Residential lock manufacturer Kwikset revealed its extension of the Kevo platform with Kevo Plus at CES 2015, which features the ability to enable remote access capabilities for the Bluetooth smart lock. Kevo Plus, available this spring, establishes a direct online connection to the Kevo app, letting users lock and unlock their doors from any location in the world.
Previous Kevo account holders will be able to upgrade to Kevo Plus at any time through MyKevo.com, and will receive a free Bluetooth-enabled gateway that plugs into the user's router and allows a secure connection between the Kevo lock and a user's Kevo Plus account. The membership will also allow for unlimited and scheduled eKeys, which users can distribute using the Kevo app to allow guests access to their home immediately or at specific time and dates.
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The app doubly serves as an activity monitor for all those accessing and interacting with a user's home Kevo lock unit at any given time. Kwikset promises more upgrades in the future, including Event Scheduling to allow users to plan Kevo's locking or unlocking at predetermined periods and Lock Grouping to let users group multiple Kevo locks and send one eKey for all of them at the same time.
Also revealed today at CES 2015 is a partnership between Kevo and the Nest Learning Thermostat that will allow customers of both devices to set Nest to Home and Away modes through the Kevo app. The partnership is one of fifteen new Works With Nest connections being shown off at CES.
Under Works With Nest, the Kevo app will also prompt users, upon locking their home, to set Nest to an energy-saving Away mode, which they can customize to fit their personal preferences in the Nest itself. In reverse, when a user unlocks his or her home, Kevo will promptly ask to readjust Nest to its natural temperature.
“Kwikset’s integration with Nest is an example of Kwikset’s commitment to improving the Kevo user experience,” says Keith Brandon, director of residential access solutions, Kwikset. “Both Nest and Kwikset add convenience to users’ active, on-the-go lives and we are proud to provide added value for consumers with both products.”
Nest integration is available starting today to Kevo users who have iOS 8 or greater. The iOS Kevo app is available for free on the App Store. [Direct Link]
Top Rated Comments
I'll pass on the "Works with Nest" ecosystem. No reason for the GooglePlex to know when I'll home and when I'm not, thankyouverymuch.
That's exactly what I was thinking. Then the next step is google can update your status on their social media to say you're away.
How does one drive power to these? Are we talking a full 110 run or a low-powered ~16-24 volt doorbell run with a transformer? And how do you run the wire, presumably from the hinge side of the jam through it to the knob?
I believe it uses good, old-fashioned batteries. At least that's how the Lockitron gets power and this seems to have a similar block above the deadbolt. In the Lockitron, the batteries last a year or so and the app lets you know when they need changing.