My first introduction to Piper was at last year’s CES, this year they were back again with an updated night vision version of their innovative Z-Wave home automation controller/camera. The Piper NV (for night vision) also upgrades the ARM processor (allowing for more imaging processing options), sensor (to 3.4MP), and ups the field of view to 180 degrees. Naturally the […]
Read more
The biggest news from Vera Control is that we finally have a controller with the new Series 500 Z-Wave+ SoC. In fact, there will eventually be three different models; VeraEdge, VeraPlus, and VeraSecure, with VeraEdge available now and the other two expected to ship early summer. The $149/£149(doh) VeraEdge is essentially an upgraded VeraLite, but the really interesting model is […]
Read more
This year’s show was focused heavily on home automation (HA) and the “Internet of Things” device so I spent most of my time at the show running down different HA vendors and talking to them about the products they have, and the ones that should be out sometime this year. Instead of breaking each one into its own post I […]
Read more
To show off how cool it is to combine IP control + Home Automation (HA), the Z-Wave Alliance and Kwikset are having Mariusz Malkowski climb the six highest mountian in the world during CEDIA. While that is slick, it’s not as personally applicable as the $500 worth of Z-Wave kit and a Kwikset deadbolt lock if you can guess when […]
Read more
No Home Automation (HA) is really complete without connected deadbolts making it possible to manage access. Which is exactly why I have the original Kwikset Z-Wave locks in my home. Frankly, I’m a big fan and there’s a lot to like about the locks, especially SmartKey which lets you re-key the locks whenever you want without involving a locksmith. There […]
Read more
Even those without a Home Automation (HA) system can appreciate the value in a keyless entry option for the home, but the real value for a lock like the Yale Real Living Electronic Touch Screen Deadbolt is realized by leveraging Z-Wave to integrate it in a HA system. After doing that, it unlocks a wide array of actions that simplify […]
Read more
I’m pretty happy with my Kwikset locks, but there is one annoyance – the bolt isn’t tapered. Now I know that’s pretty annoying, but whoever built the house didn’t do a great job installing the insulation around the door or filing out the bolt holes in the frame so sometimes operation isn’t as smooth as I’d like. Yale’s locks solve […]
Read moreI’ve been really happy with my Mi Casa Vera so I made a point to stop by their booth at CES and check out what was in store for the coming year. As it turns out, quite a bit – with two new products arriving: the Mi Casa Verde VeraPlus and VeraPro. The VeraPlus will replace the existing the somewhat […]
Read more
In our recent review of Micasaverde’s Vera home automation (HA) controller several devices were mentioned, but not in enough detail to be useful to anyone thinking about building a Z-Wave network, or adding to an existing one. To address that a list of all the devices and a mini review is included below: Home Automation Controller: Micasaverde VeraLite: here for […]
Read more
Home automation (HA) covers a wide spectrum of capabilities and devices, spanning the gap from placing a light timer on the fish tank to a complex system that manages many of the mundane aspects of lighting, HVAC and scheduled activities in the house or business. Historically these highly integrated systems, capable of things like automatically dimming the lights when watching […]
Read more