Google's Nest Labs, ARM, Samsung & Others Team Up to Improve Home Automation

[dgstorm]

A new technology consortium of companies has been founded in an effort to standardize and improve home automation. Google owned Nest Labs announced the partnership. It's called the Thread Group, and it is made up of Nest, Samsung Electronics, ARM Holdings, Freescale Semiconductor, Silicon Labs, Big Ass Fans and lock maker Yale.

Thread isn't just the name of the group. It also is the name of the technology concept of products, which will form a compliance testing for standardization. Here's a quote with additional detail,

Thread is a networking protocol with security and low-power features that make it more suitable for connecting household device than others, such as Wifi, NFC, Bluetooth or ZigBee, said Chris Boross, a Nest product manager who heads the new group. Nest's products already use a version of Thread, he said.

Of course, as is typical in any competitive industry, the Thread Group isn't the only one out there trying to create a standard for the industry. There are several competitors including Apple and a consortium made up of Qualcomm, Microsoft and others. Even Intel and Dell is getting in on the act, and Samsung is a member of their consortium as well.

It will make for interesting drama to see which consortium comes out on top.

Source: Yahoo

 

[jspradling7]

We replaced our complete A/C, Heating, and duct work last year. We chose Trane and discovered quickly that Ingersol Rand had bought up Trane and Schlage locks and uses them in their Nexia Home Automation system. So, we have lights, cameras, sensors, locks, and thermostat devices all over the place. As long as all these different home automation companies use Z-Wave signals they'll be compatible. If they all come out with their own it will suck.