HomeTech.fm

This week we are bringing you another news-only episode, and there was no shortage of big news to talk about. On the personal side of things Jason discusses the continual process of readying his home for the 'new addition'. That's right, if you haven't heard, Jason and his wife are getting ready to welcome to their first child (a baby girl) in a few short weeks from now! And like any true gadget geek, he's been looking for ways technology can help. In fact at the time of this posting he just finished installing a new Ecobee3 thermostat to help more accurately monitor the temperature in the nursery. We look forward to sharing his thoughts on the product in a future episode. Seth also has big news brewing with the pending purchase of a new home. In fact he's looking to make some HVAC-related upgrades of his own. Which led to a discussion of Ecovent, a previous show guest of ours, who is now taking pre-orders. Lots cooking on the home front! More to come, so stay tuned!

On the industry side, there were a few huge stories to cover. The first being the acquisition of the smart home company, and previous show guest Revolv. We were as surprised as anyone to hear of this news. Founder Mike Soucie joined us recently and really left us with the impression that Revolv was a long term contender in the home automation hub space. However part and parcel of the acquisition news was that Revolv (as a product) would cease to exist. Very interesting indeed. Tune in to get our take.

We also discussed news that broke recently about Sonos suing D&M holdings (parent company of Denon) over alleged patent infringement related to the new product line Heos. To close the show we covered the recent integration of Harmony Home products with IFTTT.

As always, thanks so much for listening! We hope you enjoy!

• Ecobee 3 Thermostat
• Ecovent taking pre-orders now
• HomeTech interview with Ecovent's Dip Patel
• Revolv acquired by nest, shut down
• HomeTech interview with Revolv's Mike Soucie
• RadioThermostat
• Sonos does free marketing for Denon HEOS
• Denon HEOS
• Harmony gets IFTTT Integration
• ADT Pulse announces IFTTT integration

Another Apple event has come and gone. And sadly it's all quiet on the HomeKit Front. While many of their recent announcements are indeed exciting, new iPads, new iMacs, and new Mac Minis (finally!), we're not an Apple show, we're a home technology show. So we have to admit to being a bit bummed about the lack of public news since the initial announcement of HomeKit back at WWDC.

Even with the lack of HomeKit news, there was still plenty to cover in this week's show. We opened the show talking about a few home technology buying decisions that we are facing in our respective personal lives. At HomeTech, we both live and breathe this stuff in our daily work, so it's always a pleasure when we can put a more personal touch on things by discussing practical uses in our own homes. In terms of recent news, we discuss the announcement by The Thread Group that they are officially accepting applications for membership. To wrap up the show we have a chat about UHD / 4K TV Technology. 4K is all the rage these days. As with any new technology however, there is more to it than meets the eye. HDTV is not a topic we've spent much time on in the past, but with all the changes taking place in that landscape it may be a topic we revisit more moving forward.

As always, we thank you so much for listening! If you enjoy the show be sure to tell a friend or share it on your favorite social media channel. If you have any comments, or suggestions feedback is always welcome! Just head on over to hometech.fm/feedback and drop us a line!

• Skydrop - The skydrop sprinkler controller
• Rachio - Automated Sprinkler Controller
• Ecobee 3
• Ecovent
• Ecobee Now Compatible with Control4
• The Drivers Lab Ecobee Driver
• Summary of Apple's iPad Event
• Apple opens the door for HomeKit accessory makers w/ finalized MFi specs
• Thread Group Opens up for Membership
• Thread Group Membership Presentation Slides
• Maximizing the Potential of 4K/Ultra HD
• THX tune-up App (iOS)
• THX tune-up App (Android)

On this episode of HomeTech we were joined by Ted Schremp. Ted is the CEO Smarthome Ventures, the recently formed company behind the Peq Home Automation line of products. Peq is intriguing to us for a number of reasons, and we were very excited to welcome Ted onto the show to discuss.

Peq made headlines recently when rumors of the product first started circulating. Speculation at the time centered around this product being Best Buy's answers to the likes of Staples Connect and the Lowes Iris. While there is truth to the fact that the retail giant will carry Peq products, Smarthome Ventures operates as its own entity with ambitions above and beyond their deal with Best Buy. With an impressive executive team, a polished lineup of products, and a business model aimed at long term sustainability, the Smarthome Ventures teams looks like they are playing for keeps. We had a great chat with Ted. As always we hope you enjoy and thank you for listening!

• Latest Apple TV update enables remote access relay for HomeKit connected accessories
• Best Buy Rolls Out First Connected Home Promotion Initiative In-Store & Online
• Rico Home Automation Hub
• SmartHome Ventures
• pēq Home Automation
• pēq App for iOS
• pēq App for Android

This week we were excited to welcome Jamie Siminoff to the show. We have been working behind the scenes to get Jamie on for some time now. It had been proving difficult to make our schedules line up, and now we know why! Jamie and his team have been very busy.

For those who don't know, Jamie is the chief inventor of Doorbot, which when it came out was the world's first WiFi enabled smart doorbell. Big news broke this week when it was announced that Doorbot was rebranding and launching a new and improved version of their product, now known simply as Ring. Jamie lays out his thought process and reasoning behind the rebranding effort in an excellent blog post you can read here. But reading is a lot of work, and we know you're busy. So we've made it easy for you. Just hit play, kick your feet up, and enjoy our conversation with Jamie all about Ring, the box formerly known as Doorbot...

• Rite∙A∙Note Door Answering System
• SmartThings Logitech integrations
• Amazon Rumor: Looking into Home Automation Wearables
• Homeseer unveils a hub!
• Ecobee e3 Now Shipping, New App
• The Ring Video Doorbell

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!

• Leave a message for us on SpeakPipe
• Wink annonces pricing for their touchscreen/light switch
• Sonos CR200 Wireless Controller
• Tilt My Blinds Kickstarter
• Microsoft unveils $60 TV streaming device for Windows 8 and Android
• Luxul Announces $300 Wireless Controller, $700 kit

As a listener you're no doubt aware of the pace at which the smart home landscape is evolving. It seems that literally every week there are new solutions coming to market. As we've discussed at length, the clear problem this creates is segmentation within the home (one app for the lights, another for the temperature, and so on). It will not come as news to you that this segmentation is problem that many players are looking to solve through the creation of so-called smart home hubs.

Boulder, CO based Revolv was one of the earliest entrants into this nascent market. Self-professed to be the world's "most powerful" smart home hub, Revolv continues to makes strides towards the mainstream market. With 7 different radios (not all of them currently active) and an impressive list of compatible devices, the product has a lot to offer its users. Co-Founder, and head of marketing, Mike Soucie, joins us on this episode to discuss what the company has cooking. Revolv has clearly been very busy lately, announcing a new Android app, IFTTT integration, a Global Cache partnership aimed at controlling A/V devices, and a new CEDIA dealer program. Mike clearly has his finger right on the pulse of the smart home market. We really enjoyed the conversation, and hope you do to...

• Vacu-Flow 3000
• Chrome Vac inlets
• Leave a voicemail on Speakpipe!
• Home: On Podcast
• New Ecobee Thermostat and remote sensors
• iOS 8 out with new iPhone 6 and 6+
• Apple Watch - Lutron Caséta Mockup
• Apple Watch - Honeywell Mockup
• Harmony announces new home automation hub
• Revolv joins IFTTT
• Revolv and Global Caché team up for AV control
• @msoucie on Twitter

We were pleased to welcome Meg Trite with MaxMyTV onto this weeks show. The company came across our radar via a recent CEPro Article. We thought the product looked very interesting and invited Meg on for a conversation about their unique approach to home automation.

As anyone who follows the smart home space knows, home automation hubs are the latest craze. With new offerings popping up nearly every week, it's become increasingly difficult for startups in this space to differentiate themselves. While most hubs focus exclusively on the use of apps to control the home, MaxMyTV allows users to leverage any HDMI-Enabled display as a primary point of control.

We discussed the benefits of using this approach with Meg. Additionally we cover the hardware installation process, setup, as well as peripheral devices such as cameras and smart plugs that the company will offer. MaxMyTV will be taking their product Kickstarter soon, so stay tuned as they work to bring this unique product to market.

UPDATE 10/15 -
The folks at MaxMyTV have launched their Kickstarter campaign, which you can check out HERE!

Whether you are an end user, DIY enthusiast, or smart home professional, the CEDIA EXPO in Denver is a show worth getting excited about! The HomeTech team will be in attendance at this years show. We thought we would take an opportunity in this episode to let you know what we will be looking for at the EXPO.

Between CEDIA sponsored courses, manufacturer trainings, the show floor, and countless networking / social events, EXPO is nothing if not an insanely busy 4 days! As anyone who has attended the show can attest, it's important to have a game plan heading into the event. Join us as we discuss our plan of attack, and make some (bold?) predictions about what we expect to see from key manufacturers like Crestron, Control4, Savant, Sonos, and more.

We also took a few minutes in this episode to discuss an upcoming announcement by Apple. For better or worse, the CEDIA EXPO falls right on the heels of a highly anticipated Apple event. We make some predictions about what Apple will be unveiling, and discuss how their event may, or may not, cast a shadow over coverage of announcements made at CEDIA 2014.

• People already camping out at Apple 5th Ave. Store
• Sonos Announces WiFi streaming on all speakers
• Crestron Pyng Teaser
• KKR Buys $90M Stake in Savant Home Automation, Valuing Co. at $215M
• URC now available on SnapAV
• Deezer (coming soon to US)
• Deezer Wikipedia article
• OKIDOKEYS - Smart Locks with Smart Keys
• Rachio Smart Sprinkler Controller
• Playtabase (Reemo) Gesture based control system

Whether you're selling a home or buying a home there's probably going to be some technology that gets left behind or comes with the new house. This week Seth and Jason chat about what to take and what to toss when moving a smart home.

• Jason's TV Elevator Video
• Control4 HC300 Processor
• Niles MRZ6 (PDF)