These type of service will totally make sense when it comes to Smart homes which includes Smart Security and Smart Grid connectivity. Also, it will further eliminate POT line (Plain Old Telephone... I guess) an history museum part.
Everything is great about it. This is the way to go. Just one concern.. it will make service providers almost GOD like status. Entire home will be dependent on them. In case of failure in broadband pipe everything goes back to stone age!!! I am sure they will come up with back plan by starting wireless Service in cities and use them as back up. I guess, even now you can get it if you are ready to pay 10-20$ extra each month.
Currently these type of services are there in market but offered by multiple vendors in bits and pieces... I think Comcast type roll-out will make it easier to integrate and manage in a single console. It will be tough to say no to such things when they are rolled out!!
Slowly, these type of services will become part of the offerings from service providers like Comacast, ATT etc.. Sooner or later, their modems/devices will be capable of offering additional service and route videos and other smart information to/from the house to/from their data center.
But will you like your home to be monitored by big brother like Comcast.. Can't government or any other body with influence also sneak peak in your house anytime? What if hackers hack into Comcast system and enable/disable devices when you are not at home. Theoretically, if someone hacks into this system, and if they are able to broadcast command to turn on AC or something like that at once in multiple houses, they can bring down grid in few seconds. Remember, starting current requirement of all ACs and similar devices is at least 3-4 times normal run time requirement. So if all the devices are remotely controlled and someone with evil intensions is able to hack into Service Provider like Comcast who controls tens of thousands of homes in a particular area, they can bring down local grid or blow transformer (that will be too much as relay/Circuit-Breakers will act, unless, they hack into that as well).
I think I am thinking too much negative.. may be wine effect ;-) So I need to just shut down this blog and publish it...
Cheers!!
COMCAST PHOTOS
Comcast is installing in-home control panels, above, and providing a realtime link on customers’ smartphones.
The service is being rolled out in some parts of the Bay Area beginning Friday.
Everything is great about it. This is the way to go. Just one concern.. it will make service providers almost GOD like status. Entire home will be dependent on them. In case of failure in broadband pipe everything goes back to stone age!!! I am sure they will come up with back plan by starting wireless Service in cities and use them as back up. I guess, even now you can get it if you are ready to pay 10-20$ extra each month.
Currently these type of services are there in market but offered by multiple vendors in bits and pieces... I think Comcast type roll-out will make it easier to integrate and manage in a single console. It will be tough to say no to such things when they are rolled out!!
Slowly, these type of services will become part of the offerings from service providers like Comacast, ATT etc.. Sooner or later, their modems/devices will be capable of offering additional service and route videos and other smart information to/from the house to/from their data center.
But will you like your home to be monitored by big brother like Comcast.. Can't government or any other body with influence also sneak peak in your house anytime? What if hackers hack into Comcast system and enable/disable devices when you are not at home. Theoretically, if someone hacks into this system, and if they are able to broadcast command to turn on AC or something like that at once in multiple houses, they can bring down grid in few seconds. Remember, starting current requirement of all ACs and similar devices is at least 3-4 times normal run time requirement. So if all the devices are remotely controlled and someone with evil intensions is able to hack into Service Provider like Comcast who controls tens of thousands of homes in a particular area, they can bring down local grid or blow transformer (that will be too much as relay/Circuit-Breakers will act, unless, they hack into that as well).
I think I am thinking too much negative.. may be wine effect ;-) So I need to just shut down this blog and publish it...
Cheers!!
KEEPING AN EYE ON SECURITY, ENERGY
Comcast offers ‘smart home’ service
Broadband provider gets into full home monitoring
By Troy Wolverton
twolverton@mercurynews.com
Broadband provider Comcast is hoping to be your gateway to the “smart home” of the future.
On Friday, the company will begin offering security and home monitoring services to Bay Area customers of its Internet service. Such smart home technologies would alert consumers if someone broke into their house, allow them to adjust their thermostat and turn lights in their house on and off while away from home, and remotely view video taken from cameras placed in and around their home.
Consumers could also configure the system to set the alarm automatically at certain times of night or a front-door camera to record video whenever someone opens the door.
“We think it’s going to become more the norm than the exception to have a smart home,” said Mitch Bowling, Comcast’s senior vice president and general manager of new businesses.
The service, which Comcast already offers in about half of its markets nationwide, will be available starting Friday in areas served by Comcast in the East Bay and North Bay. The company plans to begin offering the service in the South Bay, the Peninsula and San Francisco by the end of April, Bowling said.
Comcast offers ‘smart home’ service
Broadband provider gets into full home monitoring
By Troy Wolverton
twolverton@mercurynews.com
Broadband provider Comcast is hoping to be your gateway to the “smart home” of the future.
On Friday, the company will begin offering security and home monitoring services to Bay Area customers of its Internet service. Such smart home technologies would alert consumers if someone broke into their house, allow them to adjust their thermostat and turn lights in their house on and off while away from home, and remotely view video taken from cameras placed in and around their home.
Consumers could also configure the system to set the alarm automatically at certain times of night or a front-door camera to record video whenever someone opens the door.
“We think it’s going to become more the norm than the exception to have a smart home,” said Mitch Bowling, Comcast’s senior vice president and general manager of new businesses.
The service, which Comcast already offers in about half of its markets nationwide, will be available starting Friday in areas served by Comcast in the East Bay and North Bay. The company plans to begin offering the service in the South Bay, the Peninsula and San Francisco by the end of April, Bowling said.
COMCAST PHOTOS
Comcast is installing in-home control panels, above, and providing a realtime link on customers’ smartphones.
The service is being rolled out in some parts of the Bay Area beginning Friday.
=======================================================================
Comcast will charge a $40 monthly fee for the service, which will include 24-hour security monitoring and remote access to lighting and thermostat controls. The company will charge customers who want to record and view video feeds from their home an additional $5-a-month fee. Comcast is requiring customers of the service to sign a three-year contract.
To promote the service, Comcast is offering free installation of the related equipment to customers who sign up before the end of May. After that, the company will charge $200 for standard installation. In both cases, the company charges extra to install cameras and additional sensors.
The service includes a tablet- like touch-screen controller to which Comcast plans to add additional features. In addition to arming the security system and turning on lights, the device will soon allow customers to check their Comcast email, program a DVR or preview on-demand movies, Bowling said.
Long a dream of futurists, the smart home has until recently been reserved for technophiles who configured home automation systems on their own and high-end consumers who paid someone else to do it.
However, Comcast is one of a growing number of mainstream companies that have been trying to bring smart home services to a mass audience. In recent years, home security companies such as ADT and Vivent have begun to offer home automation and home control services. Comcast’s broadband rival Verizon has its own smart home offerings, and AT&T has one in the works. Meanwhile, Nexia, a sister company to lock maker Schlage and airconditioning unit manufacturer Trane, has come out with a line of relatively lowcost home automation and control products.
The companies that stand the best chance of popularizing home automation are the security companies, said Jonathan Gaw, a research manager at tech consulting firm IDC who focuses on the connected home. Right now, the smart home services that consumers are most interested in are related to security and monitoring, rather than energy management or controlling appliances, he said.
What’s more, smart home services will probably require extensive and perhaps multiple visits to consumers’ homes to assess their needs and install sensors and controllers, Gaw said. Broadband providers such as Comcast may not be in a position to deliver that kind of handson interaction because they have spent years trying to minimize the need to visit consumers’ homes and the amount of time they spend once there, he added.
“This is not something that I would expect mainstream consumers to do on their own, which means that somebody’s going to have help them do it,” Gaw said.
Contact Troy Wolverton at 408-840-4285. Follow him at Twitter.com/troywolv.
To promote the service, Comcast is offering free installation of the related equipment to customers who sign up before the end of May. After that, the company will charge $200 for standard installation. In both cases, the company charges extra to install cameras and additional sensors.
The service includes a tablet- like touch-screen controller to which Comcast plans to add additional features. In addition to arming the security system and turning on lights, the device will soon allow customers to check their Comcast email, program a DVR or preview on-demand movies, Bowling said.
Long a dream of futurists, the smart home has until recently been reserved for technophiles who configured home automation systems on their own and high-end consumers who paid someone else to do it.
However, Comcast is one of a growing number of mainstream companies that have been trying to bring smart home services to a mass audience. In recent years, home security companies such as ADT and Vivent have begun to offer home automation and home control services. Comcast’s broadband rival Verizon has its own smart home offerings, and AT&T has one in the works. Meanwhile, Nexia, a sister company to lock maker Schlage and airconditioning unit manufacturer Trane, has come out with a line of relatively lowcost home automation and control products.
The companies that stand the best chance of popularizing home automation are the security companies, said Jonathan Gaw, a research manager at tech consulting firm IDC who focuses on the connected home. Right now, the smart home services that consumers are most interested in are related to security and monitoring, rather than energy management or controlling appliances, he said.
What’s more, smart home services will probably require extensive and perhaps multiple visits to consumers’ homes to assess their needs and install sensors and controllers, Gaw said. Broadband providers such as Comcast may not be in a position to deliver that kind of handson interaction because they have spent years trying to minimize the need to visit consumers’ homes and the amount of time they spend once there, he added.
“This is not something that I would expect mainstream consumers to do on their own, which means that somebody’s going to have help them do it,” Gaw said.
Contact Troy Wolverton at 408-840-4285. Follow him at Twitter.com/troywolv.
1 comment:
Yeah 1984 around the corner.
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