Amazon’s Ring held on to the top spot in the global home security camera market last year, reported Strategy Analytics Tuesday. Ring, Arlo, Wyze, Google Nest and Alarm.com combined to ship over 14 million cameras, about 20% of the total 72 million cameras shipped to consumers in 2021, it said. Ring’s brand strength in video doorbells continues to have a “halo effect” on the company's indoor and outdoor cameras, setting the brand up for the leading position at least for the next two years, said analyst Jack Narcotta. Brands that compete mostly in the U.S. -- Ring, Next and Wyze -- are “fast approaching an inflection point,” and then their business model will need to adapt to incentivize add-on camera sales or upgrades from older models, he said, saying most new customers are coming from Asia-Pacific countries. The $50-$100 segment is the main competitive arena for security cameras, said analyst Bill Ablondi, and will provide most brands with a balance of profits and revenue. Interactive security providers such as ADT, Alarm.com and Vivint will eventually control most of the premium price band as they develop sales and marketing campaigns to increase the number of cameras included on sales to new subscribers, while enticing existing subscribers with add-on camera purchases, he said.

Savant is integrating with companies in the inverter and battery storage market to deliver scalable energy management for projects ranging 200-600 Amps, the company emailed Thursday. Partner companies include Schneider Electric, Fortress Power, Sol-Ark and HomeGrid, powered by Lithion. The company is also offering Savant dealers select out-of-the-box solutions available from the Savant dealer store. Smart electrical panels allow the Savant app to automatically report insights such as a battery’s state of charge and historical trends, the company said. Add-on battery storage starts at under $20,000.

Despite stalled smart thermostat adoption in the U.S., device owners report saving $49 a month on electricity as a result of using a smart thermostat, and over 90% are satisfied with the energy savings, said Parks Associates Wednesday. Parks plans a virtual session on the state of residential energy management Thursday starting at noon EDT. Topics include consumer adoption and engagement and new partnerships aimed at advancing demand response programs, it said.

Half of 2021 security system sales were do-it-yourself products, and they will soon be most of the market, said Parks Associates Thursday. The need for differentiation is driving product expansion and innovation as companies look to maintain share. Cameras and video doorbells are the top two devices security system owners are adding, followed by smart door locks and additional motion sensors. As of Q4, 15% of U.S. internet households had a smart doorbell, up from 10% in 2019. Energy is an adjacent market, with many security companies partnering with firms offering energy generation, storage, or management capabilities, Parks said, citing ADT’s recent purchase of Sunpro Solar. Brinks Home partnered with Sunnova Energy, and its dealers can now offer Sunnova's solar, battery, and energy services. Eight percent of U.S. internet households report owning power-generating solar (solar PV) panels, double the rate from five years ago, Parks said. Security-system households “strongly over-index on solar ownership,” it said, with 17% of all security system households reporting they also own solar PV panels.

Eero launched new wireless mesh networking products, including its first Wi-Fi 6E-enabled mesh system, the company said Wednesday. The tri-band eero Pro 6E ($299) has support for over 100 devices simultaneously and can support speeds up to 2.3 Gbps, including 1 gigabit wired, it said. The Pro 6E uses the 6 GHz band to enable faster speeds with less congestion and covers up to 2,000 square feet, the company said. The dual-band eero 6+ ($89) router offers coverage for over 75 devices with a range of up to 1,500 square feet, it said. The systems have a built-in Zigbee smart home hub and can connect compatible smart home devices on the network with Alexa, said the Amazon company. Eero 6 devices can also act as a Thread border router to provide interoperability with Matter-certified devices, it said. Eero’s subscription service, including password manager and parental controls, is $9.95 per month.

Savant joined the Avnu Alliance as a promoting member, it said Friday. The consortium of professional, automotive, consumer electronics and industrial manufacturing companies is working to ensure interoperability of devices within the Audio Video Bridging (AVB) ecosystem. “Savant was one of the first whole-home technology companies to move past the matrixed audio distribution topology into an infrastructure where audio content moves over a single Ethernet cable,” said Tim Locascio, Savant vice president-engineering. The company chose the AVB ecosystem for its reliability with audio over IP, zero-configuration and self-healing attributes, he said, noting AVB is an open IEEE 802.1 standard, “much like 802.11 networking standards,” that's “free, future-proof and innovative." Savant will participate in pre-certification working groups, facilitate technical updates and certification standards and ensure vendors’ certified products are interoperable. Greg Schlechter, Avnu Alliance president, said Savant’s choice to use AVB is a “proof point” for the standard's potential benefit to the custom install market as a foundation for networked media.

Comcast will begin rolling out the Xfinity Video Doorbell early next year, it said Thursday. The HD-quality video doorbell, which will allow users to watch their front door “from anywhere,” will be available with professional installation for Xfinity Home Pro Protection and Pro Protection Plus customers for $120, it said. Comcast pitched the surveillance device as a response to package theft, citing its ability to enable motion notifications and 24/7 video recording. Users can get notifications via the Xfinity app or on their TV through X1 or Flex when someone rings the doorbell, and they can hear and speak to visitors at the front door via the app, Comcast said.

Snap One introduced an Alexa-enabled in-wall amplifier that connects to Bluetooth audio devices in single- or multiroom audio systems, it emailed Monday. The Episode Wake Amp connects a voice assistant or other Bluetooth audio device to speakers throughout a home with commercial-grade Bluetooth connectivity that extends up to 100 feet, said the company. Integrators can use the device to add simple voice control to new audio systems or to replace older in-wall volume controls with a voice-enabled controller. The keypad has three hard buttons, an LED bar to show volume level and a 25-watt amplifier.

Bosch representatives spoke with staff in the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology about possible conditions on a waiver the company seeks of FCC ultra-wideband rules for its Wallscanner D-Tect 200 wall imaging system (see 2008200030). “Bosch reviewed the procedural history of the waiver request, including prior meetings with both the Commission” and the NTIA, said a filing posted Friday in docket 20-268: “In response to questions from OET staff, the Bosch representatives described the technical and operating parameters and the use cases.”

Leviton bowed an arc-fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) with Bluetooth connectivity that allows contractors and homeowners to troubleshoot AFCI trip events via the Decora Digital app, it said Monday. The app can help identify the cause of an arc and distinguish between dangerous faults and those that occur during normal appliance operation, said the company. The detection capability helps increase arc detection accuracy and reduce the need for callbacks for professionals, it said.