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First Venture Capital Funded iPhone Apps: Whrrl, iControl

iControl would be most effective with a technology like ZigBee. It's a Bluetooth-like wireless standard, but with slower data rates and requires much less power.

But until the iPhone incorporates such a standard, Bluetooth would suffice. Each device would be Bluetooth enabled and communicate directly with the iPhone. No need for wiring or central control hubs.
 
iControl sounds pretty cool to me, cant wait to see more info on it.
 
Niche

This iControl seems like such a niche market....How many people in the US have Home Automation systems? How many people can afford one? I would think, very few!! Seems like the fund would be investing in Apps that could gain a little more market share....just my .02
 
fluff said:
This iControl seems like such a niche market....How many people in the US have Home Automation systems? How many people can afford one? I would think, very few!! Seems like the fund would be investing in Apps that could gain a little more market share....just my .02
Click to expand...

They're probably investing in what they know. When you've got the kind of money that this firm probably pays, you run in a crowd more likely to have these types of systems.

Same with the restaurant app. It takes a certain level of cash on hand to want a phone to tell you where the upscale restaurants are.
 
fluff said:
This iControl seems like such a niche market....How many people in the US have Home Automation systems? How many people can afford one? I would think, very few!! Seems like the fund would be investing in Apps that could gain a little more market share....just my .02
Click to expand...

Well, it may be a niche, but it could be a rather big niche. Apple is a niche computer, remenber ;)

Here's a scenario: You occupy a home, but both work, so your heat/AC (depending on season) and lights are off most of the day, but come on at preprogrammed times (thermostat & timers). But still, your utilities average $200/month (and about to go higher).

What if you could buy a controller device that could save you 10% a year on utilities by providing finer (better) monitoring and control of just your HVAC/Lights?

Say, such a controller device cost $200 with a simple plugin install. You could recover the cost in less than 1 year.

And, you could monitor & control the device (and HVAC/Lighting) remotely from anywhere via the iPhone-- Running late? Don't turn on the HVAC until 10 minutes before you arrive... yadda, yadda, yadda.

2 bills is not a backbreaker.
 
Sbrocket said:
Bundled? I doubt it. Apple wouldn't support 3rd party apps like that...
Click to expand...

Sbrocket said:
This isn't a desktop computer where "bundle-ware" is much less apparent to the end-user. Bundled software on an iPhone would be *bam* right there on the front screen. That's quite some "free" recognition to just give away...
Click to expand...

You mean like the Google Maps app, Youtube app or Yahoo Weather and Stock apps already on the iPhone?

:confused:
 
Dr.Gargoyle said:
Doesn't Whrrl implies iPhone 2 has GPS?
How else should you be able to know what is around you when you are lost?
Click to expand...

The current iPhone already has 'Locate me', which is very good in some areas, and good enough for this in many areas.
 
deathshrub said:
The word is actually spelled "capital."
Click to expand...

Since you appear to be a stickler for details, you should technically say:

....actually spelled "capital".

Note the period is -outside- the quotes. You don't spell capital with a period.

Sorry. Call me the grammar police police.
 
rhett7660 said:
Hmmm.. As much as I like my iPhone, I don't for see investing heavely in a home automation system to take advantage of this. I could for see myself adding something to the lights say in the living room etc. Pulling up to my drive way hit a button on the iPhone and the lights all come on. But even that would be a little chunk of change.

I already have a remote that can do all of the above, from within my house. That is of course if I wanted to invest in the home lighting or hvac. Why would I use my iPhone in the house when my current remote can do it. With the exception of the above, scenario.

Next please.......
Click to expand...

The point of iControl isn't just to use it as a remote when you are in your house, it allows you to do things such as, for example, if you are a parent at work and you want to make sure your kids got home safe, you can view them on video in real time on the iPhone, or if you are coming home from vacation and you had the A/C off for a week and you know it's going to be hot, you can turn it on hours before you get home. And there's all sorts of other security measures that are beneficial with iControl and the iPhone... you guys just need to open your minds a little bit more.

And of course, this isn't for some poor schlub that saved up all of his allowance just to buy an iPhone, it's obviously for those homeowners that already have home automation or can afford to have it built in (and considering that there are a well over 300,000 millionaires in Los Angeles alone, take in the rest of the U.S. and the World and that's a pretty huge market!)
 
Crapplications

and regarding those apps - boooooo.

How about something useful?

Home automation, while cool and all, is not even close to mainstream. And Whrrrrrllllll sounds like one of those apps that sounds great on paper, but you just can't seem to get anyone to use it.

Next.
 
deathshrub said:
The word is actually spelled "capital."
Click to expand...
frankfurter said:
Since you appear to be a stickler for details, you should technically say:

....actually spelled "capital".

Note the period is -outside- the quotes. You don't spell capital with a period.

Sorry. Call me the grammar police police.
Click to expand...

Wow, you are actually SO wrong.

This site is a really good quick reference for Grammar and Punctuation rules. There is also a quick quiz you can take to see if you remember the rules you have just learned. Do some research:

http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/quotes.asp
GrammarBook said:
Rule 1
Periods and commas always go inside quotation marks, even inside single quotes.
Examples The sign changed from "Walk," to "Don't Walk," to "Walk" again within 30 seconds.
She said, "Hurry up."
She said, "He said, 'Hurry up.'"
Click to expand...
 
Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

I think these were very good choices. I wonder what else was submitted and what the next sponsored app will be.
 
infowarfare said:
The point of iControl isn't just to use it as a remote when you are in your house, it allows you to do things such as, for example, if youa re a partent at work and you want to make sure your kids got home safe, you can view on video them in real time on the iPhone, or if you are coming home from vacation and you had the A/C off for a week and you know it's going to be hot, you can turn it on hours before you get home. And there's all sorts of other security measures that are beneficial with iControl and the iPhone... you guys just need to open your minds a little bit more.

And of course, this isn't for some poor schlub that saved up all of his allowance just to buy an iPhone, it's obviously for those homeowners that already have home automation or can afford to have it built in (and considering that there are a well over 300,000 millionaires in Los Angeles alone, take in the rest of the U.S. and the World and that's a pretty huge market!)
Click to expand...
good points
 
Sbrocket said:
This isn't a desktop computer where "bundle-ware" is much less apparent to the end-user. Bundled software on an iPhone would be *bam* right there on the front screen. That's quite some "free" recognition to just give away.

Attempting to compare the two very different platforms like you just did is just wrong.
Click to expand...

Whatever man.

Like the dude a few posts above just pointed out that there are plenty of 3rd party services already on the iPhone.

Or the Flickr and YouTube integration in Apple TV.

Or the YouTube integration in iMovie and Keynote.

Or the Google Maps and Google AdSense integration in iWeb.

Or when Internet Explorer was the default browser in the Mac OS.

Apple isn't afraid to give prime time space to 3rd party apps on ANY platform.
 
I've glanced through this post, but haven't seen this question asked or answered. If it has, my apologies.

Regarding iControl, I don't understand the method by which the signal is transmitted from the iPhone. I guess it can't be bluetooth because you could only do it in close proximity (as opposed to turning on your house lights from your driveway). I may be showing my lack of understanding of the "antennas" on the iPhone, but I'm just confused on (1) which antenna will send the signal, and (2) whether that signal will have to then travel through a cell tower and/or my computer and/or something else altogether before getting to the "receptor" (e.g. the thermostat's "antenna").

Any thoughts are appreciated.
 
infowarfare said:
Wow, you are actually SO wrong.

This site is a really good quick reference for Grammar and Punctuation rules. There is also a quick quiz you can take to see if you remember the rules you have just learned. Do some research:

http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/quotes.asp
Click to expand...

I'm surprised you have time for this, with all the hob-nobbing and jet-setting between L.A. and the rest of the world....

Regardless, I don't need some funky website to know I'm right. In the context of his sentence, the period belongs outside. Rather than doing some research, why not use something lacking these days - logic and common sense. Just because it's on the internet doesn't make it the golden word.
 
infowarfare said:
Wow, you are actually SO wrong.
Click to expand...

I can't resist a good grammar dispute. The period rule varies depending on where you are. American usage puts it inside the quotations marks. British usage--which is followed in the Caribbean but not Latin America--puts it outside.
 
kavika411 said:
I've glanced through this post, but haven't seen this question asked or answered. If it has, my apologies.

Regarding iControl, I don't understand the method by which the signal is transmitted from the iPhone. I guess it can't be bluetooth because you could only do it in close proximity (as opposed to turning on your house lights from your driveway). I may be showing my lack of understanding of the "antennas" on the iPhone, but I'm just confused on (1) which antenna will send the signal, and (2) whether that signal will have to then travel through a cell tower and/or my computer and/or something else altogether before getting to the "receptor" (e.g. the thermostat's "antenna").

Any thoughts are appreciated.
Click to expand...

Probably just repackaging what's been done for years - network control of your automation system through the internet. http://www.x10.com/automation/automation_software.html
 
frankfurter said:
Regardless, I don't need some funky website to know I'm right. In the context of his sentence, the period belongs outside. Rather than doing some research, why not use something lacking these days - logic and common sense. Just because it's on the internet doesn't make it the golden word.
Click to expand...

Um. Interesting response. Not sure how better to inform you, but you are mistaken. That is, you are *not* right. I don't know how you go about acquiring knowledge, but colloquial mis-usage of grammar does not define it as "correct." (Note the placement of the period.)
 
Rip Off

:eek: iControl "Subscription Service IS REQUIRED" What a Rip Off ! :mad:
;) Although few; There is Home Automation software already available for the Mac that does what this will do & more WITHOUT A SUBSCRIPTION. Plus there is all kinds of hardware available. :cool:

OH ! You want it because it works on your iPhone :apple: !!!
Duh ! Your iPhone has a web browser; Well doesn't it :confused:
Then, DO YOUR HOMEWORK..... Cause that's all you will need. :D:D:D
 
dicklacara said:
Well, it may be a niche, but it could be a rather big niche. Apple is a niche computer, remenber ;)

Here's a scenario: You occupy a home, but both work, so your heat/AC (depending on season) and lights are off most of the day, but come on at preprogrammed times (thermostat & timers). But still, your utilities average $200/month (and about to go higher).

What if you could buy a controller device that could save you 10% a year on utilities by providing finer (better) monitoring and control of just your HVAC/Lights?

Say, such a controller device cost $200 with a simple plugin install. You could recover the cost in less than 1 year.

And, you could monitor & control the device (and HVAC/Lighting) remotely from anywhere via the iPhone-- Running late? Don't turn on the HVAC until 10 minutes before you arrive... yadda, yadda, yadda.

2 bills is not a backbreaker.
Click to expand...
True, I think that this could be a pretty big market and these VC firms are not dumb, they are investing in these companies to make money and they look into the future to see what is going to be the next big thing. Maybe home automation isn't huge right now and might be pricey but make it easy and more affordable and it could be huge. If they did have a $200 device I would buy it.
 
The first thing that popped in my mind for the iControl was "Homelink", like allot of cars currently have installed by the factory. My honda has it. You can program it to operate garage doors, open gates etc. After its programmed you dont need a separate remote to control specific items. Just push one of three set buttons on the ceiling of the car.

Nice, if you have that type of stuff to operate (I dont, so its pretty much useless for me).
 
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