Smart home innovations at ISC West

April 17, 2015
A look at some of the products and announcements from the show floor

One of the major trends taking hold in North America is the rise of the smart home, and it was reflected in many of the offerings found at ISC West. Here’s a brief look at several of the smart home-related products I have been able to take in during my various booth tours and meetings at the show.

Perhaps the most interesting was the demonstration of the Z-Wave protocol from the summit of Mt. Everest. Mariusz Malkowski, a veteran climber and Sigma Designs engineer, showcased the reliability of Z-Wave technology and showed that home automation is possible from anywhere in the world. With a press of a button from thousands of miles away, he was able to activate a coffee maker at the Z-Wave Alliance pavilion.

Telguard: HomeControl Flex allows end-users to integrate more than 170 smart home products and web services with their security system using free Internet of Things (IoT) services of IFTTT (if this then that). The system doesn’t stop at lights, locks and thermostats, it enables end-users to connect their security system to their wearables, cars, work schedules and daily habits. In essence, it allows the end-user to self-integrate and self-support consumer products via free IoT services.

Alarm.com released a Mobile Sales App to help dealers more effectively demonstrate the capability and benefits of Smart Home services. It offers an immersive and engaging demo experience for in-person customer meetings and complements the existing breadth of marketing and sales collateral, website and lead generation support available to its dealers.

Bosch demoed its new Z-Wave Home Control Gateway, which allows integrators to connect the company’s G Series and B Series Control Panels from Bosch with Z-Wave wireless devices – including lighting controls, door locks, temperature sensors, IP cameras and more. Bosch also displayed a Zigbee-enabled wireless motion detector.

Nortek Security & Control launched the first product in a new family of GoControl branded communicating thermostats, providing intelligent, wireless remote control of all thermostatic functions.

Icontrol Networks’ Icontrol One combines a home automation platform with a business model designed to optimize the success of independent dealers. With the system, dealers can offer a branded, easy-to-use home automation, video and security experience with features such as HD video. “We want to offer dealers an easy adjustment into home automation,” said Gregory Roberts, VP of Marketing.

One interesting product launch was from BeON Home,which  introduced a professional security and safety LED lighting system as an easy addition to dealers’ portfolios, and alos a direct-to-consumer model. It uses intelligent LED bulbs that learn and replicate lighting behaviors to create the illusion of home occupancy and provide safety lighting in emergency and power outage situations. “It’s a way for end-users to gradually adopt smart home technologies,” said CEO Alexi Erchak.