Thursday 11 December 2014

Chinese and French chip in to German smart home idea

The race to be the go-to guys for “smart home” technology is heating up – with two French and Chinese companies chipping into Germany’s efforts on this front.

The group of German firms led by Deutsche Telekom – the equivalent of Britain’s BT – has a digital box which uses broadband internet so a household can change their energy and heating via smartphones or tablets.

[caption id="attachment_86099" align="alignright" width="350"] The QIVICON box resembles a broadband hub. Image: Deutsche Telekom[/caption]

This smart home platform, called QIVICON, could get a whole new dimension with the aid of France’s Netatmo, a company which makes indoor and outdoor weather and temperature sensors.

The smart home platform combines “two major trends within the technology industry: the Internet of Things and the connected home sector”, said Fred Potter, Founder and CEO of Netatmo.

Chinese ICT firm HUAWEI is working on how to make technologies which hook into the smart home system compatible.