrong for the innovation economy," said Mike Montgomery, CALinnovates executive director. The commission should pursue the apps-based approach favored by pay-TV carriers, CALinnovates said.

Leviton announced a digital lighting dimmer switch that allows users to dim and program lighting without the need for a hub, gateway or Internet connection. The Bluetooth switch is controllable via Android or Apple apps with a smartphone at up to 30 feet, said the company. Astronomical clock software, programmable from the app, can be set to go on and off for local sunset and sunrise times, and adjusts for daylight savings time, it said. A sleep timer can be set for up to 12 hours. The switch can be set for soft fades on and off and for lights to be set to levels for maximum energy savings, said Leviton. The switch controls dimmable LED, dimmable CFL, incandescent, halogen and Mark 10 powerline loads, said Leviton, and meets UL, the Canadian CSA Group and FCC requirements. The dimmer switch has a five-year limited product warranty.