CastleOS - new home automation software with Kinect voice control

[ChrisCicc]

You're right, I'll update the product listing.
 
For those who can buy the parts and assemble it themselves, admittedly it's not as good a deal. For those without the knowhow or time, it's very competitively priced. We do all the assembly by hand in our offices in Boston, and don't install any junkware. Every unit is tested before shipping. 

 

[az1324]

Sounds reasonable.  You may also want to consider specifying what exactly to expect from the base hardware configuration:  # of kinects, what functions may be slow, addon limitations, etc...

 

[ChrisCicc]

Yes you're right. Actually, that text change was already in the works Here's the short version: no voice control lag on any of the three models. The base Celeron model can handle a max of 1 Kinect as well as CastleOS/HTPC simultaneously. The i3 is also limited to one Kinect, but has a major CPU speed boost which makes it more useful for light gaming. The i5 model can handle a maximum of two Kinects, as well as being a little more powerful in general than the i3. If you're looking to use this as a HTPC/voice controller for one room, then the base model is all you need. 

 

[ChrisCicc]

Hey Everyone!
 
Just wanted to post a new video of our segment from last week's second season premiere of Epic on Discovery's Destination America! 
 
They did a fantastic job of showing of CastleOS, it's far better than our other videos. Hope you enjoy it!
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVyJHk5qw

 

[strazz]

Hey Everyone!
 
Just wanted to post a new video of our segment from last week's second season premiere of Epic on Discovery's Destination America! 
 
They did a fantastic job of showing of CastleOS, it's far better than our other videos. Hope you enjoy it!
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVyJHk5qw

 
Chris, this video is awesome!  Congratulations on getting such a well put together overview of your story.  I was searching your site for news and ended up turning to Google to see what is the latest with your company, and that's how I found this post.  Hope you continue to expand and that this press will help the company grow.

 

[ChrisCicc]

Chris, this video is awesome!  Congratulations on getting such a well put together overview of your story.  I was searching your site for news and ended up turning to Google to see what is the latest with your company, and that's how I found this post.  Hope you continue to expand and that this press will help the company grow.

 
Thank you Strazz! That means a lot, I really appreciate the kind words!

 

[dshel]

Its been over a month, so just curious where you are at on this?  It's the only thing preventing me from testing this system.

 
 

On pace for March release. We just put out Beta 2 last night, which includes bug fixes for all known bugs, support for the SmartLinc and Hub, a completely rewritten installation package (with auto updating coming in the next release), support for international speakers from the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada (both VR and TTS), and several other improvements throughout the system. 

 

 

We won't be leaving beta until Z-Wave is added. While we've fixed all known bugs to this point, we're leaving it in beta until our core functionality is complete. We figured if Google could do it for years, what's another month or two 

 
 

On the website's About Us page it says:  Z-Wave: coming very soon
 
What happened to not going out of Beta until Z-wave is resolved? I'm really looking forward to using this with Z-Wave and still be able to take advantage of the Beta pricing. Thanks!

 

 

[ChrisCicc]

 
 
 

On the website's About Us page it says:  Z-Wave: coming very soon
 
What happened to not going out of Beta until Z-wave is resolved? I'm really looking forward to using this with Z-Wave and still be able to take advantage of the Beta pricing. Thanks!

 

 
Hey dshel, we're still finalizing Z-Wave. The reason for the extended delay is because we decided to swap out the Z-Wave API we were using because of issues it was having. We've replaced it with a much better one, hence the delay. We've also worked WeMo in while we were doing Z-Wave, so those two are about to launch. Lot's of features launching before the holidays, including support (voice too!) for DirecTV, XMBC, and Plex. Stay tuned!

 

[Automate]

... we decided to swap out the Z-Wave API we were using because of issues it was having. 
We've replaced it with a much better one, hence the delay.

 
Mind sharing which API your were using and which one you switch to?

 

[ChrisCicc]

We were using Open Z-Wave, and switched to the official (but expensive and complicated) Z-Wave SDK.

 

[mattdb]

 
 
 

On the website's About Us page it says:  Z-Wave: coming very soon
 
What happened to not going out of Beta until Z-wave is resolved? I'm really looking forward to using this with Z-Wave and still be able to take advantage of the Beta pricing. Thanks!

 

A big ditto on Zwave.  I can't use it until zwave comes around.

 

[dshel]

Hey dshel, we're still finalizing Z-Wave. The reason for the extended delay is because we decided to swap out the Z-Wave API we were using because of issues it was having. We've replaced it with a much better one, hence the delay. We've also worked WeMo in while we were doing Z-Wave, so those two are about to launch. Lot's of features launching before the holidays, including support (voice too!) for DirecTV, XMBC, and Plex. Stay tuned!

Hi Chris, still waiting on Z-Wave here. Are you thinking you'll still be launching this before the holidays? 
 
Two additional questions: Since you're going away from the open source, is the cost going to change? And would us Z-Wave folks still be able to participate in the beta pricing? As you can tell, pricing is a big factor for me
 
Thanks!

 

[ChrisCicc]

The CastleOS Team is proud to announce the availability of the latest version of CastleOS, "Miranda" (version 1.1.1800). The Miranda release includes many new features, highlighted by support for Belkin's WeMo, new INSTEON devices, and many other features and improvements. A full list is available here.

In addition, we are announcing a new (optional) beta program to allow you to stay up to date with the latest features as they develop! Our first release under this new beta program will start with a new Miranda-based beta including Z-Wave and Universal Powerline Bus (UPB) support! This beta will be released at the end of the week, after the Miranda launch is complete.

Miranda will automatically notify you when a new version is available for download; if you'd like to enable beta update notifications as well, you can do so on the Settings screen.

For WeMo users, using your WeMo devices with CastleOS could not be simpler - literally! Once you have joined your device to your WiFi network with the WeMo app, CastleOS will automatically find it, and add it to your device list. You don't need to do anything, it's all automatic, and you'll never need the WeMo app after that!

Looking forward, we have under development even more protocol support, support for controlling DirecTV, Plex, and XMBC video playback by both app and voice, security cameras with DVR, integration with security panels, and much more!

 

[ChrisCicc]

Hi Chris, still waiting on Z-Wave here. Are you thinking you'll still be launching this before the holidays? 
 
Two additional questions: Since you're going away from the open source, is the cost going to change? And would us Z-Wave folks still be able to participate in the beta pricing? As you can tell, pricing is a big factor for me
 
Thanks!

 
No cost change! Not everything we use is open source as is, we tried to with Z-Wave, it didn't work, but it's not something where we'll need to raise the price. Sell a few more copies, maybe

 

[dshel]

Chris - do you have the ETA on the Z-Wave?