Below is a short recap of some of the products Don and I saw while at CES and are products we are looking to bring to Small Dog Electronics in the coming weeks. The big focus is bringing in home automation products that work specifically with HomeKit. We know there are all kinds of home automation products that work with several kinds of devices like Amazon Echo, Google Home, Apple Home Kit. We’ll be focusing on Apple HomeKit.
At CES Don and I spent a lot of time meeting with several home automation companies all of which had either just announced or already carried HomeKit enabled products. As you know with the construction of our first home automation center in South Burlington later this month, this is going to be a large focus for us in the coming year. Emily and I are working closely to come up with and work on some promotions as well, like the Diversity campaign that starts mid January. We see this as a huge opportunity to as we’re already Apple genius’s! It makes sense to carry and help customers install smart home and home automation products to work with the devices they already own and we sell.
Honeywell
The Lyric thermostat will be our go to HomeKit enabled thermostat for our customers. EcoBee has proven to be impossible to get through distribution (though we are still trying). Lyric has two modes at $149 and $199, cheaper than EcoBee and offers almost the same features. This helps to complete the whole HomeKit option for us. Things like remote access, scheduling, geofencing and scene creating are all possible with the Lyric.
Withings
We already carry a few of their products, blood pressure monitor and camera/air sensor. Their camera has been updated to HomeKit, it is also much smaller than we expected. I was very impressed it brings up a live feed in the HomeKit app on iOS, two way talk is available and air sensor as well. This will be demo’d in SB when available. They also have a new thermometer and scale to their lineup.
August Locks
August locks has a HomeKit enabled lock that installs over an already installed deadbolt. This makes it extremely DIY and easy for customers to install. This is a great choice for customer with second homes or everyday use. For second home owners they can send pass keys and for AirBNB users they can offer to send a lock when a renter comes to the property. Very slick so check it out. These are available through our distributors and we’re in the process of setting up authorization.
Kwickset
Another lock company you should be familiar with as we carry the Kevo now. They released a new HomeKit lock called Premis. Same idea as August Locks but is a whole new lock and is still considered DIY installation. With built in code you can issue to those whom you need to allow access into your home or office. Another bonus, you will get a notification that someone you granted access to the lock has entered the building. Electronic keys can be given directly to anyone you wish to be able to use it all the time while others can be given out for specific periods of time. These locks can also trigger a scene, unlock and turn lights on for example.
Elgato
The two new sensors will be in stores this week, an indoor and an outdoor sensor. These sensors are great to put around the home in addition to thermostats as they monitor much more than just temperature. Great for our customers as a weather station or just someone wanting to monitor air quality in the home. Also perfect for second home owners as you can remotely monitor the environment at home.
First Alert
You guessed it! This is the company that makes smoke and CO2 alarms. The great part besides HomeKit is they speak with each other. This means if one goes off it will tell you where the issue is, instead of them going all crazy and not knowing where the issue may be. It can also trigger scenes like if the alarm goes off in the kitchen, it can trigger your bedroom lights and stairway lights to turn on and then unlock your front door. Very Cool!
All of these great new products on top of our already great selection of home automation products like Lutron, Sonos, Incipio and Elgato we’ll be able to offer a complete solution for almost every home need!