The Staples Connect home automation system is arguably one of the few remaining device-agnostic IoT solutions existing; the system continues to embrace hardware that will allow more and more robust actions through the facilities of the Zonoff Home Automation Platform that powers it. With the latest update of the Connect system (1.7), Zonoff has announced that its platform is now compatible with both the Nest Learning Thermostat and Bose SoundTouch wireless music systems.
The Nest Learning Thermostat uses advanced intelligence and learning capabilities to understand the user’s heating/cooling needs and adjusting the home’s temperature to maintain comfort while saving money. Bose SoundTouch devices can be added to the smart activities, adding audio to the system’s repertoire of responses — for example, a specified music playlist could be launched when a motion sensor is triggered by the user returning home.
Nest and Bose make some of the most popular consumer electronic devices, so we wanted to make sure that users of our platform are able to take advantage of those devices within Zonoff-powered systems. In order for home automation to reach a more mainstream audience, the technology must be easy to use and compatible with devices consumers love. Through these new integrations and other ones we have in the works, we are helping to drive larger adoption, providing consumers with a single location to seamlessly control all of their devices.
— Mike Harris, Zonoff CEO
In a call earlier this month with Darryl Jones (Zonoff Director of Product Management) and Kevin Garton (Zonoff CMO), the Architechnologist discussed the potential of the Staples Connect system to put an end to the necessity of having multiple hubs to control the various systems within a single smart place. The team at Zonoff is battling this “hub fatigue” through integration of more devices through a unified app, paving the way for a single hub that could be the unifying point for connected devices. We talked about the direction that Zonoff is taking in driving the simplification of the smart place by various integrations; specifically by creating hub devices that include all the logical radios available (the six included in the current D-Link hub cover 90% of all devices) and the expandability of hub capabilities through the ability to add future radio protocols via a plug-in device (aka a “dongle”). Future plans for Zonoff could include the potential to emulate other hub devices — effectively pulling the functions of other systems within the Zonoff-powered hub, removing the drag extra devices place on network bandwith .