Episode Ep 33 September 29, 2014

Episode 33 - Slow News is Still News

From HomeTech.fm Gavin Campbell, TJ Huddleston, & Seth Johnson

Some last minute scheduling conflicts precluded us from having a guest on this week's show. But no matter! We instead took the opportunity to focus on a weekly smart home news wrap up.

First we give our opinions on the recently announced touchscreen-lightswitch combo from Wink. Pricing for the upcoming product was recently revealed at $300, which given the target DIY customer might be a bit pricey. We discuss a number of the challenges we think Wink will face with their entrance into the touchscreen business. This is market in which traditional players like Crestron and AMX are losing all kinds of ground due to the near ubiquity of Tablets and Smartphones. It remains to be seen if Wink can make this a viable product.

Another interesting story we wanted to touch on is a recently launched Kickstarter campaign for a product called TiltMyBlinds. As regular listeners well know, we often discuss what differentiates DIY type smart home systems from their professionally installed brethren. For some time now automated shading control has fallen exclusively in the realm of dealer-installed technology. TiltMyBlinds wants to change that. It's a very unique offering, and a cool looking product. We wish them the best in their endeavor!

We also touched on a new miracast-enabled wireless display adapter from a little company called Microsoft (is anyone talking about these guys anymore??). Lastly, we wrapped up the show with a discussion on the merits of managed WiFi networks. This, in light of a new offering from Luxul in the form of a $399 wireless controller. Traditionally managed WiFi networks have required enterprise-grade hardware often costing thousands of dollars, so Luxul's new product is very appealing for the residential networking market.

As always, thanks for listening! Hope you enjoy!