SmartLabs INSTEON-Compatible RemoteLinc Wireless Remote Control Wins Electronic House Product of the

I am REALLY impressed with Musiclobby from Cinemar. Ok, it may not be new, but its new to me and gets my vote. :(

Oh stop it - you're just kissing ass after talking smack in the other thread
rofl.gif
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My vote for CT product of the year is the Elk M1G, and Spanky for the outstanding service/support provided to DIY'ers, indeed even him attending the "Intro to HA" seminar and proferring his guidance to us over and again.
 
. . . The RemoteLinc looks like it was designed by a caveman. . .
I'm not speaking for all cavemen, just myself, but I'm a little offended.

If you think I have pure design sense, you should come over and see some of the drawing on my wall.

And the nice thing about the RemoteLinc is that the buttons are big enough to hit with your club.
That's funny. :(
 
I actually wanted to do come up with a CT product of the year award, so how about we start a new thread where you guys nominate the products you think deserve to win. Once that is done, I will setup a poll with as many choices as possible. New thread:

http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?showtopic=8205

Hopefully we can stay on topic here.
 
I am REALLY impressed with Musiclobby from Cinemar. Ok, it may not be new, but its new to me and gets my vote. :)

Oh stop it - you're just kissing ass after talking smack in the other thread ]


IVB, LOL, thats funny!!. Naw, I voice opinion good or bad as warranted regardless of company's feelings. But isnt it nice to also hear the good instead of just the bad? Life would suck if all we heard were complaints. When applicable humans should also express joys in life instead of just whining as we all hear enough of that (I think there are medications for that too, LOL, anti-depressants i think? )

Ps. no need for me to kiss butt here as there is no return on that investment.

Smack, isnt that something smoked? Or is it injected? :blink:

:p

ok, back to topic.,,,,,
 
You have got to be kidding. That proves these press releases are totally bogus. The RemoteLinc looks like it was designed by a caveman. Hope I didn't offend any of you guys. ;)

NO KIDDING!

That thing is the worst physical layout in it's and any nearly similar product space.

I'm glad it works functionally, but I can't comprehend how that physical design made it to market without someone drowning that runt. :)

What I find most ridiculous about it is how many usable, convenient X10 remotes were out many years ago... then we go backwards to this brick. It's like swapping a current cell phone for the original Motorola "brick" phones.

Seriously: the old X10 remote was much better, then there's the X10 credit card remote, and even the X10 keychain remote. These are all on the Smarthome site, so it's not like they couldn't see what the minimum decent product should look like.

I much prefer using the credit card remotes through the WG800RF through the Elk to control the Insteon lights... 'cept for the open nature of it.

;)
 
You have got to be kidding. That proves these press releases are totally bogus. The RemoteLinc looks like it was designed by a caveman. Hope I didn't offend any of you guys. ;)

NO KIDDING!

That thing is the worst physical layout in it's and any nearly similar product space.

I'm glad it works functionally, but I can't comprehend how that physical design made it to market without someone drowning that runt. :)

What I find most ridiculous about it is how many usable, convenient X10 remotes were out many years ago... then we go backwards to this brick. It's like swapping a current cell phone for the original Motorola "brick" phones.

Seriously: the old X10 remote was much better, then there's the X10 credit card remote, and even the X10 keychain remote. These are all on the Smarthome site, so it's not like they couldn't see what the minimum decent product should look like.

I much prefer using the credit card remotes through the WG800RF through the Elk to control the Insteon lights... 'cept for the open nature of it.

;)

I have to agree with you that in this day and age they could not develop a remote smaller than that? I guess in time they will someday.
 
how would they be able to call future remotes advances in size and quality if there wasn't a big piece of crap preceding it?

EDIT: This was meant more as a joke than anything... I guess I should have added a :)
 
how would they be able to call future remotes advances in size and quality if there wasn't a big piece of crap preceding it?

My "opinion" (Mikeee this is my opinion so dont attack me here also) is that the functionality was fine and the range was awesome. I think its ugly but in my "opinion" (not a fact Mikee and you have every right to love yours and I am sure others do to) is its not a piece of crap (just to big and the silver was horrid in my opinion). Its more like the old 1960's or early 70's style remotes (clickers they were nick named I think).

I agree with you Delicious that anything else will probably be an improvement. Heck its that way with a lot of this stuff from SH so why would this be different. You know that marketing strategy come out with something better all of the time to get you to buy more. So they started at the real low end and are working their way up for more profit maybe (I said "maybe Mikeeee its an opinion not a fact).
 
That cavement statement alone made it worth posting this press release ;) I am surprised about this as well (I think), hopefully George or someone from SmartHome, or even EH can explain how they came up with the winner.

George here.

Well I don't represent either SmartHome or EH and they will have to step up and defend themselves. I will and do stand by the quote attributed to me.

First about these awards in general. There are some amazing things you hear sitting around the press room at different trade shows. At Sensors in Chicago this year Kirsten overheard a conversation between a representative of a hobbyist oriented electronic design magazine that I suspect most people on CT would recognize and a representative of a company showing at Sensors. The quote is "Let me get this straight. If I pay you a fee and commit to a certain amount of advertising you will guarantee that I will win an award? That doesn't sound right?" I'm not trying to imply that this is how EH does business and I don't know the specifics of how they select the winners of these awards so I can't comment on that. I will give you another quote that I think is illustrative.

Me to the marketing executive at a company in reference to an award from another analyst company that seems to come out with another award every other week: "How much did you have to pay to get that award?" Marketing Executive: "I don't know exactly. Not as much as they initially asked."

One last comment on industry awards. Most of the criteria have a requirement for either shipping product or a specific deadline to ship. I know of at least one award for an HA product that has yet to see the light of day after almost two years. IMNHSO this is a problem for the industry. Every so often WTRS is approached with the idea that we should give awards and so far we have declined to do so because frankly I have other things to do than set up a completly open and transparent way to manage the process.

Regarding the RemoteLinc. I'll say right up front that I am not the target market for this product although my kids are. I'm using KPLs anywhere that I would want a remote as that seems more straight forward than nailing a remote to the wall. For some reason the RemoteLinc does not photograph well compared to how it looks in person. In photos it looks immense and in person it looks much better and I admit I don't have clue one what SH can do about that. My personal opinion is that it has a 1940's Rocketman look that I kind of like but what do I know I'm just an old geezer.

Late breaking news. It appears that my wife is also in the target market for the RemoteLink. She just showed me the "Trade in your SignalLinks" offer and asked if we could do that. She wants something so the kids can turn on some lights on their way to the bathroom when they get up in the middle of the night.

As to why it took so long to get the product to market. What follows is my opinion so take it with a grain of salt. First off, RF is much harder than it looks. SH had some strenuous requirements in terms of effective range, link reliability and battery life. I know the team that did the actual RF design - SH outsourced the job - and it is a very good one. The job just took longer than expected. Adding some larger company issues such as when to integrate INSTEON extended messaging in the product line, implementing some of the lessons learned from the initial round of product releases and implementing a public beta program prior to final release also added time to the process. If you make the mistake of pre-announcing a roadmap it can seriously mess you up because these things always take longer than you expect. My last corporate gig was with the dot in dot com and we never gave anyone a roadmap presentation without an NDA and a whole bunch of caveats about this is only a best guess based on what we know today and don't you dare make any specific plans using this information.

As always, YMMV.

Disclaimer

WTRS is an independent market research and analysis firm in the business of publishing market reports based on our own proprietary research. We do not accept payment for quotes used in press releases or other marketing material. We do not have any financial relationship with any company that we cover. The sole requirement to receive an analyst quote or endorsement from WTRS is that a company be able to explain their value in a fashion that we can understand, that our research can verify their story and that we find the product or company interesting. I was not compensated in any fashion for the quotation in the referenced article.

George West
www.wtrs.net
 
That cavement statement alone made it worth posting this press release ;) I am surprised about this as well (I think), hopefully George or someone from SmartHome, or even EH can explain how they came up with the winner.

George here.

Well I don't represent either SmartHome or EH and they will have to step up and defend themselves. I will and do stand by the quote attributed to me.

First about these awards in general. There are some amazing things you hear sitting around the press room at different trade shows. At Sensors in Chicago this year Kirsten overheard a conversation between a representative of a hobbyist oriented electronic design magazine that I suspect most people on CT would recognize and a representative of a company showing at Sensors. The quote is "Let me get this straight. If I pay you a fee and commit to a certain amount of advertising you will guarantee that I will win an award? That doesn't sound right?" I'm not trying to imply that this is how EH does business and I don't know the specifics of how they select the winners of these awards so I can't comment on that. I will give you another quote that I think is illustrative.

Me to the marketing executive at a company in reference to an award from another analyst company that seems to come out with another award every other week: "How much did you have to pay to get that award?" Marketing Executive: "I don't know exactly. Not as much as they initially asked."

One last comment on industry awards. Most of the criteria have a requirement for either shipping product or a specific deadline to ship. I know of at least one award for an HA product that has yet to see the light of day after almost two years. IMNHSO this is a problem for the industry. Every so often WTRS is approached with the idea that we should give awards and so far we have declined to do so because frankly I have other things to do than set up a completly open and transparent way to manage the process.

Regarding the RemoteLinc. I'll say right up front that I am not the target market for this product although my kids are. I'm using KPLs anywhere that I would want a remote as that seems more straight forward than nailing a remote to the wall. For some reason the RemoteLinc does not photograph well compared to how it looks in person. In photos it looks immense and in person it looks much better and I admit I don't have clue one what SH can do about that. My personal opinion is that it has a 1940's Rocketman look that I kind of like but what do I know I'm just an old geezer.

Late breaking news. It appears that my wife is also in the target market for the RemoteLink. She just showed me the "Trade in your SignalLinks" offer and asked if we could do that. She wants something so the kids can turn on some lights on their way to the bathroom when they get up in the middle of the night.

As to why it took so long to get the product to market. What follows is my opinion so take it with a grain of salt. First off, RF is much harder than it looks. SH had some strenuous requirements in terms of effective range, link reliability and battery life. I know the team that did the actual RF design - SH outsourced the job - and it is a very good one. The job just took longer than expected. Adding some larger company issues such as when to integrate INSTEON extended messaging in the product line, implementing some of the lessons learned from the initial round of product releases and implementing a public beta program prior to final release also added time to the process. If you make the mistake of pre-announcing a roadmap it can seriously mess you up because these things always take longer than you expect. My last corporate gig was with the dot in dot com and we never gave anyone a roadmap presentation without an NDA and a whole bunch of caveats about this is only a best guess based on what we know today and don't you dare make any specific plans using this information.

As always, YMMV.

Disclaimer

WTRS is an independent market research and analysis firm in the business of publishing market reports based on our own proprietary research. We do not accept payment for quotes used in press releases or other marketing material. We do not have any financial relationship with any company that we cover. The sole requirement to receive an analyst quote or endorsement from WTRS is that a company be able to explain their value in a fashion that we can understand, that our research can verify their story and that we find the product or company interesting. I was not compensated in any fashion for the quotation in the referenced article.

George West
www.wtrs.net

Hmmm I wonder if they care that people know they outsourced the Remote. Then again it works so who cares.

But it is kinda funny that the product of the year was outsourced.
 
Wow, SmartHome sure knows how to create a stir! They're the Microsoft of the home automation world!

I own a few RemoteLincs here, and I have to say they work absolutely great for me. I get over 300 feet of range from outside, they work reliably, and the family loves them.

I agree that it's not the best design in the world, but it's not half-bad when you actually USE/OWN/TRY one. I have to admit, like a previous poster says, it doesn't photograph well. Maybe SmartHome should consider photographing it with other devices next to it to give a more accurate representation of its size? Also, black is definitely nicer.

Here is a picture of my theater light remote along side a Harmony 880, a couple XBox 360 remotes, and a cupholder. It's really not that large.

remotelinc.jpg


Would I prefer a smaller one? Sure, but not too much smaller. Would I like a keychain remote in addition? Sure. Do I use the "All On/etc" buttons? Not usually. I think they should ditch them, and stick with the press and hold bright/dim method. Let me create an "all off" button if I want one.

Everyone knows most of these magazine awards/reviews are biased. Whether it's because of ad revenue, or it's because of reviewer bias, they ALL are. You have to take any of these things with a grain of salt.

But, the product is out there, and it works great - better than most expected. It might not be the best cosmetically, but it's not half-bad either.
 
Wow, SmartHome sure knows how to create a stir! They're the Microsoft of the home automation world!

I own a few RemoteLincs here, and I have to say they work absolutely great for me. I get over 300 feet of range from outside, they work reliably, and the family loves them.

I agree that it's not the best design in the world, but it's not half-bad when you actually USE/OWN/TRY one. I have to admit, like a previous poster says, it doesn't photograph well. Maybe SmartHome should consider photographing it with other devices next to it to give a more accurate representation of its size? Also, black is definitely nicer.

Here is a picture of my theater light remote along side a Harmony 880, a couple XBox 360 remotes, and a cupholder. It's really not that large.

remotelinc.jpg


Would I prefer a smaller one? Sure, but not too much smaller. Would I like a keychain remote in addition? Sure. Do I use the "All On/etc" buttons? Not usually. I think they should ditch them, and stick with the press and hold bright/dim method. Let me create an "all off" button if I want one.

Everyone knows most of these magazine awards/reviews are biased. Whether it's because of ad revenue, or it's because of reviewer bias, they ALL are. You have to take any of these things with a grain of salt.

But, the product is out there, and it works great - better than most expected. It might not be the best cosmetically, but it's not half-bad either.

I think if SH Marketing had put something else in the picture with the Remote as a size reference like you did they would have had less headaches with the size issue. My "opinion" was more with the width then the length (kids and wife needed two hands to push some of the buttons since there fingers would not reach).

So I wonder if the company they oursourced to is allowed to develop other RF products as a "partner" manufacturer?

Also if they could shrink the size a bit they could come up with an RF Wall Keypad or Switch as well as FOB's etc. That would resove the no neutral headaches some people seem to have.
 
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