I had a chance to chat with the folks from Alarm.com and Building36 at CES about its new smart water valve and meter, which installs directly onto a home water line (as opposed to leak sensing units under a kitchen sink, for example). Product manager Rob Picardi explained that the unit’s sensitivity is one of its greatest assets, and he assured me that the unit would absolutely alert to something as small as a dripping kitchen sink faucet. The water valve must be installed by a plumber, which Picardi says helps security integrators develop new networking relationships with an important player in the smart home service ecosystem. Read more about the product at www.securityinfowatch.com/21120319.
Air monitoring: It was easy to miss the nano gas sensors from Japanese manufacturer AerNos – mostly because they were so small; in fact, small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. AerNos nano gas sensor products utilize a tiny sensor array to detect multiple gases simultaneously to parts per billion (ppb) levels for indoor and outdoor air quality monitoring, hazardous gas detection and other e-nose applications. Perhaps the day is coming where a smoke or CO detector can fit into a similar small form factor?
Connected electrical: I toured the Schneider Electric booth, which was showcasing its new Square D Connected Home Suite. I spoke with EVP Manish Pant, who explained how something like a connected electrical panel in the home could be the gateway to smart home adoption using the electrical system as its backbone. An interesting concept, to say the least.
Doorbells: To be innovative in the video doorbell market, companies really need to think out of the box to keep up with the Rings of the world. One company, Toucan, looks to solve the problem of video doorbell cameras being static – with a 180-degree pan/tilt video doorbell. After seeing a demo, it solves the video doorbell problem of not being able to see in the periphery – especially if someone is too tall for the camera range or a package is lying on the ground.
Paul Rothman is Editor-in-Chief of Security Business magazine (www.securitybusinessmag.com). Email him your comments or topic suggestions at [email protected].
