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CES 2015: Incipio and Insteon Debut New Home Automation Solutions With HomeKit Support

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Apple's HomeKit technology is being featured heavily at CES this year, with the introduction of home automation products from Schlage, iDevices and Elgato previously making news. Joining that group with their own new HomeKit products are mobile accessory maker Incipio and home automation company Insteon.

incipio_wireless.jpg
Moving beyond cases and chargers, Incipio has introduced its first home automation solutions that support Apple's HomeKit technology. The company's new DIRECT Wireless product line includes the Smart Outlet ($25), Light Bulb Adapter ($25), and Power Strip ($60) with one integrated Smart Outlet and three additional outlets.
Incipio DIRECT Wireless Smart solutions and Incipio DIRECT App integrate with a variety of home appliances and existing lamp fixtures, such as recessed lighting, giving users the ability to wirelessly control outlet powered devices at home or when away. [...]

Additional features of the Incipio DIRECT Wireless Smart Outlet, Light Bulb Adapter and Power Strip include:

- Integration with Siri voice commands, allowing hands-free control of home appliances and devices
- Wireless creation and configuration of home, rooms, and zones, to control power to devices at home or on-the-go
- Complimentary Incipio DIRECT Wireless Smart App allows users to create customized action sets and scenes such as "Lights Out" for a unique home automation experience
- Proximity awareness enables users to power specific devices and rooms, on or off
Click to expand...
All three DIRECT Wireless Smart home automation solutions will debut in Q2 2015 at select retailers throughout the United States.

Instead of an array of individual hardware products, Insteon instead used CES to unveil two products designed to connect HomeKit devices. The company's new Insteon Hub Pro allows users to connect outlets, switches, thermostats and light bulbs into Insteon's HomeKit system. Hub users then can create and schedule "scenes" for rooms, zones and even houses. The Insteon Hub is available now for pre-order with a suggested retail price of $149.

Insteon also announced a new app that supports HomeKit-enabled devices from a variety of manufacturers. Through this single app, users can control multiple connected HomeKit devices regardless of their origin. Details on the availability and pricing of the Insteon App are not yet available.

Article Link: CES 2015: Incipio and Insteon Debut New Home Automation Solutions With HomeKit Support
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2015/01/06/ces-2015-incipio-insteon-homekit/
Looks like the Incipio smart plug is the winner in my book. Cheaper than the 50 and 40 dollar competitor plugs announced yesterday. Hope the reviews are good. Been looking for a Siri controlled plug just to mess around with. See if it's worth having.
 
Yeah, that price point wins for me. I've ignored the home automation so far because of how expansive the stuff is that replaces mechanical alternative that work just fine. For $25 I'll give this a go.
 
I expect that a solution like Incipio is what ultimately will succeed. Just sell a frickin' product at a reasonable price that has direct control (bluetooth) or at most wifi that is controlled through a user-owned network router/hub. Insteon, WeMo, Wink, SmartThings, etc all just want you to buy into their ecosystem and justify their higher prices by having you locked into their cloud servers (often flaky).
I have been using several Wink with GE light bulbs which is just about as affordable as is currently available. And their frequent server outages are exactly what's wrong with depending on a company, let alone those that dream up customers paying a subscription (Honeywell, Kevo).
 
Yeah! I have been waiting for HomeKit products to come out and these look good. And if Phillips can retrofit their Hue into HomeKit, I will be all set. Getting excited for a non-apple release --> Priceless.
 
Do the light-bulb adaptors support CFLs? And smart outlet adaptors support any type of load? Tech specs just say '1-year warranty' :rolleyes:
 
the $25 outlet adapter is intriguing to me; i could definitely use a few w/ siri commands in my house. im also pretty happy w/ our extensive Hue implementation, but i believe theyre partners w/ HomeKit so they should get even better.
 
Cuban Missles said:
Yeah! I have been waiting for HomeKit products to come out and these look good. And if Phillips can retrofit their Hue into HomeKit, I will be all set. Getting excited for a non-apple release --> Priceless.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I'd even buy a new hub if that's what it takes on that.
 
Read through the product page for the Insteon Hub Pro and I'm left wondering if the existing Insteon Hub I have is just going to be left out in the cold when it comes to HomeKit integration. It sure looks that way. It will be interesting to read more about the Hub Pro between now and the end of February.

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That powerstrip is a colossal waste of money. $60 for *one* smart outlet and three dumb outlets?! If they really wanted to blow their competition out of the water in terms of price, they should've included three smart outlets for $60.
 
those bulb adapters are nice idea and saves money on replacing the bulb rather than buying the bulb with the wifi like Phillips sells. However, I can see height being an issue with certain lamps
 
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