Interesting post. Thanks for the read.
- Garrett
[quote=“garrettwp, post:61, topic:170653”]Interesting post. Thanks for the read.
- Garrett[/quote]
Yes…
Competition is good for everyone… Some things to consider…
Owning the hardware and software integration is a good thing (ala Apple) but has risks in being a closed system since the thing that I like most about Vera is its openness (ala Google/Android). I do wish Vera had more horse power… Also isn’t this being built by a vendor that sells zwave devices? Is there a risk of it working well with their stuff only? (Apple somewhat)
Just to change pace from Fibaro and Vera a bit, I think the new SQ controller will make a bit of a dent in everyone’s sales! If the SQ guys nail it like they did with IOS app and original blaster, then I would be a worried if I was the competition! I’m hearing its not far off!
What is this?? A UI layer on top of a MIOS engine?
That would be interesting. Not alot of talk about it on their forum but I would be interested to see what they have done so far…
What is this?? A UI layer on top of a MIOS engine?[/quote]
It’s completely new hardware, with no relation to the MiOS stuff. In form-factor, it’s more of a close cousin to the SQBlaster Plus hardware 8)
This is something CocoonTech recorded from CES 2012:
Square Connect SQ Home Controller CES 2012 - YouTube
What is this?? A UI layer on top of a MIOS engine?[/quote]
It’s completely new hardware, with no relation to the MiOS stuff. In form-factor, it’s more of a close cousin to the SQBlaster Plus hardware 8)
This is something CocoonTech recorded from CES 2012:
Square Connect SQ Home Controller CES 2012 - YouTube
Wow very interesting indeed!
please,
someone knows a shop selling fibaro in USA ?
thanks !!!
Fibaro does not have any US based products that I know of. I have not seen any of their products for sale in the US.
- Garrett
Somebody can do a comparison between vera 3 and fibaro hc2?
It had me at LCARS. 
[quote=“Chris K., post:21, topic:170653”]But even if there is some underlying Vera-Code I can say:
- the UI looks great - up to date design
- well designed browser-UI, mobile (incl. Android-Ui), iOS-UI
- consistent and professional look and feel. Not such a home-made thing…
- it’s very fast
- it’s aluminium case looks great
- there are a lot of updates, what tells me that they might be tougher devs.
- there where no problems yet
I didn’t switch my whole network yet. Still testing with some devices. But all seems great.[/quote]
I would be interested in that but the issue for me is that it is basically a PC that is always on with HDD spinning and lots of power consumption and heat with the Intel based system etc. I don’t do a whole lot of fancy stuff so that is a bit overkill for me. Plus I would have to import it as I am in the US. A useable UI that you didn’t need to take a course in computer networking to figure out would be great though. The UI does look easy to figure out.
Then again the vera 3 kind of sucks. I just got it but it was a mistake. The thing is too confusing to set up and the UI the one time it booted was even more confusing and unintuitive. Their “tech support” was basically to talk to a voice mail machine and have no one call you back, not too helpful. It is like MCV company is just a guy programming in his basement or something. Vera was a good idea poorly executed. Lucky for me I just got it and can return it which I probably will. I didn’t set anything up with it because I haven’t had the 6 hours of time needed to screw around with it to coax it to work.
This fibaro thing sounds interesting, I wonder if they have a low power solid state option? Is there anything else similar to vera 3 but is easy to use and set up? I would go for that.
Any update on the the Fibaro unit comparison and us availability?
I noticed that SQ controller is offering their product this month at a discount to beta testers.
Does anybody have any info or personal experiance with this product?
Not until the unit is released. There are a few who have beta units but they are most likely under some sort of NDA.
- Garrett
[quote=“DaveC1964, post:72, topic:170653”][quote=“Chris K., post:21, topic:170653”]But even if there is some underlying Vera-Code I can say:
- the UI looks great - up to date design
- well designed browser-UI, mobile (incl. Android-Ui), iOS-UI
- consistent and professional look and feel. Not such a home-made thing…
- it’s very fast
- it’s aluminium case looks great
- there are a lot of updates, what tells me that they might be tougher devs.
- there where no problems yet
I didn’t switch my whole network yet. Still testing with some devices. But all seems great.[/quote]
I would be interested in that but the issue for me is that it is basically a PC that is always on with HDD spinning and lots of power consumption and heat with the Intel based system etc. I don’t do a whole lot of fancy stuff so that is a bit overkill for me. Plus I would have to import it as I am in the US. A useable UI that you didn’t need to take a course in computer networking to figure out would be great though. The UI does look easy to figure out.
Then again the vera 3 kind of sucks. I just got it but it was a mistake. The thing is too confusing to set up and the UI the one time it booted was even more confusing and unintuitive. Their “tech support” was basically to talk to a voice mail machine and have no one call you back, not too helpful. It is like MCV company is just a guy programming in his basement or something. Vera was a good idea poorly executed. Lucky for me I just got it and can return it which I probably will. I didn’t set anything up with it because I haven’t had the 6 hours of time needed to screw around with it to coax it to work.
This fibaro thing sounds interesting, I wonder if they have a low power solid state option? Is there anything else similar to vera 3 but is easy to use and set up? I would go for that.[/quote]
I’m a bit confused. I’m not sure if I’m doing something wrong or not I am still new at this but i bought my vera 3 in Feb. 2012 with ui5 and it has been great i had it up and running in about 45 mins i started with about 6 ge switches and a yale touchscreen lock and my system was my first home automation experience in any way shape or form. I have been building on it adding a device here and there and now i have 14 switches, thermostat, 1 lamp module, sq blaster, 16 ch dvr,1 vista cam I’ve even managed to tie in a micro controller and integrate my dmp alarm with no problems I use android phones and tablets and ios phones and tablets again with no issues well I didn’t update my ipad for while because everyone said its making the sqremote app crash but when i finally got tired of waiting and just did it anyway it was fine and hasn’t crashed once and its not like I’m some kind of computer guru or anything i can barely type!!! i guess my point is that in my experience the vera has been an affordable cost efficient solution for the DIY home automation user and anyone willing to take the time to sit down and figure it out will have good luck and a lot of fun with a vera so if you don’t have the time or patients maybe you should be looking at something that comes with professional installation or instead of spending all of this time and energy blaming all of the issues on MCV you could be helping the vera community work the kinks out so we can all continue to enjoy the vera and future updates
Just to add my 2ps worth (I am in the UK)
Some people have spoken about the Fibaro HC2.
Well I just bought a VeraLite - £139
Looked up the price of a HC2 - £497
And before (though I may be mistaken) when I looked at Homeseer it was much more expensive and you had to pay extra for the mobile part.
So I have to say whatever the shortcomings of Vera I personally wouldnt be doing anything else as I can’t afford it!
I have heard rumours about Fibaro creating a “HC2 lite”… if this is true, vera will loose some cutomers Im afread… the sotware of fibaro is way easier that UI5.
And limited device support from what I hear.
- Garrett
Thats true, allthough were comparing it with a system wich is more evolved thrue time so there is a bigger usergroup.
Fibaro is also working on their own stuff other that their current program:
Quote: “We are launching right now door / widnow sensors - deliveries next week. Plugs deliveries in 3-4 weeks. PIR with light sensor - December, Multisensor - End of December”. from Fibaro
Now this is a sales manager and, as everything nowadays, this will be delayed I think but it shows they are taking this prety serious and if it is as good as their modules, Im getting pretty enthusiastic about them;)