Devices within the connected home may work well in isolation, but companies are still working to enable their connected home products to link up and work together.
Staples launched the Staples Connect System in 2013 and voiced that a number of connected home products showcased at CES 2015 were compatible with their platform. Similarly, Lowe’s smart home control system, Iris, announced their new partnerships with device companies such as First Alert, Honeywell, Schlage, and Whirlpool at CES. This consolidation is made possible through open communication protocols like WiFi, Z Wave, ZigBee and Bluetooth. Consumers will soon be able to take advantage of this seamless interoperability experience as we begin to see new partnerships and gadgets hitting the market.
The value of the connected home has also been heavily focused on mobile experiences, which can be convenient when managing your devices outside home. When inside, however, consumers may be interested in utilizing simple software configurations that allow you to access and control connected home devices from one hub installed within the house. Flipping a light switch has now evolved into controlling an entire lighting system with one touch. A software-defined switch can also have multiple actions associated with it such as setting the alarm system while simultaneously locking the doors. The connected home will become an ecosystem of multi-tasking with the incorporation of this technology.
With software-defined interfaces programmed into the home and numerous partnerships forming between gadgets and companies, a more unified and interoperable control experience within the connected home is on the horizon.
