Withings, makers of popular smart devices such as the Smart Body Analyzer and Pulse activity tracker, announced Home earlier today. Featuring a variety of environmental sensors with field capture of 135 degrees and HD recording up to 1080p, Withings Home will allow users to monitor their home from an iPhone or iPad through a dedicated app, optionally using the Home device as a 2-way video calling solution.
Compatible with iOS 7 and above and carrying support for Bluetooth Low Energy, Withings Home will be capable of detecting motion and alerting users through push notifications sent to the free Monitor app for iOS. According to Withings, Home will recognize different types of activities such as pets moving or a crying child; each time a “noteworthy event” is registered by the camera, a 5-second video and a photo are saved for two days in a user’s Home Diary, where they can be downloaded or kept in the cloud for a longer period of time by purchasing a subscription plan.
In addition to a VOC sensor to measure indoor air quality, Withings confirmed that Home will support HomeKit, a new framework in iOS 8 to access and control smart accessories in a user’s home. Announced at WWDC 2014, HomeKit will let apps discover HomeKit-enabled devices, configure them, and assign them to groups (like “Living room” or “Kitchen”); HomeKit devices will also benefit from Siri integration and a unified API for developers to interact with. Withings Home will also work with IFTTT’s existing Withings channel, which lets Withings products communicate with web services and apps that feature IFTTT integration.
Home will retail at $219.95 and is launching “soon” according to Withings. You can watch a promo video below.
