GraysonPeddie
Active Member
Ah, that's cool. Thanks!
The great thing about ZigBee is that it is an open standard...
only kind of... it is open the way TCP transport layer is open but what you run on top of it may or may not be compatible so there is no guarantee that two Zigbee devices will work together, especially currently as the home automation standards are just beginning to be used and most companies with released products have proprietary methods of packing their data.
No, this is not true. Initially, before the Home Automation spec was completed, some early adopter companies were creating their own proprietary means of using ZigBee for specific purposes. This still is possible, but any equipment which meets the ZIGBEE HOME AUTOMATION spec, signified with an orange circle and a picture of a house on it, will interoperate with other equipment meeting the spec. This isn't to say that even equipment meeting the spec can't have additional proprietary features, most will, but that piece of equipment will perform as expected.
So lets say you buy a home automation system that supports ZigBee Home Automation switches, then you can purchase ANY ZigBee Home Automation switch and be assured it will turn the lights on and off. Now certainly, if this was a Leviton system, lets say, maybe only Leviton switches had this extra indicating LED that meant this or that, but still the basic functionality will all be there. That is what is indicated by the recent certification announced.
I'll be writing more about ZigBee and the specs because there is some real interesting things happening that most of us here might not know about. Its almost finished.
Well, I bet the average consumers in the future will get confused between "ZigBee" and "ZigBee Home Automation..."
A glossy orange blob...
Heh... Nice looking.
No subscription is required when using HomeSeer. I'm doing this now with HomeSeer and my new Schlage dead bolts and lever locks. You can auto lock the Lever locks but only monitor the dead bolts. One nice benefit is you can trigger events based on who unlocked the lock so now when the wife gets home her emails and voice mails are played over the whole house audio system. Here's a link to the locks. I also love the fact that if a door isn't locked HomeSeer reminds me of this when the bedroom lights are turned off. Here's a link to the locks with the latest firmware.So does that mean that I can monitor a door lock without a subscription? In other words, can I have a door lock linked up to a PC-based Z-Wave controller and monitor a door lock directly away from home (via a web server, for instance)?
http://store.homeseer.com/store/Schlage-LiNK-C183.aspx
ano, after several companies making so much noise about ZigBee Pro, I didn't see a mention of it at all in this press release. Am I correct to assume that all these new certified devices are not compatible with each other? I am really impressed with the number of ZigBee products out already (some really exciting stuff), but I am surprised that they made this announcement, eventho the products aren't interoperable (unless the home automation profile now equals ZigBee Pro). I definitely appreciate your insight (and time)!
I know that my answer to your question might not resonate in other people here, but I'm very principle based. When I don't agree with the business practices of a vendor I don't buy their products. Whenever possible, I boycott them.
What the market needs now is to build critical mass in an interoperable standard. The standard that would solve that problem exists and is called Zigbee HA Public Application Profile. The standard was announced as completed by the ZigBee Alliance in November of 2007. Control4 participated with the alliance since 2006. If almost two complete years later Control4 does not have interoperable products following the standard is not lack of capacity, but lack of will. They don't want to be interoperable. The same applies to the rest. As Dan said in the past, it is not in their interest to enter into the open competition with other vendors. Actually, vendor lock-in is one of the Dirty Vendor Tricks. This is what is keeping Home Automation as niche market and the high prices. This is what is hurting the adoption of Home Automation.
So, what I tell to my friends and customers now is to wait if in any way possible. If they can't wait, then consider UPB or Z-Wave (or hardwired, if possible). Actually, software compatibility with Z-Wave is very good lately. I tell them that Zigbee is not ready yet. That is has not matured enough, and above everything, it has not reached their promise. And they believe me, because they know that I always protect their interests.
ZigBee chipsets registered unit shipment of nearly 2.5 million in 2005 and revenues of around $11.2 million. This market is also expected to grow exponentially at a CAGR of 190 percent to reach approximately $800.0 million in 2009. Although this market is likely to initially register exceptional growth, the prices of ZigBee chipsets are likely to decline gradually following the commoditization of the market. However, this is likely to be compensated by an equal increase in unit shipment, thereby sustaining revenue growth.