Wink?

[outbackrob]

http://vimeo.com/100081190

[mrhappy]

Obnoxious advertising aside it is one of a thousand (well perhaps five/ten) similar ideas of late, I am amazed these ideas even get funding as not one of them has a function that seems to me to stand out and say that this is a game changer. Who knows perhaps I am just overly bitter today.

[Raptor]

Looks like someone is trying to get on the Iris wagon to compete with lowes. and Mr Happy i agree 100% with you

[jlrichar]

Wink has GE behind it. Also Marshall Rose just joined them. If they maintain open API then it is very promising. Not at all like IRIS at lowes that seems to be very closed.

[randy]

It may work well for some users and the support of Home Depot and Amazon will help. I immediately see one critical shortcoming:

Can I access my Wink products through a desktop connection?
Wink is available on Android mobile, Android Wear, and iOS. Currently, there is no desktop support.

What about mobile web?
We currently do not support mobile web access. Download the free Wink app from iTunes App Store or Google Play.

[jlrichar]

I only care about this from the context of adding devices to HS. There is a device hub and an open API. Does this mean devices and sensors could be added to HS?

[Pete]

Before winky; there is the Almond +.

This is a shameless plug for the Almond +.

Its a bit more than an automation hub and could serve as a device hub to Homeseer.

It's the first aesthetically pleasing to the eye combination touchscreen, wireless Access point (with wireless 802.11 Gb AC), network switch, firewall Zigbee and Z-Wave hub.

Been playing with it now for almost a year; should be out pretty soon (in relative terms). It does have a web gui and mobile apps and is cloud connected (optional).

Its so simple to use with its touchscreen stuff that it would be the ultimate little Christmas gift to give to friends and family and it looks nice too.

[TechHA]

@Pete

I had the original Almond...returned it after only 2 days! The router itself worked well enough but the back end was horrible to get around. Worst part was you could only lock down 2 ip addresses. As you know with an automated home I can not have my internal ip's changing anytime the router chooses. It happened twice in one day, all my DirecTV ip's changed and messed up the HS plugin.

A simple interface is great for the average user but for the advanced user it left much to be desired. Here's hoping the next version is MUCH better.

[Pete]

@Bryan,

Yup the Securifi Almond + is totally different than the Almond.

The back end on this device relating to the firewall is OpenWRT.

Over this past year have become familiar with the Almond.

That said in my testing of the Almond I have been able to redo the the subnet to something smaller and narrow the scope of the DHCP to something a bit more manageable using the most current firmware.

[Raptor]

Wink has GE behind it. Also Marshall Rose just joined them. If they maintain open API then it is very promising. Not at all like IRIS at lowes that seems to be very closed.

I know one of the programmers on the IRIS project i should ask him about this.

[mrhappy]

I only care about this from the context of adding devices to HS. There is a device hub and an open API. Does this mean devices and sensors could be added to HS?

I've looked at the API and yes it looks fairly easy to interface the items to HS with simple commands. A script might be all you need to use in reality if not a plugin but it does not look overly complicated, however, looking at the devices they all appear to be devices that already have some form of interface and this hub is just simplifying the communication. For the price it is probably selling at a loss ($43 on amazon) considering the hardware I have seen inside it from pictures. If your intention was to control something that already had plugins (like the hue or the zwave stuff) for HS for it then you could probably save your money.

[outbackrob]

I only care about this from the context of adding devices to HS. There is a device hub and an open API. Does this mean devices and sensors could be added to HS?

This is my interest as well. If the devices are made well, they are a less expensive alternative. Some of the Wink devices are quite innovative.

The beauty of HS has been its ability to connect to just about everything. I hope this becomes one of the "things!"

[mrhappy]

This is my interest as well. If the devices are made well, they are a less expensive alternative. Some of the Wink devices are quite innovative.

The beauty of HS has been its ability to connect to just about everything. I hope this becomes one of the "things!"

I'll agree they are novel and some nice things I am jealous are not available here, I did raise a smile when I saw the egg minder of all automated things that is one of the last I would imagine. Don't Wink just make the hub though? Or are they part of Quirky (quite a few things seem to be from them)? If you looked at the nimbus for example then that appears to be a wifi device, the wink hub looks to help with the communication definitely but I doubt it would actually be necessary if there was an API for the nimbus (who knows there may be). The Lutron and Kidde devices look to have RF interfaces built into the hub so no doubt that would help if you wanted HS to talk to these. Looking at all the RF stuff inside it I would hate to design it with all the different frequencies running around.

[Pete]

Some winky news...

UPDATE: Poorly Reviewed Wink Home Automation no Longer ‘Under Review’ by Amazon

Reviewers have not been kind to the new Wink home automation system from GE-backed Quirky. Amazon just put the product ‘under review’ but the status could reflect little more than a logistical bump.

By Julie Jacobson, August 13, 2014

UPDATE: Amazon has dropped “under review” designation from the Wink Hub page.

The brand new Wink home automation system, a spin-off of GE-backed Quirky, looked so promising: a big retail deal with The Home Depot, no monthly fees, an ambitious 24/7 tech support line, and support for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Z-Wave, ZigBee and Lutron Caseta.

But so far, no one seems to like the product, especially Amazon, which just put the Wink Hub “under review,” although not necessarily because of reviews. The designation could be due to nothing more than a few misplaced commas.

A notice posted on the Wink Hub page yesterday (apparently) indicates:

Item Under Review
This item is currently unavailable because customers have told us there may be something wrong with our inventory of the item, the way we are shipping it, or the way it’s described here. (Thanks for the tip!)

We’re working to fix the problem as quickly as possible

The new status (image below) could very well have nothing to do with the product’s performance – perhaps it is only about “the way we are shipping it” – but the reviews on the site are bad to mediocre, with an average 2.5 rating out of 5.

The titles of the reviews tell all:

I really want this to work
Not ready for primetime at launch … improving
Does not work
Not ready for prime time, might be a curious device to hack
Will not work with WEP security - requires degree from MIT to attach to wifi
Good for now. Shows promise.
Wanted to like it so badly
Not ready for reliable use yet
Paired easily with a lock, but limited functionality

One “reviewer” who received a free product in exchange for her review, gave the product five stars – like virtually all the free products she has reviewed for Amazon (not so for the products he/she actually bought).

I somehow doubt that the reviewer really was able to pair and enroll ZigBee, Z-Wave, 6LoWPAN and Lutron Caseta products “simply and easily.”

Even experienced smart-home reviewers can’t seem to enroll anything but Wink’s/Quirky’s own products.

Stacey Higgenbotham of GigaOm, who advised readers to “Wait on Wink” couldn’t enroll Z-Wave, ZigBee and Lutron devices into the system.

That was the same assessment of a highly experienced industry peer who had the same problems.

The consensus seems to be that the system works OK with Wink and Quirky products, but not (yet) with other standards-based devices.

This Amazon reviewer noted:

Now for the Z-Wave, well I’ve tried everything under the sun and have had no luck whatsoever. The switches are GE 45639 or more appropriately Jasco ZW3003. I’ve tried and tried to pair the switches to the Wink Hub, but it is just not working. I’m not sure if these are Z-Wave Plus switches or not, but according to Wink, they should work.

There is hope, however. The reviewer decided to call Wink tech support, which sent detailed instructions on how to pair Z-Wave devices. That did the trick.

My firm belief is that Wink really cares about their customers and that in the long run, support of multiple communications protocols will win out. Now I’m going to see what other trouble I can get into with this hub, LOL.

So Wink had a bad start. Big deal. Every new product in the history of home automation had a bad start. At least Wink didn’t have to recall 440,000 unsafe smoke detectors.

Surely the platform will improve. If not, there is always that stellar always-available tech support.

http://www.cepro.com/article/amid_po...m_medium=email

[Blade]

This is interesting... I have not seen them in Canada so I am not sure they are here yet. I like the idea of the garage door opener control. I wonder if it would take off. The API does not look difficult.