If you spend enough time trying to rig up a smart home—one in which your smartphone magically turns on the lights when you walk through the door then sets the temperature just so—you'll eventually long for a Clapper. Remember the ad? Clap on! Clap off! Simple—and a lot catchier than Take out your iPhone! Swipe down! Tap the screen! Which is what most Internet-connected devices require of you now.
AT&T has revised its Digital Life home automation/security plans to offer two bundles that it says deliver discounts over purchasing the same services on an a la carte basis.
Mark Walters, a longtime technology figure in the home-automation market, was appointed recently as strategic development VP at the Zigbee Alliance (ZigBee.org), a non-profit association of around 400 companies that collaborate to develop and promote open, global wireless standards for IoT for use in consumer, commercial and industrial applications. TWICE asked him about the top action items on his agenda, how the home-automation market is evolving, challenges facing the market, the impact of an influx of new wireless home-automation technologies, and more.