Redwood City, Calif. – Icontrol Networks is expanding retail availability of its Piper home-automation hub/security camera.
In its latest move, the company is extending distribution to Amazon.com’s home automation section to supplement sales through its own GetPiper.com store.
“Amazon is the first step in our retail expansion,” said Russell Ure, Piper’s creator and EVP/GM of Icontrol Networks. “We have plans to expand Piper distribution to both online and brick-and-mortar retailers to offer our consumers a wider range of options to easily integrate Piper into their lives,” he told TWICE. The company is looking for “retailers that share our vision of an accessible, fully connected home,” he said.
Although Piper is Icontrol’s retail-distribution brand, the company also offers a smart-home and security platform on an OEM basis to such service providers as ADT and Time Warner Cable. Icontrol also recently began selling its platform through startup Smart Home Ventures, which is selling to consumers through its own web site, as well as at BestBuy.com and select Best Buy locations.
Piper is a $199 home-automation hub/HD security camera with Wi-Fi for control from Android and iOS mobile devices. It incorporates Z-Wave for wireless control of Z-Wave devices, and its 1080p HD security camera stores video in internal memory.
A package consisting of the hub, a Z-wave door/window sensor, and a Z-Wave smart switch is also available in the Amazon.com Home Automation Store for $299.
No service fees are charged.
On GetPiper.com, Icontrol offers a package consisting of a hub and three Z-Wave accessories for $339. Accessories include a door/window sensor, a smart switch that plugs into existing power outlets, and a microswitch, which mounts behind walls and connects to existing light switches and power outlets. A $799 package includes three hubs and five Z-Wave accessories. A package of three hubs is $597.
Key Piper features include the ability to customize security modes, motion detection, 105dB siren, and 1080p camera with 180-degree fisheye lens and electronic pan, tilt and zoom. Z-Wave accessories such as light dimmers can be integrated into the hub’s security modes and be controlled remotely, on a schedule, or by environmental triggers. Push notifications can be sent via phone call, text message, and e-mail when security rules are triggered.
Users of the company’s smartphone and tablet apps can also talk directly to house occupants through the hub.
Via the hub’s environmental sensors, users can monitor and control home temperature, humidity, ambient light and sound.
Free cloud service is available to store event videos, send various types of notifications, and perform additional login/connection negotiation, the company said.
