You’d think
Maybe today…
After Cedia we went to debug the dongle-lockup issue on site in a home where it’s very reproducible. Hence the delay posting this info. The press release is here: squareconnect.com
Looks like they already have enough beta testers for their software 
Will MCV be able to get a few of us in to beta test on their behalf?
There doesn’t seem to be very much information on their site. And I couldn’t find a single screenshot.
I’m with you Boyo!
If wseverino had not said he saw the new Native App @ CEDIA last week, I would be more concerned.
MCV, will there be a “link to the demo video and screen shots” as stated previously?
Thanks in advance, I know you all are just coming off of CEDIA and several devs getting back from vacation…we are just really excited about this App and would love to know more about it!
I called Micasaverde today and asked if there would be a native iPhone app and they said there would not be.
What happen from showing it at Cedia and now? ???
what is a native ap. Does this mean the iphone can be used to control a z-wave network?if it does not mean that, how do you use an iPhone or other smart phone to operate it?
Definition of: native application
An application designed to run in the computer environment (machine language and OS) being referenced. The term is used to contrast a native application with an interpreted one such as a Java application that is not native to a single platform. The term may also be used to contrast a native application with an emulated application, which was originally written for a different platform.
yeah what happened since this post?
“Yes, we are showing it at Cedia in 2 weeks, and will have screen shots at that time.”
To clarify further, on the iphone a native app is one that works on the iphone only and can be downloaded/installed through the app store. Having a native app is a cleaner solution and will perform better than a pulling up a webpage on the iphone browser (safari) to control objects through Vera.
The webpage option is available now using Vera and any smartphone including the iphone. But having it as a native app is a much cleaner solution and it should provide faster performance.
I got to play with Square Connect’s app and I was impressed. I especially liked the ability to change the interface / button layout on the fly and have it update to every iphone that uses it in the home. Coming a long way from having to plug it into a computer to make changes, then upload, then test…this was instant.
What is Square Connects app for with Vera? Any screenshots?
Paintguy:[quote=“micasaverde, post:23, topic:164779”]After Cedia we went to debug the dongle-lockup issue on site in a home where it’s very reproducible. Hence the delay posting this info. The press release is here: squareconnect.com
Hello all,
After being a little bummed by @paintguy’s disappointing news from MCV’s office, I took some initiative yesterday and decided to try and contact SquareConnect directly to inquire more about the iPhone app they are developing and demoed @ CEDIA. I was actually surprised to get an email back from them! Here is what they had to say in response:
[i]Hi Jacob,
Thanks for the support!
Aaron of MCV has asked me to get some screen shots and I am ashamed to
say that it has been on my todo list every day since… there always
seems to be something really urgent that needs to be done. I’ll
connect up with Aaron and discuss what we should release.
We are still working out the pricing, and I am always interested in
what potential purchasers think on this subject…
We will be asking for Beta Testers who have Vera installations in the
near future, as we get ready to launch.
Looking forward to hearing your feedback and thoughts [/i]
I guess we now know where the bottleneck is for those screenshots! ;D (I kid, I kid!)
In all seriousness, this bit of news really is encouraging. I hope you all found this as interesting as I did!
Hi Guys,
OK - Blame me for no screen shots. I am one of the founders of Square Connect, and we have been beavering away trying to get “DotControlPro” ready for App Store submission.
The kind words from those of you who have seen the app are appreciated. First, anything we talk about here is subject to change before it is released… Ok Legal stuff over.
I have attached a couple of screen shots to show you the basic principles and metaphors behind the application. The first shows the ‘carousel’ - this is the opening screen, and acts as the main menu. Flicking across the screen, allows you to choose which ‘control pad’ you wish to open. tapping the chosen icon opens that control pad. See second image.
Control pads usually represent a set of related controls around an activity or location. For example “Watch TV” or maybe “Monitor energy” We have a standard set of templates, but you can pretty much make them whatever you want.
The control pads consist of a number of ‘panels’ - one main and six ‘slide outs’. The idea here is that you can keep the most common controls easily to hand, but have access to the occasional use controls in an intuitive and easy to find way.
DotControl has a number of different control types for both audio-visual and home control devices; buttons with icons and/or text, channel picker and standard ‘groups’ such as menu circles and player controls for AV equipment… and ‘device’ controls for lights, fans, window covers, thermostats, and locks. The device controls know the underlying ‘state’ of a device and can change the appearance depending on that state. In addition, we have labels and ‘status’ controls that display the state and values of a device. Of course, you can also have ‘scene’ controls. Finally we have a ‘camera’ control that allows you to view a Vera managed camera.
Controls can be added and deleted right there on the screen, and any other iPhones/Touches in that ‘household’ can automatically be updated…
To map a control on screen to a vera managed device… simply pressing edit on the screen, and then choosing assign brings up the list of appropriate available devices for that control…
We have worked hard to make this very simple, and such that you don’t need to go to a PC to configure and setup the ‘virtual’ remote. We are very excited to be working with the MCV crew and be part of this community and we are REALLY looking forward to getting feedback on how you guys want to use the app and how we can improve it.
A point on Jail broken phones. We cannot provide an app for Jailbroken phones as our agreement with Apple prohibits such use. Also, we have a very limited number of ‘adhoc’ distributions (Apples method for supporting testing and beta users) available. However, we will be looking for Vera users on this forum to help beta test the app, and we will post the signup link when my colleague John has put the new Beta Agreement into place.
Best Regards,
Mat Henshal, Founder, Square Connect, Inc.
Hey Mat,
Thanks for posting, I suspect more than a few folks here will breathe a sigh of relief.
Is there somewhere we can go to get more details on how some of our device definitions become “…appropriate, available devices…” per this comment?
To map a control on screen to a vera managed device... simply pressing edit on the screen, and then choosing assign brings up the list of appropriate available devices for that control....
In particular, I’m interested in how I need to expose my Paradox Alarm Plugin Components such that their “Status” (Stay, Armed, Breach etc) can be exposed up through the UI here, and what design considerations we need to embed as we develop these out.
Also, some direction on how the UI will map to Service methods that take “parameters” (such as Arming/Disarming a House alarm needing a Pin code) would be greatly appreciated.
In short, it looks amazing. Well Done! Is there a time frame out there yet that we can expect availability? I, along with many others, have been waiting on this since day one of the beta. Now that I have seen the screen shots…I want it even more. Thanks for the hard work
Thanks Mat, it looks like exactly what we need!
Okay, this is really exciting. Mat, can you give us any sense of what you think your timing will be? None of us expect a firm release date but even a general timeframe would be helpful.
We have a real problem predicting when the app will be generally available. First we need to complete the Beta test - this needs to be a real beta, not the ‘google’ type of beta - then we need to submit to Apple. This is the unpredictble bit they can take anything from a few days to a few months to approve the app.
We expect to get the next phase of the Beta ready to go in the next week or so, and then we will have a few more cycles of testing. We need to gather the feedback, determine if any changes will be made before submission… make them, do any regressions and then submit.