This looks a NEST for the HA world. Out of the box will interface with Z-Wave, Zigbee and wifi.
Yes, it’s still not a shipping product, but it shows that people are actively thinking about HA and innovating, Vera better step up their game. They’ve had several years to get their act together. As soon as one of these newer hub controllers comes out with an API, Vera will be toast IMO.
Looks very interesting and it runs off android. I wonder how that affects it’s ability to be extended. Can we create plugins like we do for the Vera? If so, it might be a new alternative. I like that for $109 I can basically get a vera (maybe?) that will also turn one of my TVs into a smart TV.
I also wonder if it will just “work” with my z-wave devices I have in play now or if I have to mess with it to get them to work. I’m very tempted to give them the $109 (which includes service for life). I am curious if it “depends” on the cloud though… If it does, I’m not sure I’m ok with that (what if my internet goes down).
What, you mean like the way Vera does it? :
LOL…funny. I meant they meantion developers having access to the z-wave libraries, but does that mean I need to write an app to control those devices or can I control them no matter what through webee it’s just if I create my own app I can also control them.
I dont’ want to buy it then find out that I’m stuck without z-wave support unless someone (or me) writes an app to control them.
I’m also not liking that it seems to keep a bunch of the stuff in the cloud. That is probably going to be a deal breaker for me as a permanent solution. I don’t want my scenes to not run because I lost internet. I may still get one to play with ($109 for the device and life time service is a good deal).
Look at the Indiegogo page… they show multiple Zigbee and Z-wave device manufacturers. The whole point of Z-wave and the other standards is that any device should work with any other controller or device (in the case of direct association support).
I personally don’t want to tie up any of my money on these crowd-sourced projects. The market can change greatly in the next 6 - 9 months, with actual products being produced and for sale. As my son said last night, “Why do you bother with Vera? There are so many hoops one has to jump through, it would be nice if it just ‘worked’.” And want to know something? He’s right. But as I explained to him, we needed something to work with the Z-wave electronic locks, and I got the VeraLite on sale close to $125. So if something hopefully better comes along, I have no problem chucking the Vera in the garbage.
Reading through these forums for years, and now actually being a user, it’s clear MCV has no concept of meeting deadlines. It’s just a bunch of marketing hype. Too many broken promises and poor execution (ie. 1.6 firmware).
Just my 2-cents for the day
-TC
Your son asks a great question. I think he’s pointing to the opportunity. We bother with it because no one offers what we really want. Albeit there are a lot of us who think this is fun and challenging, I think there are countless folks out there that would jump in to Home ‘Automation’ if there was a middle of the road product that Just Worked.
Remember the days of setting up a printer driver on a PC? Those problems created the need for what we now call ‘the IT guy’. His job has changed a lot because of the revolution of software mainly. The revolution hasn’t made it all the way into our little HA village. I think a lot about Google’s purchase of Nest. Perhaps it is the D-Day for the final invasion of great software into the HA space.
Take a look at the WeBee page. Scroll all the way down. Full open source. On both the hardware and software.
If this comes to fruition, then Vera’s days are numbered. Vera will lose the “but people can create plugins for it” argument that has kept it alive.
I love the challenge, but at the same time, my fiance hates it. I would rather something just work at this point and the Vera isn’t always fulfilling that need for me. The only thing keeping me on the vera is:
#1 isn’t solved by the WeBee, but they said it will work without internet. I just think you lose the “learning” aspect of it (which I suppose is fine). #2 is all that’s left for me and for $109, I’m very tempted to get one and see what it’s like. I’m not saying I’ll leave my Vera, but this looks very promising and if nothing else it is still looks like it would make a good “smart TV” box for just over the price of the best Roku.
I love my wife, but if Silje Norendal comes knocking, I’m probably going to answer the door. Even if my wife is home.
Some bad news (for me at least)… I asked them about extensibility through plugins (which they pretty much ignored):
I am actually not familiar with that product, however, with our Smart Host, it will give you the ability to do the following: (including dimming controls) . Controlled through MyWebee App. Dimmer control. Power and energy monitoring and management. Gathers and analyzes information. Over time, especially with our compatibility to EmoSPARK (www.emospark.com) we will have voice control, and hopefully motion sensors. [b]As of now motion sensors are not included in Webee Universe.[/b]
The bolded part is what worries me… does that mean no motion sensors at all (Even z-wave ones???). I can only comment 3 times a day since I haven’t contributed, so I may never know my answer.
I have been watching these devices closely Webee, Smarthings, and the other HA products with the hope of a new silver bullet. however I find myself using Vera as the Benchmark to compare all other devices, and Vera is pretty amazing. I have not found anything that has similar functionality for the price. Vera and the forum have always provided solutions to all of the projects I’ve wanted to do. Has the Vera team been perfect on every move? no, but they do a lot of things right, most importantly, Custom app development. For the price and features I would definitely recommend Vera.
I’m confused, can you specify what custom apps the MCV team has produced lately? Any custom apps/plugins are due to the dedication and hard work of the users who actually have to pay for the product. The stock MCV apps for the iphone and android are mediocre, if that.
If you mean allow the user community to develop apps, then yeah, they were smart. Get free labor to do their job.
Having been involved in technology product development, I can’t cut them any slack. There’s a right and wrong way to do things. For example, I use a NetGear ReadyNAS PRO, which is a consumer grade NAS, while it is based on a Linux operating system, and hence they allow end user plugins, they also continuously upgrade the base firmware and add enhancements, fix bugs, etc. On a continuous basis. Not once every other every.
And if you examine the Vera website and marketing materials, they don’t push Vera as a DIY project. They claim it’s plug n play. We all know that’s not the case.
Yet, as @Gklmdawson said, Vera remains the standard that we all measure others by. So far, despite lots of promise from ALL of the vendors including MCV, Vera is still the best option.
In my mind, the only hope for the future is multi-radio devices. Revlov has already delivered such hardware, but they are closed and slow to expand their supported devices, keeping them well behind today’s Vera. MCV has promised a multi-radio solution"Real Soonsup[/sup]", but that could well be years off.
I think the winner will be the first multi-radio platform that offers good device support and extensibility. There is huge opportunity for both Revolv and MCV at this moment, with Revolv having a slight advantage, but neither seems sufficiently interested in reaching for the brass ring. Then there is Fibaro…
Z-Waver, agree about multi-radio support. Many already do this, besides Revolv there’s also Iris from Lowes. That’s what makes the WeBee intriguing, looking at their architecture they’ve separated the radio stack from the automation stack, so it’s completely modular and open.
Take a look at their product page, they even sell the Zigbee and Z-wave dongles seperate, you can download their software, and run it on a laptop you already have.
Hope springs eternal…
I was on the verge. I had the Hub (Boss), Smart Station, and the skipper in my sights, but ultimately I decided to just wait. And this is after the fiasco I am dealing with trying to get the damn Aeon 4-in-1 sensor working. They are funded, so if they come out with a product I may look into it, but if it has a monthly fee, I will likely just leave it be.
I would be fairly happy (for a little while anyway) if Vera had at least a Bluetooth stack so we could do proximity detection and a bunch of other stuff
But yeah… One smart thing they did is make Vera open so everyone can make it better…
Plugins are probably the single reason this platform is as popular as it is. And I’m not complaining for the price… but yeah, It would be nice if the Company seems as involved as the users of the product.
PLEG is an amazing example of what really should be something that came from MCV … put a front end on that so ANYONE 
can do what they want through drop downs … done!
[quote=“jimpapa, post:17, topic:179659”]I would be fairly happy (for a little while anyway) if Vera had at least a Bluetooth stack so we could do proximity detection and a bunch of other stuff
PLEG is an amazing example of what really should be something that came from MCV … put a front end on that so ANYONE can do what they want through drop downs … done![/quote]
Bingo. Exactly.
And buy AutHomation (and similar apps) to make them the product standard, so users don’t have to go searching around for what should be the standard mobile interfaces that come with the product. The current Vera default mobile apps from the company are pathetic.
The folks behind PLEG, AutHomation, and other free apps should be well compensated, without them this platform would go nowhere. One has to ask, why is it they can innovate and produce results quicker than MCV themselves? Think about it…
I just wanted to say that I 100% agree with the above statement. If MCV were smart they’d try and bring some of these people on board (if they wanted to of course) or others just to handle this side of it. It would be a small outlay of money (even if just for 1 person) for a huge return. BAsically have someone in charge and more active on the Vera side than the main business (which I believe is OEM for other companies)
I really don’t understand why everyone thinks Vera is the be all and end all in the HA world. There are many other options out there… that allow plugin creation and offer the ability to make custom mobile solutions.
Best Home Automation shopping experience. Shop at Ezlo!
© 2024 Ezlo Innovation, All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Forum Rules