Smart-home-device makers are becoming separated into two categories: the early pioneers and those playing catch-up. We’re seeing a lot of the latter at CES 2015, but even those entering the market now are still have a shot at getting settled on the ground floor of the smart home hub phenomenon. Plus, they have a benefit of a bit of hindsight, thanks to those that came before them.
Oomi is one company that’s making its debut at CES 2015, with its Starter Kit. What it seems to have learned from its predecessors is that we’re quickly approaching the time when consumers might not want to put their smart home together piece by piece but in one fell swoop. Also, simplicity is golden.
The kit comes with a Cube (the hub), a tablet, and a wearable device. All that gear might make it attractive to someone starting from scratch when it comes to smart-home tech, and the company clearly wants to try to connect everything in your home. It also provides additional devices that stream video to your TV, monitor humidity levels, and light your home.
The included tablet isn’t just any tablet. It powers Oomi’s most attractive feature: tap-and-touch. Instead of syncing with Bluetooth or linking everything up on Wi-Fi, users simply ferry the tablet around, tapping compatible devices like it’s an oddly shaped fairy wand. Of course, the drawback is that this is one more piece of hardware that could break or get lost. Presumably a smartphone app could still control devices if such a disaster occurred, since Oomi says it wants its system to be compatible with Apple Home Kit and wearables such as the Apple Watch and Android Wear.
Oomi is planning on marketing the system in the U.S., U.K., Australia, and especially China’s, because the country’s “culture of elderly family members living with their children and grandchildren makes it unique to the Internet of Things and home automation space,” according to the press release. Making a connected home just a few taps away might make sense for those generations who haven’t been typing on a keyboard practically since birth.
Oomi is currently running an Indiegogo campaign, where you can buy the system for $199. The expected retail price for the basic kit is $399.
Outdoor security cameras are not always practical if you live in an apartment or rental. Drilling into an exterior wall may be off-limits, while pointing a regular indoor camera through a window can create another problem once reflections start showing up after dark.
Baseus is trying to solve both issues with the new PrimeSentinel W1, a $69.99 security camera designed specifically to monitor the outdoors through glass. It mounts directly to a window without drilling and uses a 4K Starlight sensor with an F1.0 aperture for full-color monitoring during the day and at night.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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With AI progressing so fast, it's only a matter of time before we start getting AI companions like the ones we used to see in movies like R2-D2, Wall-E, or Baymax. Now, Singapore-based OKA Technology has unveiled Mori, a cute little AI companion that looks less like a conventional home robot and more like someone turned the Pokémon Foongus into a table lamp.
Mori isn't meant to clean your house or control your smart home, but to serve as what OKA calls a "Nature Companion." It uses subtle movements, warm lighting, nature-inspired sounds, and small reactions to make its presence around the house feel calming rather than distracting. Mori can sit quietly while you read, sway along to music, welcome you when you enter a room, or encourage you to slow down for a moment without requiring a screen or a conversation.