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How Many of You Would Use Something Like This?

mattpreston11 said:
do you have the capabilities to actually make this happen?

im not doubting you, im just wondering if you have the funds and time to make this happen or just a kid with an idea.
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We have close family friends who own this HUGE massive company, that basically, you take your idea to them, we all design it, and they make it. We can either pay them, or they get a percentage of the profit depending on if they like the idea. They have patented and created some awesome things. The company is based in Hong Kong with 5000~ employees.

I was told if i ever had any ideas, that they would help me figure out the exacts and help me create them :cool:
 
Nick the company that i work for does VERY VERY similar things. It was a company my dad started and originated in make automated machines.. so like assembly line stuff. We created a machine that puts the smiles of goldfish crackers, a machine that makes Subway Brand rolls EXACTLY 1 foot long, and many other things... Then we started working for a basement finishing system because my dad invented a sump pump system that had all the stuff i mentions (batter back up, alerts, ect) Then, when all that was kinda running on its own, my dad started tinkering with people's inventions.

He did a cell phone for dogs (stupid, but paid well) he made a shower fixture that made a regular shower head into a deluxe multi head piece with NO construction, and he was working on a wireless camera that attaches to a dog collar that would send out signals with temp. O2 levels, and video ect for police and rescue dogs.

So yes, i do have a grasp on what you are trying to do.
 
My main thing is price. Not what it is going to cost me to develop this, but the price of lets say a standard outlet light control device? If it's too high, then i'll have second thoughts. I really want to have something affordable so people can fill there whole house with these. haha :D
 
that link i sent you to the Beine chip is EXACTLY what you would need, then you would need to integrate that into a timer, temp. control, or other devices. THAT is where the money comes it.

basically if you are REALLY going to do this, you need to come up with one device at a time if it's not going to be a networked thing. If you add a chip into an existing thing, then you need to get permission to use that, soif you put a chip inside of an existing light timer, then you need to contact that company and get rights to use to, OR develope your own. It ALL costs money and i DOUBT that doing something like this will cost YOU less than $15000 even if you have connection. i have all the connections in the world, but since you are dealing with electronics, you need UL approval, that alone is about $10,000 - you can NOT get around that. THEN you need a patent lawyer to make sure you arent creating something that wasnt already done and just sitting somewhere not being manufactured..

THEN you need the people to do the actual developement. If you know people who do this, you MIGHT get a price break on it, but there is NO WAY around the patent lawyer and UL approval/
 
I actually think that this is a great idea. I've been thinking about a Bluetooth connection to door locks for a long time.

The unit price for the transceivers would probably be pretty high. Bluetooth and 802.11g chipsets are not too cheap. Plus you would need a profit margin. I think the modules would need to be in the $25-40 range.

The nice thing about Bluetooth is that it is more suitable for service discovery arrangments. Wifi would require either a compatible access point, or else you could only access one device at a time in ad hoc mode. Then again, Bluetooth would require you to be within roughly 20 feet of a device to use it.

I was coming at it from a different angle, however. I was thinking about how I could reduce the number of items I carry in my pocket. Right now I have keys, wallet, ipod, and phone. (I don't have an iphone.) If you could replace your keys with wireless signals from your iphone, however, that would save pocket space. Plus if you put one of those credit card smart chips in the iphone, you could then pay on your iphone (this is already possible in Korea). You could even have payments go straight into a mobile expense tracking application.

Lexus has a similar kind of key fob on some of their models now. The fob constantly broadcasts a signal, and when you get near the car, the signal automatically unlocks the door and enables the push button ignition. Each fob has a unique ID too, so the car can adjust the seats and mirrors to that person's liking each time he/she approaches the car.

Anyway, I like the idea a lot, but it really needs some more thought around how exactly it would work. Centralized or de-centralized? It would be cool if you could sell an appliance which would make access to the system available from more interfaces than the iphone (web interface, desktop interface, etc.), but then you lose the ad hoc character of being able to walk up to something and control it from your iphone.
 
I have one ! Ok so how boutwhen you are getting ready to leave a store or anywhere you can whip out your iPhone and turn your car on and the AC, so that when you get inside it is not 125 degrees..........
 
I'd figure i'd have to get the UL license and get a patent lawyer, but that all can be handled by our company.

I'd like to use bluetooth, but obviously the two drawbacks: Bluetooth has low range, and the iPhone doesn't even support bluetooth for this use.

Hopefully we can come up with something basic and cheap. If we work directly with the manufactures or rig up something of our own, we can bring it down again. Otherwise if the price stays high, we can still be safe if the device does more than just turn the light on or off. So to say.
 
Aloha everyone,

Actually, this sort of iPhone app is already under development, if memory serves. I seem to remember the iFund investing in two ideas currently, one of which was some sort of home automation idea. I don't remember how this app targets the various devices it controls, however.

:apple:HawaiiMacAddict

EDIT: I found it. The app's name is iControl and you can read about it here
 
HawaiiMacAddict said:
Aloha everyone,

Actually, this sort of iPhone app is already under development, if memory serves. I seem to remember the iFund investing in two ideas currently, one of which was some sort of home automation idea. I don't remember how this app targets the various devices it controls, however.

:apple:HawaiiMacAddict

EDIT: I found it. The app's name is iControl and you can read about it here
Click to expand...

Apparently, you didn't read my first post.
 
I think that the most seamless solution would probably a centralized controller that the phone connects to, and then you don't need to worry about whether the phone supports the method of communication that your devices use, as long as it can somehow talk to the central controller (this means you could use powerline signalling, 433 wireless (really cheap), ZigBee, Bluetooth, whatever).

Another thing that you gain from using a centralized controller is that you can have actions across multiple devices. An example, dim the lights, turn on the tv, and start a dvd playing, all by hitting one button.

The last big advantage with this solution is that when you are outside your own personal WiFi network you would only need to forward to one device which would delegate requests and commands to other devices.
 
Home Security

I already have a system that I purchased that does a lot of those things, and can be controlled via your Web Browser. This is made by Motorola and is called Homesight. All this can be done on http://homesight.xanboo.com

They give you a year's free membership. After that, you have to pay and it's about $10.00 per month. I wish someone would develop an Application that you could run on your own Website. Xanboo, or Motorola doesn't sell this. The hardware is good, and the website controls are good.
 
Well i was going to make the monthly service free. Would it matter if it was on the main website? Or would you still want it on your website?
 
nickspohn said:
Well i was going to make the monthly service free. Would it matter if it was on the main website? Or would you still want it on your website?
Click to expand...

Yes, my website, because the only ones that seem to stay online for any duration, is your own. And sometimes you move them.

I can understand that people have to support their websites. But the only way that a long term would be dependable, is if it were on my own site.

That's the only reason.
 
Im not sure that if there was a monthly fee you would have as much cutomers as if there were no monthly fees .
 
I would make the iPhone app free, but to have a lower cost of equipment I could do a monthly fee, or the eqipment would need to be higher in price.

My goal is to get the word out to iPhone owners with a very low price so it gets high demand and good remarks. This isn't about me making money. :)
 
i understand that you said "your company" can take care of getting the UL approval and patents, but i HIGHLY doubt that they would pay for them> I mean, i was the DAUGHTER OF THE OWNER OF THE COMPANY and the company was not about the PAY for my UL approval or patent lawyer. They would GIVE me the supplies, engineers, and time but no many companies belive in a product soo much that the MANUFACTURERS are going to pay for the UL approval AND patent lawyer. It is just unheard of in the manufacturing world. Also, MOST companies over in china DO NOT take care of all that. If it was a big manufacturing company, then they would ONLY deal in the manufacturing and producing. If it was a big prototype company (which would be unlikely) then they are not going to product and manufacture it for me.

basically, I think you should look into what this company can actually DO for you. Find out what the company does, not just manufacturing, engineering, ect.

Generally, our company can do the prototyping and then we USUALLY outsource the mass producing part of it unless it is something simple that we could do in house, thats how almost ALL prototyping companies work. They have manufacturers over in the china that do all of the producing of the item, but those people are NOT the ones who actually went out and did all the work to get it worked. THAT would be done by a company like mine where we CAN get UL approval, patents, and a solid drawing and schematics for the item.
 
oh yea.. and its ALWAYS about you making money.. even if it just to pay back all the people who made it happen, which can take YEARS.. Most companies are in the red for a LONG time before they make money on electronics.
 
yes I understand and know both those things.

I will get more details shortly
 
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