Panasonic is introducing four connected home kits focused on home monitoring and security into the Australian market, available now and set to land locally over the next month.The kits, each tailored for different needs – room monitoring, home monitoring, home control and home alert – are controlled via the Panasonic Home Automation app, which allows for remote operation from up to eight different smartphones or tablets, across compatible Android and iOS platforms.
The DECT (digital enhanced cordless telecommunications)-enabled hub, designed for easy connection to a Wi-Fi router, provides up to a 300 metre platform for all connected devices, which Panasonic states can be quickly synced with the system with one-push pairing.
Each kit is expandable, with the hub capable of supporting a total of four indoor and outdoor cameras, six digital cordless handsets, and a total of 50 other devices, including smart plugs, motion sensors and window/door sensors.
The Room Monitoring Kit, which Panasonic states can be used as a baby monitor, comes with the hub and an indoor camera, with the camera, decked out with a two-way speaker, capable of sending notifications in three ways: when the microphone detects sound, when the camera’s ambient temperature is too hot or too cold, or when the camera’s visual sensor detects motion.
The Home Monitoring Kit includes the hub with a microSD card and two full-colour outdoor cameras with night vision up to a 12 metre range outdoors, built-in microphones for two-way communication, live monitoring and recording. When the cameras’ sound or vision motion detectors are activated, an immediate alert is sent to the connected smart device, with motion-activated audio and video recorded automatically to the microSD card.
The Home Control Kit includes the hub, four smart plugs, two motion sensors and two window/door sensors. The smart plugs provide for remote smartphone or tablet control of devices, with users also able to create a smart plug schedule to automatically turn lights and appliances on or off.
The Home Alert Kit comes with the hub with a microSD card, a full-colour indoor camera, a full-colour outdoor camera, a smart plug, a motion sensor, two window/door sensors and a digital cordless handset. When any of the sensors or cameras are triggered, four-way alert notifications are provided via the hub, camera recording features, calling pre-programmed phone numbers, and receiving notifications on a smartphone, tablet or the cordless handset.
“The home automation market is growing quickly and becoming increasingly important to households,” Samantha Dawson, Panasonic Australia product marketing manager, home automation, commented of the new range. “Panasonic has developed a solution that is so simple to set up and then monitor via your smartphone.
“For example, place motion sensors on windows or doors, schedule lights and appliances to turn on and off, and keep watch on specific locations such as your baby’s room or pet’s kennel, or check the car in the garage or driveway.”
The Room Monitoring Kit and the Home Monitoring Kit, which are both available now, carry price tags of $329 RRP and $549 RRP, respectively. The Home Control Kit and Home Alert Kit are both set to land in the local market from mid-July, carrying price tags of $599 RRP and $769 RRP.
