Belkin is set to enter the Australian home automation market in the second quarter with products that let you open and close your garage door from an iPhone.According to Ian Mclean, Managing Director of Belkin Australia, the new range works over a wireless network and will be sold by mass retailers along with specialist channels including in the future, electrical wholesalers.
Among the new products is a WeMo Door Lock, which has been developed in conjunction with Kwikset. The device allows for the remote opening of locks, while retaining a keypad and traditional lock. You can also open and close a garage door using an iPhone or iPad or via a belkin camera, allowing you to check to see whether you have driven away leaving the garage door open.
What would be nice is a messaging alert system that actually tells you that the door has been left open.
There is also several lighting solutions that operate via an outlet connected switch that delivers wireless control of a WiFi enabled light bulb.
Another new innovation is a baby monitor for bedrooms
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A WeMo Home Control Switch places a WiFi connected switch between the outlet and home appliances or lights, allowing you to activate or deactivate them remotely through the iOS-only app. Paired with the switch is an available Motion Sensor that adds additional functionality.
A senior Belkin product manager said “This is like a cheap Control 4 system”
Mclean said “We believe there is a market in Australia for these products, we are looking at new retail outlets such as Bunnings hardware chains. With these new products we are simply trying to make automation more appealing and more accessible to users” said Mclean.
Other new products coming from Belkin this year include a brand new Thunderbolt Express Dock which allows an Ultrbook or Mac device to be connected.The port selection includes HDMI, GbE, Firewire, 3x USB 2.0, and 3.5 mm audio. Two Thunderbolt ports allow users to daisy chain devices. With a reported 20 Gbps total bandwidth (10 Gbps up, 10 Gbps down) the device will most likely be based on the Eagle Ridge chip.
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There is also a new N900 router that is capable of delivering up 450 Mbps of data on both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands simultaneously for a total throughput of 900 Mbps. The 3×3 router includes Belkin’s latest QoS implementation, four GbE ports, and 2x USB 2.0 ports for attaching storage or printers. The router won’t be released till April with a third quarter launch tipped for Australia.
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According to McLean Belkin is set to be a major supplier of accesories for Samsung products including the expanded Samsung Galaxy Tab family which will shortly include the new Galaxy Note.
New products include desktop chargers and players with Samsung’s proprietary 30-pin connector, 3.5 mm audio out with volume control and power connection. There is also a stylus which can be used to navigate around a page.
Individual docks could be placed in different spaces throughout a home and each trigger a different application from the tablet when it is docked.
