Smart home from Revolv — on that coveted Google Bashny.Net

The day before yesterday came the news that the company Nest, rather, standing behind her Google, acquired the manufacturer one of the most popular hubs for "smart home" — Revolv. Moreover, according to sources, the main value for the Nest of such a purchase carries the team, as well as the technology used to create the hub. What is so good recent startup Revolv, if it attracted the world's Internet giant?

Compatibility and инсталляцияRevolv is a very strange looking device that is similar to the round box for the DVD drive with its transparent lid and red base, which is due to its brightness allows you to set the hub anywhere. Painfully irritating sort of way.

Unlike many of its competitors, Revolv is not a set of compatible devices for home automation. It's just a device used to combine various smart gadgets into a single system with centralized control, or, in other words, hub class DIY (do-it-yourself or DIY) and the corresponding app for your smartphone or tablet. Its main advantage, which distinguishes it from rivals is to support a wide range of wireless communication standards, which potentially allows it to work with a huge number of various devices from different manufacturers.

The Revolv hub is a completely wireless device that does not even require an Ethernet connection to the router home network and which supports seven different wireless standards (actually while actually working for only three Z-Wave, WiFi, Insteon). Given the range of the standards, this hub is probably the most versatile platform for controlling smart devices in the market. And that's why Revolv doesn't offer its own line of products. Why, when there are a lot of different kinds of gadgets that can connect to the hub. Just today he supported 84 device manufacturers such as Nest, Insteon, Sonos, Belkin, Philips, Yale, Honeywell, etc. the List of compatible devices can be found on the website of Revolv support. In August of the current year to this list added 20 devices. In General, planned to connect about 300 devices of the 25 grocery categories, but the sale of the company this process was stopped.



Another advantage of the device is the ease of installation process that takes just a few minutes. However, it boasts of hub, and Lutron, the company that has not made it more attractive to potential buyers.

The work begins with photographing the QR code on the card, which can be found inside the box that instantly sends your phone to the app download page. When the application loads and runs, include hub and about 45 seconds, hold the phone with the flash (for data transfer using its own technology FlashLink) at a distance of 3 — 5 cm from the top of the red gadget until it will signal you that the system is ready to work.





After connecting to the router and check the network, Revolv starts automatic search process in the surrounding space of compatible devices and their connection. All instructions on how to connect various devices can be viewed in the Revolv app, and it is interesting that the printed instructions are generally not provided in the package. But it should be noted that the automatic search of "smart" devices, including "premium", which according to the assurances of developers should be reported "once or twice" while insecure. Sometimes the device is not there, sometimes disappear after the connection. To speed up the search device is already enabled, or add them manually. Sounds ridiculous, but such is the life of a "smart device".

After completing the search and registration of new devices they will appear on the home screen of the app where you can manage them. It should be noted that such control is still somewhat limited, when compared with the work of your own applications, some more complex devices.

Ekspluatatsionnaya devices and control them using one device is pretty cool, but not only this is home automation. The main thing is the ability to program the device individually or together, to force them to act a certain way depending on, happens for some particular event or not. In the system Revolv such programming is called the development of "Actions". You can program any action for a custom device based on the behavior of other gadgets or devices (e.g., motion sensor), location, time schedule or can create complex macros, allowing to activate multiple devices depending on certain conditions. For example, you can create an action "Disable all" in order to have one button to turn off the lights throughout the house. All instructions for this in the application described in a very clear language and are easy to use.



However, the application still has not been debugged. For example, after, for example, how do you create the "Action" you find that on the screen there is no button "OK" or "done", and only the arrow is offering you to go back. And it is not clear whether you have done everything, checked whether it is "Action" and will it work in the end — where you return by clicking on the arrow. After you create Actions, some of them appear on the home screen, some don't, and hide under the icons for specific devices. But all these are only minor flaws, does not prevent us from quite a high assessment of the application.

The Revolv app there are both iOS (7.0 and above) and Android (4.1 and above), although the latter appeared just a couple of months ago.





Dignity and nedostatki and allows Revolv to work together devices that use different protocols was not always this interaction is done well. The user is granted access only to basic functions of each connected device. For example, the hub may force bulbs Philips Hue to change the brightness and color, but you will not be able to use (import) scenes that were created in your own app Philips and you are limited to only 8 colors, and can use a range of colors, like Philips. You can control the volume and move between tracks in the Sonos system, but you are not allowed anything but that. You can't select a new channel or playlist, you will not be able to see information in the Revolv app that is now playing. However, we must recognize that this problem exists for almost all competitive hubs. No one has been able to create a device that in a simple push of a button connects to the system any device with its full functionality.

With a large number of supported devices is this list still gaping holes. Most notably the lack of surveillance cameras and contact sensors. And it security and monitoring at home are the main reason why people think about creating a "smart home". Unfortunately, Revolv inferior to its competitors of the DIY class.

Another drawback of the device is that developers are not included in the Revolv WiFi router, as is done in several competitive hubs, which would greatly simplify the entire home network.

However, the advantages of the system, taking into account promised but not yet completed functional options outweigh its disadvantages. A good system for creating programmable actions based on data received from various devices, you'll be in a better position than many rival systems. Revolv is also interesting because it is one of the few hubs that supports home entertainment systems. In its list of supported devices includes wireless speakers Sonos. And this despite the fact that today many televisions and audio systems have their own mobile apps and network control. But their functionality is too complicated for cheap hubs, so their integration is still in the maintenance of expensive professional systems. Well, as well as Revolv hub and its main competitor — SmartThings, which unlike our hero does not cease its existence after the acquisition of the other electronic giant, Samsung Electronics.

And about the price. Hub was sold at a price of $ 299, but now sales are, alas, discontinued and probably will not resume.

A few words вдогонку



So why is Nest, buying a company, decided to stop producing and selling this, overall, good product that had a good future?

We can assume that in the depths of the Nest currently is developing a similar device and the company decided to strengthen its position in the development, using the experience and ideas of experts Revolv, at the same time eliminating a dangerous rival on the market. As said Matt Rogers, co-founder and Vice President engineering for Nest, the "Revolv is a great team. They have that information about the home wireless communications that you will not find anywhere except in the minds of those 10 people".

In addition, the company Nest does a great job of integrating their devices with the systems of other companies, and experience Revolv works with devices operating on the basis of various communication protocols, it is very useful and will save time and resources. Given that Nest's own efforts at integration, say, with systems of LIFX, Logitech, Whirlpool, Dropcam, and other devices are not very successful. Some of the promised integration has still not been implemented, others are made with very limited functionality.

Note, incidentally, that the company Revolv recently joined the consortium AllSeen Alliance, which aims the development of a common platform based on free software, designed to integrate "smart" devices, and is directly competing organization with the consortium Thread Group led by Nest and engaged in the establishment of a similar standard. If you remember that developed in the new Protocol AllSeen AllJoyn needs in the future to ensure the work without the use of hubs (and Revolv is an obvious supporter of other areas of development) and use the methods of the followers of "conspiracy theories", it can be assumed that Revolv was "mishandled Cossack", which was to obtain inside information, which could be used in the development of the Protocol Thread. Moreover, the process of buying the company obviously had to take more time than the two months that have passed since joining Revolv to the AllSeen Alliance. Fun theory, isn't it? But it is a mind game.

 

источник:ferra.ru

Source: /users/1077