With layoffs at Leeo and Wink for sale, is the smart home crumbling?

Leeo, a company that makes a connected nightlight that doubles as a smoke detector for the mobile era and has raised $37 million in funding, laid off about 30% of its staff Wednesday. Earlier this month, we reported that product manufacturing shop Quirky was unwilling to support its home hub software company Wink and it has put it up for sale, according to sources. Meanwhile, a home automation management device built by startup Ninja Blocks failed to raise funding and shut down.

Smart home startups like Goji and Plum are so late to market with their products that supporters who gave them money through their crowd-funding campaigns have given up on them. Goji’s smart lock was supposed to ship 18 months ago.

Read more: http://fortune.com/2015/06/19/smart-home-layoffs-leeo-wink/

Popular posts from this blog

Commercial Automation Leader SOMFY Joins ZigBee

The ZigBee Alliance, a non-profit maintaining and delivering open, global standards for the low-power wireless Internet of Things (IoT), announced that SOMFY has joined the ZigBee Alliance. A world leader in the home and commercial automation market, SOMFY develops, manufactures and distributes products in 58 countries across five continents. From motorized window treatments for residential and commercial buildings to automated outdoor extensions, gates and garage doors, SOMFY provides a complete range of the latest motorized solutions, automatic systems and alarms designed to make daily life easier, safer and more pleasant. Read more: http://virtual-strategy.com/2016/08/09/european-home-and-commercial-automation-leader-somfy-joins-zigbee-alliance-board-of-directors/
Read more

Home automation gets cheaper, smarter, easier

The promise of widely available home automation has been around since "The Jetsons" aired 50 years ago. But until recently, smart- home systems have been pricey and complex, typically requiring professional installation. And few consumers have been aware of the availability of such services or haven't been convinced that they needed them. But in recent years, major consumer service providers — including ADT, Comcast and Vivint — have entered the market, helping promote the concept of home automation and make it more accessible to average consumers. Companies such as Comcast and Vivint now offer basic home-automation systems for less than $500 installed. And Lowe's Iris, which is available for about $300 for a full system, is designed for self-installation. "We definitely see that (home automation) is moving increasingly into the mainstream," said Jonathan Collins, an analyst with ABI Research. Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_22649153/is-smart...
Read more

New home construction down last month

Construction of new homes nudged down slightly in May, with builders pulling back in the Northeast and Midwest. Housing starts ticked down 0.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.16 million units, the Commerce Department said Friday. The government's residential construction report can be volatile on a monthly basis, which might explain the slight decrease. Home construction has improved much of this year, with single-family houses accounting for much of the gains unlike recent years when developers focused more on apartments. Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_30027562/u-s-home-construction-down-slightly-may
Read more