Smart Is The New Black At CES 2017

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Michael Taub
January 17, 2017 @ 11:36 pm
What was your impression of the integration of IoT and Smart Homes/Buildings and the connectivity between all the different devices and systems?
John Feland
February 2, 2017 @ 1:18 pm
Michael, great question. It’s getting better. To the consumer it’s still alphabet soup, increasing demand for Do It For Me over DIY… Our analysis of Consumer Reviews shows that Z-Wave enabled ecosystems tend to outperform the others. WiFi configuration and maintenance is still a big stumbling block for most consumers. CES had every standard on the planet showing how their ecosystem was bigger and better than everyone else. Both Vivint and the Z-Wave Alliance had fully functioning demo homes to show that interconnectivity, with the weak link being WiFi at CES, a pain for exhibitors and attendees alike. Coincidently Vivint is also powered by Z-Wave. Zigbee continues to be part of the conversation. Thread was there with lots of members but not a lot of impact. The ULE folks, building on top of the DECT, have a growing group of dedicated fans coming out of the heritage of the original home hub, the portable landline handset. That’s the path that Ooma is taking to the Smart Home market with their push to take their VOIP box and turn it into a home monitoring hub. So no one is winning yet (definitely not Homekit) but Z-Wave is doing the best of all the Smart Home focused protocols.