Wireless home automation battles heat up
It's funny how technology developments work in the wireless market. When a technology is first introduced, it's hailed as the next great thing. Then during the gruesome standardization process, it's seen as a failure and non-start. Next, once the technology is standardized and praised again, members of the design community start looking for ways to knock the technology off its pedestal.
That last step is exactly where ZigBee falls at this point in its development process. Like Bluetooth, ZigBee hit the market with lots of fanfare and promises — most of them unrealistic. With standards in place, ZigBee is once again being hailed as the ultimate solution for the automation market, with analysts, chip companies, and OEMs putting the technology on a pedestal. And now that ZigBee is on its perch, a host of companies are now looking for ways to knock it off.
Weeks after the ZigBee Alliance announced its specification, Zensys started pitching its Z-Wave technology hard and launched an association dedicated to gaining adoption for Z-Wave technology in home automation applications. At the same time, West Technology Research reported that Insteon, a technology developed by Smarthome that supports wireless and powerline connections, would be the dominant solution in the home.
