I am an Embedded Linux developer myself and have been toying with home automation lately - my home network is already setup as well as a distributed MythTV configuration, which takes care of all the media in my house. I got several Z-Wave switches installed and have been playing with Pluto and then LinuxMCE, but didn’t like their approach of an all-in-one black-box taking control of many things I have already running well.
Then I found this product just several days ago and went through all the info on the site, the wiki and this forum. I like the idea of a dedicated Z-Wave/automation controller, which is open and flexible.
Now, what I see missing is more interfaces to interact with Vera (besides web and iPhone/iPod) - the concept of Orbiter in Pluto/LinuxMCE world. I guess, something which is currently envisioned for iPhone/iPod, but brought to other platforms - PDAs (WindowsCE or Linux), Web tablets (Windows-based or Linux, e.g. Nokia 770/N800/N810), even wall-mounted touch panels…
One of the problems with LinuxMCE is that when you try to do everything it’s very hard to anything flawlessly. We’re cautious about feature creep. We’d rather do a couple things very well, then everything poorly, and don’t want to spread our developers too thin. We plan to work hard on getting the best possible iphone/ipod touch interface we can. That is, I think, the most mainstream UI and holds the most potential. However, Vera’s underlying messaging is DCE, like LinuxMCE. So you actually could, with only minimal modification, use a LinuxMCE orbiter on, say, a Cisco phone or a Windows PDA to control Vera.
Thanks for your reply. I already read in another topic about the feature creep. I certainly understand your motivation to do a very good product, which sells well, makes money and allows you to continue working on it.
From an average user perspective, iPhone/iPod may be your best bet at covering majority of the userbase. But from an enthusiast/OSS developer perspective, that platform is not very open and is not natural…
Either way, do you have any screenshots or even mockups of the iPhone/iPod interface, to get some understanding about it looks?
I guess with the help of the community, you can get some other platforms covered…
It’s a web app. There’s also a few developers of cool iphone remote control / automation apps on Apple’s AppStore. We’re encouraging one in particular to add an interface to Vera so there’s a native commercial app as well. We won’t have any financial interest in that transaction. Ideally we’d like users to have a few options, including the standard versions we developed and which are included for free, and maybe some more custom versions from 3rd parties. I’m anxious to try Google’s Android phones too and would like to see that supported. But since we can’t do them all, it’d be nice if Vera became popular enough that some of the people doing existing control apps for those devices added support for Vera. The protocol to talk to Vera is very simple, so it should be a trivial amount of work to add a Vera interface.
[quote=“325xi, post:5, topic:163991”]IPhone is clearly a cool way to start, but what about users that like myself aren’t big fans of Apple?
Any plans for WM?[/quote]
I would second that, but I think we are pushing the envelope too much as of now…
It sounds like there is a lot of discussion around the iPhone. While I’m possibly looking into the touch, I currently have a Blackberry 8830. One of the decisions to purchase a Vera was the Blackberry support.
Do you have the test site setup for Blackberry? If I remember correctly, it doesn’t require a password for the test site, but the Blackberry app seems to require one.
Do you have the test site setup for Blackberry? If I remember correctly, it doesn't require a password for the test site, but the Blackberry app seems to require one.
Can I make a suggestion on the Blackberry application. It would be great to mute, quiet, or overall change the tone the system makes. I frequently am in a quiet environment and turning off a device creates a very loud notification.
Would be great to have an option to mute it if you want.
I took a break from the Blackberry app, but now I’m playing around with it again.
I tried to use a direct connection to my network, but I’m running into a connection problem.
What format is the blackberry app looking for the connection info in? I’ve tried the dns name, and it won’t connect, and I’ve tried the direct IP (which will change), and it won’t connect. Also, I’m using a non-standard port, so I have to put that in but it doesn’t like it.
Once, I get the connection figured out, is there a way to put in the user account I’ve added?
I am successfully using the BB application. I have used it through FindVera.com (the default configuration) and I have also successfully used it directly through my firewall.
Pros of using it throug my firewall: It’s fast. Much faster than the other way.
Cons: It’s opening a hole in the firewall. It’s not secure (even states so in the setup)
So, in my opinion, using the default configuration is recommended.
