Google's parent company is disabling old smart home devices

Don't know if anyone is using Revolv, but this article does give a chilling look into what can happen with a cloud based technology.
 
 

Kinda like how my Sony Dash became a paperweight on 1 March
 
I can't imagine it's cost prohibitive for a multi-billion dollar corporation to simply leave a required server running and connected.

You can install a custom OS for your Sony Dash.  I have one old little Chumby and larger Insignia running the custom application. It is one of the nicest looking alarm clock I ever owned. (Joggler is nicer).
 
For a while here did a custom Debian build with RDP to Homeseer Touch with each Chumby running Homeseer Touch.
 
I do not recall if the Dash had the same CPU as the little Chumby or the faster CPU found on the Chumby 8.
 
You can also subscribe to the left over Chumby support folks that have kept it going for $1 month.
 
Thinking I subscribed for about a year and downloaded a bunch of flash files, et al stuff from the Chumby site.
 
Here is a Chumby flash file running on an HSTouch screen.  You can also just download the flash files and just copy them over to your off line Chumby. (thinking Pandora still works fine this way).
 

 
It looks like the old base and it has been updated with built in flash files.  Weather alarm clocks are all there.  It also has a web page for settings.

The dash still works!  Unfortunately, you will have to go to the sony web page and download a software update to a USB stick and update the dash this way.  Furthermore, you lose your local alarms and screen settings (your channels still exist, however).
 
Got rid of my two chumbys.

Desert_AIP said:

Kinda like how my Sony Dash became a paperweight on 1 March
 
I can't imagine it's cost prohibitive for a multi-billion dollar corporation to simply leave a required server running and connected.

Click to expand...

 
i converted my insignia infocasts to local aka offline mode based on something some user posted on their forums right before they shut down. they are still humming along for the sole purpose of running the chumby app i wrote.
 
as for revolv, they were sucked into nest and if you follow the tech blogs, nest is having lots of issues (culture, employee exodus, missing sales targets). since nest is now under alphabet instead of google, there's additional financial scrutiny and they are probably looking for places to cut some costs...

Wow - that's kind of reverse utility.
Most of the channels were gone with the death of Chumby, I was using the local alarms as my alarm clock...
 
Pete, I may have to give that a go.
What's the worst that could happen?  I brick it...ha.ha.

It is difficult to brick as the OS sits on a microSD card inside.  Just copy the microSD card to another one and write a new one.
 
Checked and all of the Chumby channels are there with a $3 per month fee.
 
Read about Zurk's offline here:
 
ZDoc

I had a Chumby.

Desert_AIP said:

Kinda like how my Sony Dash became a paperweight on 1 March
 
I can't imagine it's cost prohibitive for a multi-billion dollar corporation to simply leave a required server running and connected.

Click to expand...

 
I don't think they'll leave a server running and connected for the Revolv hubs.  They (Revolv) initially started out as a local HA hub and later branched out into cloud services.  Revolv being a startup up company didn't have the development team nor the financial resources to implement their own in house cloud services.  So, they partnered with PubNub to provide these services.   https://www.pubnub.com/customers/revolv/
 
Pubnub is a major competitor for Google in the cloud services area.  So, I don't believe Google will maintain Revolv cloud services.

This Revolv story is exactly why I won't rely on cloud services.  I am working to integrate my OPII system with a SmartThings device and Amazon Alexa, but that is just to extend the control capabilities.  I'll never move my core automation to a cloud service.

JonW said:

This Revolv story is exactly why I won't rely on cloud services.  I am working to integrate my OPII system with a SmartThings device and Amazon Alexa, but that is just to extend the control capabilities.  I'll never move my core automation to a cloud service.

Click to expand...

I had this conversation with a friend who works for Microsoft.
We were discussing new technology like the Amazon Echo and I pointed out its fatal flaw is reliance on the cloud.
Something like that, for home automation uses,should not rely on the cloud to operate.
The cloud can enhance it but basic functionality should be local.
For instance onboard recording of the most used phrases.
Every day you might say "Turn on Kitchen Lights", there's no reason it needs to go to the cloud every day to process that phrase.

Exactly correct. I will never buy anything that relies on the cloud. Something that the cloud can add additional features to? Maybe. But if it requires a connection to someone else's servers? Never.

Why are all these people talking about having chubbies? TMI!

Chumby chumbmy chumby chubmy......
 

 

 
Here turned all of my Chumby's in to Homeseer touchscreens....
 

Thanks to this thread my Dash is back up - thank you!