Technology Corner

December 27, 2018March 29, 2019

Introducing new products and services for the Smart Home – CES 2019

As a worldwide leader in sensing and control technologies for the smart home, we will debut our latest solutions and capabilities transforming home entertainment and the smart home at CES 2019 in Las Vegas, Jan. 8 – 11

This year, we will be unveiling a new product for the Smart Home, Nevo® Butler, an end-to-end voice-enabled smart home hub with built-in white label digital assistant that unifies entertainment control and home automation experiences, enabling interoperability across fragmented ecosystems. Powered by QuickSet® Cloud, Nevo Butler delivers a versatile monitoring and control assistant solution for the home, capable of addressing a wide range of devices and use cases, ranging from voice control of an existing installed base of devices to innovative new Cloud services.

Nevo Butler is an end-to-end voice-enabled smart home hub with built-in white label digital assistant that unifies entertainment control and home automation experiences, enabling interoperability across fragmented ecosystems

With a customizable digital assistant front-end, enterprise-level integration services and an expanding ecosystem of add-on services, this platform allows service providers and consumer electronics brands to bring voice-enabled services to their customers while remaining in control of the consumer relationship.

Available as kits that address specific channel needs, Nevo Butler can be bundled with a range of certified devices including safety and security sensors, smart thermostat and temperature sensors developed by the teams at Ecolink and RCS. These kits bundle IoT experiences such as safety and security and energy management in addition to voice-enabled universal entertainment control.

Similar to previous years, our technologies and concepts will emphasize the company’s breadth of products solving some of the greatest challenges across the entire connected home. Traditionally known for our innovation in home entertainment, UEI continues to reimagine the way consumers interact with all the devices around them and now offers a complete portfolio of smart home solutions to create a truly smarter living.

At the 2019 International Consumer Electronics Show, we will showcase:

• Voice Control Technologies: Award-winning, voice remote controls and related technologies deployed by the most recognized brands in consumer electronics, including the latest in voice-enabled Android TV remotes leveraging UEI’s UE878 dual-RF chip – a versatile chip deployed across a range of platforms, allowing for broader flexibility and easier implementation of multiple communication protocols. In addition to traditional voice remotes,we will demonstrate its first hands-free voice remote that wakes up and responds to voice commands why laying on the coffee table or couch. Designed to work with far-field voice assistants like Google Assist or Alexa, this concept provides some interesting new use cases for entertainment control.

• Smart Home Solutions: Next to the Nevo Butler, we present a broad portfolio of smart home solutions powered by technologies from the teams at Ecolink and RCS. These include a comprehensive line of sensing, security, HVAC and lighting control products that are compatible with multiple wireless technology standards such as Z-Wave, Zigbee, and Pro-Security. These turnkey products offer solutions for the hospitality, light commercial, and residential property management markets.

• One For All: Our consumer-facing retail accessories brand will showcase a portfolio of audio video accessories ranging from universal entertainment control solutions, smart antennas and state of the art wall mounts that re-define the category. OFA leverages the latest QuickSet Cloud feature to demonstrate a consumer-centric solution designed to simplify entertainment control for consumers with multiple audio/video devices and multiple music/video apps that want to easily find and switch to their favorite content.

We will host product demonstrations for all our latest technologies and design concepts, and our most recent product unveiling, Nevo® Butler, at Booth #42325 in the Sands Expo at CES 2019 in Las Vegas from January 8 – 11.

November 23, 2018January 17, 2019

Repost: The Battle To Reach ‘Convergence 4.0’

You can read the original post by Kuldip Singh Johal here: The battle to reach ‘convergence 4.0’

As the Internet of Things continues to develop, smart technology is becoming increasingly integrated and the race to fully converge smart devices is heating up. The humble remote control was one of the first devices to find its way into our homes.

Now, it could be at the heart of convergence, providing users with a single device with which to perform synergised functions, controlling everything from the television to your home’s temperature, security and lighting. However, with established technology manufacturers competing against smaller, yet more agile, counterparts, who will win convergence 4.0?

While there are a handful of manufacturers most of us will associate with smart home technology, many paid TV operators and telecommunication companies are turning their backs on these devices, thus creating space for some of the smaller brands to rise to the top. Not only are devices created by these big brands more expensive for paid TV operators to deploy, but they are also less adaptable for their needs. Conversely, by partnering up with smaller manufacturers to create bespoke solutions, paid TV operators can be in control of their own destiny and create their own ecosystem on which they can build in the future. This is a fluidity that isn’t offered by larger branded devices where the roadmaps for convergence are already set out for them.

Solutions developed with telcos and paid TV operators in mind also allow them to have more autonomy in their approach to the market, rather than following the trends as dictated by large manufacturers. This is a key issue in convergence as with paid TV operators on side, the smaller manufacturers have the potential to tap into different insights and develop new capabilities.

Currently, many consumers are turned off by the idea of convergence due to the difficulties they face with configuration and setting up smart devices. For the average person, configuring multiple devices can be daunting and seem like it may require some engineering know-how, which can deter consumers from buying new devices or attempting to integrate them. Difficulties with configuring, discovering and controlling devices are among the biggest pain points for consumers of smart devices and is something that needs to be considered in relation to convergence.

Difficulties with configuring, discovering and controlling devices are among the biggest pain points for consumers of smart devices

It is vital that manufacturers and industry leaders address these pain points in order to make convergence and configuration a friction-less and simple process for the end user. This is also likely to lead to increased uptake of smart devices. Users require intuitive devices which are capable of automatically recognizing new devices and help the user to configure them. However, many of the key players within the industry are yet to offer devices capable of this. Should manufacturers, and the bigger market challengers such as Amazon and Google, want to attract audiences, the need for end-to-end solutions which simplify the process of migration to the smart home for the end user needs to be considered. For example, devices should offer simplistic, voice-based processes to increase ease of use.

Additionally, the winner of convergence 4.0 will produce devices which are capable of ‘learning’ set skills. As well as being intuitive in recognizing other devices, these devices must also intuit what a user requires when they perform certain commands. For example, ultimate convergence will come when users are able to ask their device to enter ‘movie mode’, for instance, and the device will not only play a movie but will also draw the curtains and dim the lights.

Voice-Remote---Convergence

It is our view, that as many smart devices make use of voice-control, the two issues are intrinsically linked. Therefore, to win convergence 4.0, you must also be one step ahead in the fight for the voice-assistant market. The uptake of voice-controlled devices is growing significantly with a recent study finding that 1 in 6 adults in the US now owns a voice-activated smart speaker and 65% say they wouldn’t want to go back to a life without these devices. Their popularity and ease of use show that this technology should be a key feature for the future of convergence.

1 in 6 adults in the US now owns a voice-activated smart speaker

Given the current difficulties associated with configuring devices, the real winner of convergence will be the company that can make integrating these devices into the home it as easy and seamless as possible. At the moment, convergence is currently being driven primarily by the market as a pre-emptive strike to anticipate the needs of consumers. While the big names currently have a monopoly on this market, convergence 4.0 could be a case of the tortoise and the hare as smaller manufacturers step up their approach to the market. With a more insightful view of the requirements of not only the user but also telecommunication companies, these brands could be better able to tailor their offerings more precisely to suit the users’ needs.

November 8, 2018November 9, 2018

A Different Kind of Smart Sensor

Today, we will talk a bit about a unique product that can help save lives and property without hurting consumers' wallets.

According to the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association), electrical fires cause over 1,300 injuries, 420 deaths, and $1.4 billion in residential property damage each year. The report also attributed 38% of home fire deaths to homes without smoke alarms and identified early detection and reporting of the fire as key to minimizing loss of life and property.

1,300 injuries, 420 deaths, and $1.4 billion in residential property damage each year. 38% of home fire deaths are due to homes without smoke alarms!

Traditional smoke alarms generate a warning inside the property via a loud siren alert, but they provide no indication to the outside world, meaning they are not connected to the internet. As you can see from the Parks Associates report diagram below, the second highest smart home value proposition is for receiving alerts when smoke, fire or carbon monoxide is detected.

Today, there are a few smart smoke alarms available on the market which can provide alerts to the outside world when smoke, fire or carbon monoxide is detected. Even though these solutions provide the desired connectivity, there are still barriers to entry:

Unit Cost - Most smart smoke detectors requiring an internet connected hub/gateway device to communicate with the outside world range between $50 and $100, and that's without professional installation costs, if any.
Setup Cost - Smart smoke alarms that meet NFPA regulations need to be professionally installed.
Compatibility - Many houses have multiple smoke alarms to cover the whole home. When upgrading to a smart smoke alarm solution, you would need to replace each one of your existing smoke alarms with a new smart version.

The Parks Associates report said consumers who purchased a smart smoke alarm in the past 12 months own an average of 1.6 smart smoke alarms, so many of these households are buying multiple detectors at once. The report also said nearly 50% of U.S broadband households find a connected device that alerts them to smoke and fire highly appealing. As you can see, consumers want to purchase this type of solution but it can be rather cost prohibitive, in terms of installation cost and purchasing multiple smart smoke alarms, to do so.

Ecolink, a wholly owned subsidiary of Universal Electronics Inc, has developed and patented a unique product called the Fire Fighter to address limitations mentioned above. Focused primarily on innovative new sensing and monitoring products for home safety and security, Ecolink provides tier one brands with solutions ranging from leak detection and freeze damage prevention, to more security oriented products such as our best in class motion detectors with built-in pet detection capabilities.

Fire Fighter intelligently listens for the sound of your existing smoke and/or carbon monoxide alarm and if the alarm is valid, Fire Fighter will send a notification to the internet connected hub, panel or the gateway which in turn can notify the user via a text message or a push notification on their mobile device, or if integrated with QuickSet enabled entertainment systems, it could show a notification on TVs across the home or MDU (Multiple Dwelling Unit). We’ve taken old legacy technology already installed in the home and made it smart and relevant again.

The Fire Fighter is very easy to install and, unlike traditional smoke alarms that meet NFPA regulations, does not require any special wiring or professional installation. You can retrofit your existing smoke alarm system and simply mount the Fire Fighter approximately six inches away from one of the smoke alarms and then add it to your current smart home hub's network. It also achieves an incredible 5 year battery life which is longer than most standard smart home devices can achieve. Also, in most modern buildings, smoke alarms are required to be interconnected which means one Fire Fighter can service the entire home by being next to at least one of them.

Fire Fighter is an easy to install solution that makes any existing smoke/carbon monoxide alarms smart.