CES 2015: Incipio and Insteon Debut New Home Automation Solutions With HomeKit Support

Apple's HomeKit technology is being featured heavily at CES this year, with the introduction of home automation products from Schlage, iDevices and Elgato previously making news. Joining that group with their own new HomeKit products are mobile accessory maker Incipio and home automation company Insteon.

Moving beyond cases and chargers, Incipio has introduced its first home automation solutions that support Apple's HomeKit technology. The company's new DIRECT Wireless product line includes the Smart Outlet ($25), Light Bulb Adapter ($25), and Power Strip ($60) with one integrated Smart Outlet and three additional outlets.

Incipio DIRECT Wireless Smart solutions and Incipio DIRECT App integrate with a variety of home appliances and existing lamp fixtures, such as recessed lighting, giving users the ability to wirelessly control outlet powered devices at home or when away. [...]

Additional features of the Incipio DIRECT Wireless Smart Outlet, Light Bulb Adapter and Power Strip include:

- Integration with Siri voice commands, allowing hands-free control of home appliances and devices
- Wireless creation and configuration of home, rooms, and zones, to control power to devices at home or on-the-go
- Complimentary Incipio DIRECT Wireless Smart App allows users to create customized action sets and scenes such as “Lights Out” for a unique home automation experience
- Proximity awareness enables users to power specific devices and rooms, on or off

All three DIRECT Wireless Smart home automation solutions will debut in Q2 2015 at select retailers throughout the United States.

Instead of an array of individual hardware products, Insteon instead used CES to unveil two products designed to connect HomeKit devices. The company's new Insteon Hub Pro allows users to connect outlets, switches, thermostats and light bulbs into Insteon's HomeKit system. Hub users then can create and schedule "scenes" for rooms, zones and even houses. The Insteon Hub is available now for pre-order with a suggested retail price of $149.

Insteon also announced a new app that supports HomeKit-enabled devices from a variety of manufacturers. Through this single app, users can control multiple connected HomeKit devices regardless of their origin. Details on the availability and pricing of the Insteon App are not yet available.

Top Rated Comments

2457282

114 months ago

Yeah! I have been waiting for HomeKit products to come out and these look good. And if Phillips can retrofit their Hue into HomeKit, I will be all set. Getting excited for a non-apple release --> Priceless.

Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

BigRed1

Yeah, that price point wins for me. I've ignored the home automation so far because of how expansive the stuff is that replaces mechanical alternative that work just fine. For $25 I'll give this a go.

tasset

I expect that a solution like Incipio is what ultimately will succeed. Just sell a frickin' product at a reasonable price that has direct control (bluetooth) or at most wifi that is controlled through a user-owned network router/hub. Insteon, WeMo, Wink, SmartThings, etc all just want you to buy into their ecosystem and justify their higher prices by having you locked into their cloud servers (often flaky).
I have been using several Wink with GE light bulbs which is just about as affordable as is currently available. And their frequent server outages are exactly what's wrong with depending on a company, let alone those that dream up customers paying a subscription (Honeywell, Kevo).

Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

ayale99

$25 price point makes this the winner over the $40 and $50 competition.

RhythmGuru

Looks like the Incipio smart plug is the winner in my book. Cheaper than the 50 and 40 dollar competitor plugs announced yesterday. Hope the reviews are good. Been looking for a Siri controlled plug just to mess around with. See if it's worth having.

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