MUNICH (PRWEB) March 03, 2015

Myfox, the European smart home security expert, is pleased to announce the new Myfox Security System has received an iF DESIGN AWARD 2015 and is among the winners of the renowned iF label.

For over 60 years, the iF DESIGN AWARD has been recognized the world over as a label of design excellence. The iF logo is an internationally established symbol identifying outstanding achievements in design.

The number of competitors in the iF DESIGN AWARD 2015 competition was tremendous: the international high-profile jury assessed almost 5,000 entries from 53 countries.

Setting a new standard in home security, the Myfox Security System was designed to provide a simple, reliable and aesthetic solution to protect ones home against break-in attempts.

We are incredibly proud that our design has been recognized by the prestigious iF design institute. The Building Technology category, in which we were selected as a winner, is particularly competitive and thus it is an even greater honor to have received this award, said Alain Pakiry, Managing Director of Myfox. Throughout the product design process, we centered on user experience. We wanted to ensure that our product is not only functional in deterring intruders but also intuitive to use and can elegantly and discretely be integrated into users homes and lives.

Traditional security systems only react once a door or window is opened, allowing intruders time to enter a home and steal valuables or precious objects. Thanks to patented IntelliTAG technology, the Myfox Security System can recognize a potential break-in before it happens, sound the alarm and keep the intruder out.

Modern and minimalist, the system showcases a reassuring curved design to differentiate it from traditional home security devices. Constructed of ceramic white plastic, brushed aluminum and other high-quality materials, it integrates seamlessly and elegantly into a homes decor.

Completely intuitive, the system can be controlled from anywhere via a smartphone app. It also offers automatic user recognition that allows users to keep track of whos coming and going.

Myfox solutions contain additional innovations in home security. The Myfox Security Camera is the first and only camera to feature a remote controlled privacy shutter that guarantees unwanted image viewing or recording. The Myfox Security System introduces the notion of collaborative security with features that allow users to assign monitoring rights to their trusted circle of family and friends. And, in cases of WiFi outage, the patented MyfoxAround network relays to another unit to continue transmitting notifications and alerts.

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Myfox Named an iF DESIGN AWARD 2015 Winner

Dreaming of automated smart-home bliss, but unsure of where to start? You've come to the right place.

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Home automation is nothing new, but a recent boom in smart-home tech has thrust it straight into the spotlight. Smart-home kits, sensors and gadgets have been a dominating presence at CES for the past two years, with big names like Apple, Google, GE and Microsoft right there in the thick of it. That's not surprising, given that market experts predict that the smart home's market share will be worth tens of billions within the next few years.

All that action adds up to a rapidly growing number of things in the "Internet of Things," along with a variety of platforms competing to control them all. That might make the idea of getting your smart home started a little bit overwhelming, but don't worry. It's actually easier than ever to start automating your home -- provided you know your options.

Tyler Lizenby/CNET

"Smart home" is a pretty broad term, covering a huge number of connected gadgets, systems and appliances that do a wide variety of different things. "Home automation" is slightly less broad, referring specifically to things in your home that can be programmed to function automatically. In years past, those automations were pretty basic -- lamp timers, automated holiday lighting and so on -- but that's fast been changing thanks to the recent sprawl of smart-home tech aimed at mainstream consumers.

The possibilities are immense, ranging from lights and locks to cameras and coffee makers. The common denominator is automation, and a promise that these devices can save you time, save you money or make your life a little easier. An automated lamp might turn on by itself as soon as you walk into the room. An automated thermostat might turn the heat down when it detects you've left for the day, then back on when it thinks you're on your way back.

To cut through all of it and figure out what's most relevant to you, imagine a typical day at home. Are there any devices you regularly turn on and off? Do you regularly adjust your home environment depending on what you're doing? Those regular habits and activities are typically the best candidates for automation. Figure out which ones are most important to you, and you'll have a much better idea of what to look for in the smart home space.

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One tricky part about having in-home security cameras is balancing the alerts you receive to your smartphone or email. If a camera is notifying you every time the air conditioner ruffles the curtains, youre going to shut down the notifications altogether. That means you could miss something really important.

We recently reviewed simplicam($150) for ArcSoft and had some of these issues. One of our biggest complaints was that you could either get notified for every single event including motion and sound detection and facial recognition or get a summary every 10, 30, or 60 minutes. It was always easy to tell when the cat was awake.

In order to cut down on some of this unnecessary noise, ArcSoft released a new feature today called Detection Zones. In the cameras accompanying Closeli app, you can use this option to make the camera blind to certain areas of the room, like the cat tree. Under Preferences, users can set the Detection Sensitivity for both sound and motion, from Whisper to Bam and Tiptoe to Crash, respectively. Below that is the Detection Areas option. The five-by-five grid lets users block out, square by square, where the dont want the camera to pick up motion. Even if theres a Crash in any of the unselected areas, the camera wont record or send an alert.We played around with the new feature a bit, and theres a whole chunk of time where the camera wasnt recording, because were hanging out in the dead zone.

Related:Forget Wi-Fi, Panasonics new security cam sports 4G connectivity

The firmware update, which ArcSoft will gradually roll out to users after they update the app, also has a few other changes. The ability to adjust the night vision and the motion sensitivity settings are both new, as is the ability to completely delete a video from the cloud whenever you want. Its gone from the cloud forever and ever and ever, right away, says Caroline Tien-Spalding, ArcSofts Senior Marketing Director. Its a very nuclear option; theres no taking it back, she adds, explaining why this ability wasnt originally included. Unless you save a video, it automatically expires after a day, 11 days, or 21 days, depending on how much cloud storage youre paying for. That hasnt changed, but now you can erase any videos of you stumbling to the kitchen half-naked for a glass of water at 3:00 a.m.

The new features can be used in concert with any of the cameras existing options, like Beta facial recognition or scheduled do-not-record times to further customize how closely the simplicam is watching you.

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No one likes coming home to a cold, dark house. For those who fear what goes bump in the night, there are automated home products that use geofencing to switch on the lights and turn up the thermostat when the user gets with a certain distance of the house. Typically, something like the smart thermostat Lyric utilizes owners smartphones to act as a signal that someone is two miles away from home, so it should kick on to have the house toasty by the time he or she arrives.

Its a decent system, as long as everyone in the family has a smartphone. No one wants the heater shutting off just because 12-year-old, cellphone-less Timmy was left at home while his mom went out to buy milk. Still, AT&T has its own ideas about how to kick start home automation: link its connected car service, Drive, to Digital Life, its home security and automation service. Soon, users will be able to use their dashboards or voice recognition to control their homes air-conditioners, coffeemakers, stereos, locks, and security systems.

Related:Baby, its cold outside: Heres our favorite smart thermostats to heat up your home

Once youve told your home when the car is (for instance) within 20 feet of the house to please open the garage door, put the lights on, turn the alarm off, move the thermostat up, you can have those inanimate objects, the home and your car, really taking care of you, Glenn Lurie, chief executive of AT&T Mobility told Reuters.

Among the car companies who have partnerships with AT&T Drive are Audi, Subaru, General Motors, Ford, and Tesla. According to AT&T, Drive lets each of these automakers customize its own system, so Audis wont look like Fords, for example.

For now, those Digital Life customers without a compatible car will just have to control their smart home the old-fashioned way: with their smartphone.

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AT&T wants you to control your smart home from your smart car

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here i show you how to monitor your house when your not there for free!! ... well you need to buy a cam but after that its FREE!!!!!

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AT&T's Digital Life and Drive platforms are joining forces so you can tap into your home security and automation set up straight from your car.

Inside the AT&T Drive Studio. AT&T

Today at Mobile World Congress, AT&T announced that its Digital Life and Drive platforms now work together.

Digital Life is a dealer-installed, fee-based home security and automation service that provides live monitoring as well as remote access on Android and iOS devices and computers. You have the option to choose from a handful of packages for customization, but you can also opt for a whole-home solution since the available hardware ranges from security cameras and door and window sensors to garage door openers, thermostats and smoke detectors.

AT&T's Drive initiative has locked down partnerships with Audi, BMW, GM, Ford, Tesla, Nissan, Volvo and Subaru. Its goal is to explore opportunities to inject AT&T tech into the connected feature offerings of these brands.

With this new partnership, Digital Life subscribers (with a compatible car) will be able to access the app on their vehicle's control panel or via voice control so they can check in on what's happening at home without having to grab their phone. Theoretically, then, you should be able to tell your car to open the garage door, rather than fishing around for your controller or the AT&T Digital Life app.

This sort of third-party integration is appearing on the smart-home scene with increasing frequency. Consider the Works with Nest initiative and its partnership with Mercedes-Benz. When you and your Benz are closing in on home, you can program it to trigger your Nest Learning Thermostat to switch to Home mode.

Given the sluggish smartphone market, AT&T has been working to secure new integrations and this Digital Life/Drive partnership puts that effort on full display. AT&T said that it added 800,000 wireless cars in the fourth quarter of 2014 and has plans to lasso roughly half of new US cars in 2015 and over 10 million by the close of 2017.

AT&T's Drive Studio is located in Atlanta, but you can check out an interactive demo of this new partnership in action here at Mobile World Congress 2015 in the Innovation City at stand 3A31. Be sure to check out the rest of CNET's MWC 2015 coverage.

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It seems that everyone from home security leader ADT to the broadband and cable providers like Time Warner want a piece of the smart home. The logic goes that these companies already have existing relationships with millions of customers and importantly, have hardware in the home. Why not just layer on additional services like home energy management, lighting and thermostat controls and security?

Well apparently theyre not the only enterprise player with similar logic. In December, US Cellular announced its new home automation and security service called OnLook. Whats interesting about US Cellulars move is that it doesnt have existing home infrastructure. Rather,the company has the ability to move data over cellular networks and relationships with mobile phone customers.

Weve seen other cellular providers begin to get interested in IoT and the smarthome. Last fall, Spains Telefonica rolled out a modular IoT platform called Thinking Things. Its not quite a smart home system as much as something an early adopter would savorstackable blocks with sensors for temperature, humidity, and ambient light that can move globally with Telefonicas cellular network.

So whats at play here for the cellular providers? At a basic level, no one wants to be a dumb pipe and the cell providers dream of selling services atop their networks refuses to die (Remember Verizon VCast?). So if US Cellular can figure out a way to build services on its network, theyd love to do that.

But more realistically, companies like US Cellular, and AT&T, which has its own cellular and WiFi powered smart home offering Digital Life, look at their existing customer base and wonder if theres an opportunity to sell to that group, particularly because of US Cellulars strong understanding of mobile. Most of these systems from cellular and telco providers are semi-closed systems that have been engineered to be pretty resilient and stable, even if the closed systems is irritating in that it walls off integration with third party devices.

I wrote recently about how ADT and Life360 are trying to leverage Life360s existing relationship with millions of families through Life360s mobile location sharing app. ADT wants access to those families in order to use Life360s mobile app to provide a better user experience not just for its security services but for additional connected home services.

Similarly, US Cellular is in a position to try and leverage its relationship with mobile customers and its access to mobile broadband to roll out its own smart home service. The service itself includes a home control panel along with door/window sensors, smoke detectors, carbon monoxide sensors, a smart thermostat, a motion sensor and lamp/appliance modules for connected lighting/appliance control. The packages range from $99 to $199 a month and require two year contracts.

To my mind, these are still very pricy packages. AT&Ts Digital Life starts at $40 a month but gets progressively more expensive as you add and install more devices. For someone already paying $50-$100 per month in cell service, doubling that monthly bill seems like a hard sell. I think that gets even more true when you consider that smart home platforms from the likes of SmartThings, Lowes Iris or even Nests burgeoning platform only have hardware costs right now and arguably allow for an open ecosystem of better connected devices.

That said, the likes of Digital Life and OnLook are unlikely to be selling to the individual. Rather theyre targeting the family thats concerned about safety and energy savings. And most importantly, the family that sees the appeal in a one stop solution thats been tested and where all the devices work seamlessly together.

Will consumers trade their favorite devices for one ecosystem that works well even if the monthly cost is a bit high? Its early days in the smart home but we may just see families favor these one stop solutions from cell and telco providers while individuals go for their favorite point applications and build their own ecosystem. Im sure US Cellular would be more than happy just to get a chunk of any smart home family market that comes to fruition.

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Everyone wants a piece of the smart home

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