GE Lighting pushed the benefits of hub-free W-Fi operation, Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice control and upcoming Matter compatibility in its newly shipping Cync line of smart light bulbs at Pepcom in New York Thursday. Spokesperson Ben Sabol differentiated the Cync line from other smart bulbs by their ability to be controlled by an app vs. a hub; the app also controls Cync smart security cameras, ceiling fans, smart switches, sensors and thermostats. Sabol noted the smart home is still a young market and consumers have been slow to adopt the technologies. Lighting could enable a tipping point, he said: “You can start with a bulb, and that can give you the confidence to do something else." Prices start at $13.99 for the decorative bulbs, available in white and full-color; $11.99 for Reveal general-purpose bulbs; and $24.99 for downlights. The bulbs launched in Lowe’s stores and will roll out soon to Amazon, Best Buy and Target.
Leviton upgraded its Decora Smart Wi-Fi scene controller switch, the company said Tuesday. The second-generation switch has three customizable buttons to control room scenes or whole-home lighting modes, plus a built-in smart switch that controls general-purpose lighting and loads up to 14 Amps, the company said. It’s designed to replace standard light switches in entryways, kitchens and bedrooms and works with the My Leviton app. The switch is backed by a two-year warranty.
Veteran smart home companies are strengthening their offerings via acquisitions of smaller companies with deep expertise, said Parks Associates Tuesday, noting Resideo’s purchase of First Alert and Crestron’s buy of video technology from 1 Beyond. First Alert brought brand recognition and trust to Resideo, said analyst Jennifer Kent. Crestron gained intelligent video technology and automated camera tracking from 1 Beyond, which should help the company’s positioning in the work-from-home market, Kent said. The electric vehicle market offers opportunities for smart home companies, said the analyst, citing ADT and Ford’s joint venture for an AI-enabled security monitoring product, Canopy, that identifies and reports threats to Ford vehicles as they happen.
Half of smart home device owners have experienced a recent problem with one or more of their devices, most due to poor wireless connectivity, leading to a high return rate, said Parks Associates Wednesday. Between 2% and 4% of U.S. internet households returned at least one smart home device in the past 12 months, said the research firm. President Elizabeth Parks called the rate "high … when you consider the purchase and adoption rates are still in single or low double digits.” A poor early experience with a smart home device “impacts future consumer attitudes,” she said, saying 13% of survey respondents said they're not likely to buy a new product from the same brand after returning one. “In this early market stage, brands need to build enthusiasm and brand loyalty to continue the drive toward mass market,” Parks said. Other reasons cited for returns were technical problems, difficulty with setup, integration issues with other devices and short battery life. Devices often get returned for reasons “that have nothing to do with the device itself,” said Jason Moore, CEO of RouteThis, who will speak on a Parks virtual webinar on building brand loyalty slated for June 9, noon EDT.
IRobot announced Tuesday the next generation of its Genius Home Intelligence platform, iRobot OS. The platform enables products that “understand the home environment, respect customer preferences and intuitively connect with the smart home ecosystem,” said CEO Colin Angle. New features and functionality will benefit pet owners, busy families and “those looking to get the most out of their voice assistants,” Angle said, saying iRobot OS lets robots “get smarter” and clean more effectively over time.
Remote work trends have led to a push for smart home amenities from multi-dwelling unit (MDU) tenants, Parks Associates said Wednesday. Some 65% of MDU tenants in a Parks survey said they look to preinstalled smart home devices as a key feature now that Wi-Fi is a standard amenity, said analyst Kristen Hanich. Parks is holding a webinar Thursday at 1 p.m. on planning and partnerships for smart apartments.
IKEA will be Matter-ready this fall when it launches the Dirigera smart home hub and app, it emailed Wednesday. The products' goal is "to enable a better everyday life" for customers through smarter living, said the home furnishings retailer. Dirigera will be able to handle more smart product types and connected devices than IKEA’s current offering, the Tradfri gateway, which launched in 2014 and sells for $39. A focus of Dirigera is to improve and simplify the onboarding process when customers add smart devices to the smart home, said Rebecca Toreman, business leader. The new IKEA Home smart app will be more “user-friendly to lower the threshold for people looking into setting up a smart home,” Boreman said. Increased interest in digital technologies for the home have become “natural ingredients in our everyday lives,” said Bjorn Block, business area manager, noting IKEA’s smart products in sound, light, air purification, blinds and “many more to come.”
TP-Link launched the Tapo line of sub-$100 smart home cameras Monday. The $30 C110 Spot 2K Wi-Fi camera has a 105-degree stationary field of view; the C210 ($35) steps up to pan and tilt across 360 degrees horizontally and 114 degrees vertically, the company said. Both have AI person and motion detection and record footage locally to a microSD card. The outdoor weatherproof Tapo C320WS ($60) is a 2K, 4-megapixel camera with integrated spotlights, night vision and two-way audio that's said to capture high-quality images in low-light conditions. The $50 C310 2K has integrated external antennas and night vision. The company also introduced a 32-foot multicolor LED light strip ($45).
Leviton expanded its line of smart light switches and dimmers, it said Monday. The new Decora Smart No-Neutral Switch and No-Neutral Dimmer work with Leviton’s Wi-Fi bridge to bring smart lighting control to older homes, it said. One bridge supports up to 25 smart devices at up to 2,500 square feet, the company said. Leviton's second-generation motion sensing dimmer has ambient light sensing, a night preset setting, built-in guide light, motion snooze to temporarily disable motion sensing, and a “room occupancy response” feature that can turn other devices in a room on or off based on motion, it said.
The Matter protocol opens a door to new devices, controllers and platforms that will be compatible “out of the box” with an ecosystem of existing devices, blogged the Connectivity Standards Alliance Wednesday. Before Matter, building a smart home platform, controller or smart device required building interoperability with other devices and protocols, and the burden was on consumers to figure out which ones worked with each other. Matter will change that, CSA said. The core "multi-admin" feature will help reduce smart home fragmentation and limitations by allowing consumers to connect to multiple platforms, apps, or other control points, “so they can control them where and how they choose,” CSA said. Consumers own and use many apps and devices, and Matter devices can work with any of them at the same time without requiring users to choose a single controller, platform or app, it said. Matter doesn’t replace existing platforms but instead gives platform providers and device manufacturers a new, common language for communicating between devices locally and securely, it said. Matter’s “broad, unprecedented industry support” means smart home products with the Matter logo will work seamlessly with apps, assistants and platforms that support Matter -- alongside devices consumers already own, it said.