LATEST CONTROL4 OPERATING SYSTEM FEATURES REIMAGINED HOME SECURITY INTERFACE, NATIVE MUSIC STREAMING FROM PANDORA, DEEZER AND TIDAL, AND ENHANCEMENTS TO MAKE IT EASY TO ENJOY DIGITAL MEDIA ON-DEMAND
Control4 Corporation (NASDAQ: CTRL), a leading global provider of home automation solutions, today released OS 2.8, the latest version of its smart home operating system. With OS 2.8, Control4 rolls out a reimagined smart home security experience that easily integrates with today’s leading security systems, smart locks and cameras; offers native streaming of music services from Pandora, Deezer, and TIDAL; and updates other capabilities to make it easy for Control4 homeowners to search, browse, listen and watch their favorite media. Additionally, OS 2.8 delivers a number of enhanced dealer tools, most notably the ability to back up Control4 projects to the cloud and all-new “experience” drivers that simplify the creation of personalized smart home experiences.
“State of the art security systems and entertainment capabilities are key drivers for smart home adoption and Control4 OS 2.8 dramatically enhances the overall safety and entertainment experiences in the Control4 Smart Home,” said Martin Plaehn, Control4 Chairman and CEO. “We have delivered an elegant, innovative and easy way to make sure all is well at home, even when Control4 customers are away, offering them greater peace of mind. OS 2.8 also delivers an unprecedented amount of choice when it comes to entertainment by integrating music streaming services with tens of millions of songs that can be enjoyed by everyone in the family.”
Reimagined Security Experience, Giving Homeowners Greater Peace of Mind Control4’s new security experience features an entirely reimagined interface with integrations to industry-leading home security panels and sensors. OS 2.8 offers a completely redesigned user interface that is elegant and approachable, for easier and more comprehensive control, as well as new management tools for monitoring and personalizing access to the home. OS 2.8 also includes MockupancyTM: new capability that automatically mimics a household’s normal routines and behaviors while they’re away.
In conjunction with all of these new home security enhancements in OS 2.8, Control4 announced to dealers a new door station solution for the Smart Home. The new Control4 Door Station will be available later this year and is a great way to check who’s at the front door using Control4 Touch Screens, on-screen user interfaces, and even an iOS or Android mobile device. This new door station delivers greater security, and with great new features like better low-light performance, motion detection, email snapshots, and the ability to see the camera independent of a call, the new DS2 door station will be used to protect, and connect, even more smart homes.
Specifically, Control4 OS 2.8 brings several key new home security enhancements, including: -A new user interface for families to arm or disarm their systems – or get emergency help – with a single tap directly on their touch screens, TV remotes, smart tablets, and mobile phones.
-A new iOS and Android mobile interface to manage smart locks, for family members to easily lock or unlock a door, add or delete users, and grant temporary home access.
-All security zones are now available in a single interface and simplifies the management of all the security zones in the smart home, including the ability to close a gate or a garage door with a single tap.
-A new searchable event-history agent that records security incidents throughout the home to provide a sequenced and contextual understanding of activity, which in turn can be used to inform homeowners via mobile alerts and push-notifications that are timely and relevant.
-Finally, more powerful, intelligent drivers that enable Control4 dealers to automate more of the home security configuration, with 2-way communication between the security panel and the Control4 system. With OS 2.8, Control4 more easily integrates with 20 of the most popular security panels from Honeywell, DSC, Interlogix, and Napco, among others.
New Native Streaming Music Services and Usability Enhancements Make it Easier to Share and Browse Audio and Video, Giving Families An Excuse for a ‘Night In’
Control4 OS 2.8 brings the whole family together with the ability to quickly find and play everyone’s favorite music and movies, featuring the following new enhancements:
-Control4 homeowners can now stream Pandora, Deezer and TIDAL music services natively from their Control4 controllers without relying on any additional hardware. The Deezer integration will feature Deezer Premium+ and will be available globally, with the exception of the US for the near term.
-When coupled with Control4’s existing ability to integrate with Rhapsody, Napster and TuneIn, everyone in the house can listen to his or her favorite digital music in any room in the house.
-The native streaming experience features a consistent user interface across all services, and adds programming depth to enrich personalization features like playing a family member’s favorite station in the house when they unlock the front door.
-In addition to adding new streaming services, OS 2.8 includes native support for Airplay-enabled devices with ShairBridge, so anyone in the house can share and stream his or her music collection from iOS smart phones and tablets, or computers running iTunes, to different zones throughout the home.
-OS 2.8 also has a beautiful new My Movies and My Music experience, with a grid-view that showcases high-resolution cover art for an enhanced browsing experience. A new Details View also displays rich metadata, and there is an improved search feature to help family members find their favorite content quickly.
Personalization in the Smart Home Now it is easier than ever to personalize the Control4 interface on T3 Series Touch Screens, with a customer’s own family photos or with an expanded selection of beautifully designed new default wallpaper images and elegant screen saver options. The new screen saver feature allows a homeowner to showcase a family photo library on T3 Touch Screens when not in use, as well as providing useful information including date and time, current media cover art, and local weather.
New Dealer Tools Keep Project Data Accessible via the Cloud, Control4 has added new functionality and a number of new tools to give dealers multiple ways to ensure their customer projects are always current and accessible. Added in Composer 2.8, is the ability to automatically backup projects, including media data, securely to the cloud. Automatic cloud backup is a feature of the 4Sight service. In addition, these backups can be done manually, or automatically on a schedule, locally or remotely, from Composer, Composer Express, and even Composer Home Edition.
Hundreds of New Drivers Expand the Ecosystem of Compatible Devices and Help Deliver Truly Personal Smart Home Experiences
Control4 has also announced new “experience” drivers that help simplify programming for highly-personal experiences inside of a Control4 Smart Home.
-The all-new MockupancyTM capability remembers the every-day routines and actions of the household within the home, allowing a Control4 homeowner to play back those routines and actions while they are away – simulating the organic feel of an occupied residence. Specifically, Mockupancy can coordinate lighting, shades, and even TV entertainment and music streaming to mimic normal household occupancy.
-The all-new Snapshot driver simplifies the capture of the current state of connected devices throughout the home, including lighting, entertainment and comfort control. A dealer can then program the system to recall the scene with a single tap or button press.
-The driver database has expanded to integrate over 9,500 compatible devices; Control4 has released free drivers for over 700 devices since the acquisition of Extra Vegetables in September of 2014, including popular smart devices from Amazon, Sony, Samsung, TiVo, Hunter Douglass, Bang & Olufsen, and Bowers & Wilkins among many others.
Tags: Control4
