The Z-Wave Alliance, the industry leading open consortium of global companies dedicated to establishing Z-Wave as the standard in wireless home control, appointed Mark Walters as chairman. He previously served as its chairman from its inception in 2005. Prior to making his return, Walters worked in the commercial building and lighting control markets.
Shipments of home automation systems will total about 1.8 million worldwide this year. And, according to ABI Research of Scottsdale, Ariz., that will set to rise sharply soon, exceeding 12 million in 2016.
The talk is about communication. Boston-based Ember Corp., with its low-power, wireless mesh networking technology, and Visonic Ltd., the Bloomfield, Conn., maker of wireless home security and safety systems and components, now have a partnership to integrate ZigBee communication protocols with Visonic security peripherals. The new devices will be dedicated for use with the iControl OpenHome software platform from iControl Networks of Palo Alto, Calif.
Rockleigh, N.J.-based Crestron rolled out its Mobile and Mobile Pro control apps, which provide systems designers and programmers with capabilities that simplify and expand the design possibilities of Crestron and Prodigy touchscreen interfaces on Apple mobile devices.
Fighting off a slow new home market and playing on the attraction of home controls, the iPhone and the Internet, Rocky DiGiacomo, a Minneapolis homebuilder, heard about the ELAN g! Series IP-based home control system that can use the iPhone to control every household function.