Rocco,
Sorry, wasn't trying to throw any stones there. Maybe I'm seeing things wrong, so let me illustrate my point. If I'm wrong, please let me know--I'm only trying to clarify things here--not muddy the waters...
Control4, Crestron, and others created their own "tweaks" to the original Zigbee specification for a good reason: the original specs was incomplete and unworkable for home automation, and they needed to get products out. They only needed compatibility with themselves. Note that they do not publicly refer to their products as Zigbee.
Very true. I think they did it for two reasons, though. To ship products, yes, but a lot of the companies make a living off of selling their own products--and don't want competing products to easily replace (or work with) theirs.
As far as marketing, Control4 certainly does market their products as Zigbee. They use 802.15.4 and ZigBee interchangably. They have done so from the beginning, and it's everywhere--all the way down to their product literature:
"For new or retrofit home automation solutions using ZigBee wireless connectivity."
"Communications * Wireless ZigBee (802.15.4) mesh networking"
http://www.control4.com/documents/briefs/C...elessDimmer.pdf
"Standards-based control — Devices throughout the home are controlled via communication over wireless ZigBee™ (802.15.4) mesh networking or Ethernet (802.3)."
http://www.control4.com/documents/briefs/C...rController.pdf
"The company is the first to deliver next-generation wireless products based on the 802.15.4 standard (also known as ZigBee). ZigBee is the new industry standard for cost-effective mesh networking and is supported by a broad consortium of companies. Integrated with Control4 products, it enables reliable, cost-effective monitoring and control of devices throughout the home."
http://www.control4.com/company/press/2005-8-15-emhe.htm
For some reason, the ZigBee Alliance has encouraged or permitted their members to use the term "ZigBee" on products that don't work together--which creates lots of industry buzz but absolutely horrible confusion for end consumers.
Well, "permitted" maybe, "encouraged" certainly not. They do try to enforce the trademark, but many companies are not aware of the trademark restrictions on the word "Zigbee". I suspect you will see it disappear from the CentraLite website eventually.
I know that executives at a number of ZigBee-supporting companies have been extremely frustrated about the issue, so it would be really great for the brand if that did happen. It's been extremely confusing for the media, consumers, etc. The term "ZigBee" has come to mean something very different than what "Bluetooth" or "WiFi" mean to their respective 802.x protocols.
The "Zigbee network Capable" designation has been withdrawn, and replaced by "Zigbee Certified" for a private profile. NO products have ever been granted this designation and you will not find it used for any of the afore-mentioned products. Control4, Crestron and CentraLite cannot use the Zigbee name at all, yet. CentraLite's use of Zigbee on their website is premature, and a violation of the trademark.
So Control4 can't be using the term on their website, press releases, and product sheets either? And a device can be "ZigBee Certified" when it doesn't work with anything else? Isn't that worse from a marketing/interoperability standpoint? How does someone know that a ZigBee device works with their other devices? Do they have to look beyond the logo and drill down into the profiles?
. . . in the end the simple way to understand ZigBee is "non-interoperable products based on a wireless mesh network technology."
Pure, unadulterated FUD, from someone who has bet his farm on ZWave.
:huh: Today, all "ZigBee" products are non-interoperable products, at least outside of their own brands--or if they are interoperable they haven't been certified as such. I wasn't trying to spread any FUD there--but I really don't know how else to explain the ZigBee world. Some people are buying "ZigBee" products and then getting really frustrated when they won't work with anything else natively... They may get the benefit of the devices working as a mesh--which is nice--as long as they're based on the same version, frequency, etc. as well.
As far as betting the farm, we've actually built a number of protocol stacks--for UPB, Z-Wave, LonWorks, and other protocols. The only wireless protocol that has been picked up by the market, can be made reliable, and is interoperable today is Z-Wave, which is why we're shipping products based off of it. We'll of course serve the market's needs--but today we simply can't create a product which works with "ZigBee" devices so it's not even an option.
Chris