The home automation market is forecast to grow to $490 billion by 2019, an annual growth rate of 50 percent, according to digital research service BI intelligence and ABB is ready, with several new products, to fulfill the needs of homeowners, architects and developers
Mike Mustapha, managing director of ABB’s Building Products business, said: “We continue to expand the possibilities of smart home and building technology and today we are showcasing currently available solutions and the state-of-the-art options for tomorrow. We are the leader in home automation and we are collaborating with other technology leaders to accelerate the introduction of connected solutions.
“We are proud to announce today that our wireless free@home solution is available from November, building on our successful wired system. This opens up the possibility for smart homes as a retrofit installation, allowing even more people to enjoy the freedom of our state-of-the-art system – controlled at the touch of a button on a smart phone; wall mounted touch screen; or via voice command.”
ABB announced earlier this year the development of a wireless solution that can be used as an extension to the free@home wired system or as a stand-alone option. This opens up the possibilities to use free@home in rental properties or in other situations where homeowners do not want a wired solution. Free@home can manage up to 60 home automation functions from lighting, home entertainment and heating to blind control and security systems and can be setup to have pre-configured “scenes” that instantly and dramatically change the look and feel of a room.
ABB’s free@home solution has won multiple awards for its ease of use, including the German Design Award 2016 (Special Mention), the Ausgezeichnete Gestaltung 16, the Deutscher Designer Club (DDC), the iF Design Award 2016, and the German Brand Award 2016, Gold.
Interoperability
ABB is in a joint-venture partnership with Bosch and Cisco, called mozaiq operations GmBH, which focuses on advancing the interoperability of home automation functions. ABB demonstrated the potential of the mozaiq platform highlighting new functions that are under development.
Mike explained: “Through our joint venture with Bosch and Cisco, we are able to deliver interoperability to create a fully connected home within one ecosystem. We believe the open software platform developed by mozaiq operations GmbH, can speed up technology development and provide people with a single interface to manage all the functions for greater efficiency, comfort and convenience. We are demonstrating a new application of the mozaiq platform – interaction with Bosch’s appliances.”