Enblink turns any Google TV device into a home automation control center

Enblink turns any Google TV device into a home automation control center

Meet Enblink: a dongle that plugs into any Google TV device and turns it into a home automation control hub. Enblink works with any Z-Wave enabled gadget, from door locks and lamps to security sensors and video cameras. The dongle itself will serve as a Z-Wave radio (once it's passed through the Z-Wave certification process) when plugged into your GTV device of choice. From there, its software runs atop GTV's Android underpinnings and leverages the device's CPU to control the locks and lights in your abode. A companion app for Android turns your phone into a remote control and monitor for appliances hooked into the Enblink system, plus there's an iOS app currently in development. Input from mobile devices goes through Amazon Web Services, which relays commands to the dongle to execute your bidding from afar.

It's up for pre-order right now for $85, with the price rising to $99 when it officially goes on sale sometime in the next month or two. Of course, if you're streaming video to your mobile device, there's an ongoing fee (of undetermined cost) for the privilege once you've used up your free allotment of 30 seconds of streaming per day. Regardless, by leveraging existing GTV hardware and AWS to do the lifting on the backend, Enblink is a fraction of the cost of many purpose-built home automation base stations. So if you're a home automation geek that counts yourself among those very few with a Google TV and a slew of Z-Wave toasters, locks and light bulbs, your ship has, at long last, come in.

Update: We snagged some rendered screenshots of the TV and mobile UI, check 'em out after the break.

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Source: Enblink

Securfi Almond+ hands-on (video)

Securfi Almond handson

Wireless routers aren't the sexiest of gadgets to come across on the CES showfloor, but Securifi's doing its best with the Almond+. The all-white router, an update to last year's OG Almond, still features a 2.8-inch touchscreen, but now supports the 802.11ac standard for high speeds over 5GHz, in addition to Zigbee and Z-Wave for home automated control. That latter bit is a recent addition to the Almond+'s UI interface, allowing users with compatible Zigbee or Z-Wave products to control lights around the house or even monitor and receive notifications (cloud-synced via a free iOS or Android app) when their door is being opened or closed. Around back the innocuously designed device sports one USB 2.0 and five for gigabit ethernet. At present, Securifi intends to launch the Almond+ on Kickstarter for $99 sometime within the next week, so look for it to debut there soon. While you wait, take a look out our gallery below, as well as video demo just after the break.

Continue reading Securfi Almond+ hands-on (video)

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