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C o n s u m e r E l e c t ro n i c s D a i l y N e ws Fri d a y, J a n u a r y 9 , 2 0 1 5 4 2 DO HOME IMPROVEMENT RETAILERS HAVE THE KEY TO THE SMART HOME? 2014 has been an exciting year for the smart home industry, with most major retailers launching products, technolo- gy companies entering the space and several high-profile acquisitions tak- ing place. We're seeing concrete vali- dation that the smart home is here to stay – and consumers seem to agree. This summer, Lowe's conducted a smart home study to get an idea of Americans' attitudes toward, and expe- riences with, smart home systems. Lowe's found that half of Americans prefer a DIY smart home solution and nearly two-thirds (62 percent) rank security and home monitoring as the most beneficial reason to own a smart home. Seventy percent of smartphone users wish they could just control something in their home from their mobile device without ever getting out of bed. It's clear that interest in and adop- tion of smart homes is growing. But while the breadth of new products that hit the market in 2014 is exciting for homeowners, it's possible that all the buzz, new terminology and products may have created some confusion for these consumers as well. Lowe's has been focused on demystifying the smart home for consumers and helping them to understand there is a simple, affordable, do-it-yourself way to increase the intelligence of their home. After all, with 70-plus years of experi- ence in home improvement, who knows the home and DIY better than Lowe's? Lowe's entered the smart home space just over two years ago with Iris, a user-friendly, DIY, smart home solu- tion and the first truly open platform for the mass consumer market. With more than 50 products compatible with Iris, and teams of in-store experts ready to support, Lowe's' primary focus has been making sure its more than 15 million weekly customers fully understand the benefits of a connected home and how simple it is to cus- tomize one to meet their lifestyle. The idea of owning a smart home, or even a few connect- ed devices, is some- thing 2014 has seen more and more home- owners warm up to. Vendors and service providers have come a long way in figuring out how to take some- thing consumers are intimately famil- iar with – their home and everything in it – and helping them embrace how to make it safer, smarter and more energy efficient through connected devices. By the looks of it, 2015 is shaping up to be another exciting year. These are a few ways Kevin Meagher, Lowe's Vice President and General Manager, Smart Home, expects the industry to evolve in 2015: Strong growth in consumer adoption of the smart home as homeowners become more educated on its benefits; a pivotal move from transaction-based models to service as retailers and service providers begin to leverage the value of data from devices; more manufac- turers connecting their devices and opening their APIs, giving consumers more choice and growing the ecosys- tem, ensuring reliable service no mat- ter which products are installed; fewer wire- less standards, so cus- tomers will have the ability to choose which devices, service providers and apps they want to use – and have them all work together; retailers will start to lead the charge with simple, affordable, DIY solutions that can scale; data from the home is the new oil and the winners in the smart home space will be those compa- nies that can collect and refine it to develop and deliver new capabilities that benefit consumers and make their homes smarter and their lives easier; and lastly, 2015 will be the year we see business models challenged, as the advent of retailers with their simple affordable, DIY solutions will start to challenge service providers who adopt- ed a more traditional model with installation and professional services but higher monthly fees. Here's to an even smarter home industry in 2015! Visit Lowe's at booth #70632. For more information, go to www.lowes.com. FOSCAM VENTURES INTO HIGH-END CAMERAS AND ACTION CAMERA MARKET This year at the 2015 International CES ® , Foscam will be showcasing high-end extensions of its lines of indoor and out- door cameras designed to be set up and monitored from anywhere in the world through iPhone or Android apps, new tra- ditional baby monitors and new action cameras for outdoor enthusiasts. These new indoor and outdoor cam- eras are now available with new improved designs that provide a new look, increased durability and a comfort- able fit into elegant interiors as well as exteriors. Consumers will use them for home security as well as baby and pet monitoring. The newest of these is the Foscam Plug and Play FI9826P 1.3 Megapixel (1280 by 960p) 3x Optical Zoom H.264 Pan/Tilt Wireless IP Camera. The Foscam FI9826P is Foscam's new high- end plug and play, 1.3 megapixel indoor camera with 3x optical zoom. The optical zoom feature allows you to physically zoom in on objects with amazing clarity without losing picture quality. The plug and play feature allows the ability to con- nect via smartphone by simply scanning the QR code on the underside of the camera. Bypassing the need to access your router and setup port forwarding, the FI9826P can be set up effortlessly by anyone, even those with very little IT experience. The FI9826P features 1280 by 960p video resolution, h.264 video compres- sion, 3x optical zoom, built-in DVR via micro-SD card (up to 32 GB), two-way audio, wifi-N capability (2.4 ghz), pan/tilt, remote internet viewing, motion detection, night-vision as well as network video recording capability. In addition, it is smartphone compatible as well as viewable over the Internet using standard browsers on a PC or Mac. The camera functions well as a smartphone baby, pet or elderly parent monitor or as part of a complete home/office security system with remote internet monitoring ability. In addition, Foscam is launching into action cam- eras designed for the extreme sports enthusiast who wants to document per- formances and share them online with friends and fans. The AC1080 camera is a 12MP Rapidshot with 170-degree wide angle lens and a 1.5-inch LCD viewscreen, microphone and speaker. Optional accessories include a water- proof protective housing and various mounts for helmets, surfboards, wind- shields or bikes. The AC1080 retails for about $129.99 and is available for immediate shipment. Visit Foscam Digital Technologies at booth #21931. After the show, visit www.foscam.us or call 800-930-0949.