ADT partners with Life360 to expand home security beyond the home

With plans for a new app designed for security on-the-go, ADT and Life360 are setting their sights on securing the mobile generation.

Colin West McDonald/CNET

Home security giant ADT has announced a partnership with family-tracking app Life360, along with plans for joint development of a subscription-based mobile security smart phone app, to be released in late 2014.

The partnership comes by way of an initial investment of $25 million that gives ADT a minority ownership stake in Life360. ADT senior vice president and chief innovation officer Arthur Ordua called the partnership "a perfect pairing," and emphasized the two companies' shared vision for providing peace of mind to families, wherever they may be.

Life360's current subscription services stand to get a boost from ADT. Life360

Interestingly, as ADT looks to be expanding its home security offerings outside of the home, Life360 looks to be doing just the opposite. Life360's founder and chief executive officer Chris Hulls described the partnership as an opportunity for his company to deepen its reach back into the smart home, and to anchor its network with a strongly established home security and automation provider.

This means that Life360's current subscription offerings -- which already include family-wide geofencing, roadside assistance, and 24/7 access to a "live advisor" capable of talking users through a crisis or calling the authorities on their behalf -- stand to expand further in the coming months. ADT is already promising to provide access to its own live monitoring network, along with remote control over home security systems.

Life360's IFTTT channel might open up some interesting possibilities for ADT. IFTTT

Something else worth noting is that Life360 has its own dedicated channel on IFTTT, the popular web automation service. This means that Life360 is capable of syncing up with a wide range of online services, along with a bevy of smart home gadgets ranging from Philips Hue LEDs to SmartThings sensors to Belkin WeMo Switches. That opens up a world of new possibilities for ADT -- and may help it to compete with the emerging field of do-it-yourself kits.

The move fits in with what we've already seen from ADT this year, which announced some rather bold strategic moves at last January's Consumer Electronics Showcase in Las Vegas. These include partnerships with McAfee and Ford, as well as the surprising announcement that ATD would be making its monitoring services available to third party security providers. As rapidly as the home security market is evolving, bold moves probably make sense, as those who refuse to evolve risk getting left behind.

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ADT partners with Life360 to expand home security beyond the home