03 December 2008

My Home Is Where My Phone Is
Hands-on Nokia's Z-Wave Home Control Center

Few days ago Nokia has announced it's smart home platform as the basis for next generation security, smart home solutions and household energy management systems.

Nokia Home Control Center enabling the home owner to build a technology-neutral smart home that can be controlled with a mobile phone, using a unified user interface.

Nokia and Europe’s biggest energy companies RWE enter into a partnership to develop a comprehensive home based solution called the Z-Wave Home Control Centre. This cooperation integrates RWE’s energy competence with Nokia’s technical know-how.

Z-Wave Home Control Centre will allow the users to control the systems at home through their mobile phones. It will be the next generation security solution provided to the users. Consumers will be able to monitor and control the electricity usage, switches to be turned on or off. It will also help the users to monitor different objects such as temperature, camera and motion.

The first solution will focus on home heating management. The user interface will be their mobile phones in addition to this a separate display will be available. The two collaborated companies also plan to offer users with real time information regarding their energy consumption thus controlling the usage of electrical energy accordingly.

“We see there is growth potential in the smart home market,” states Teppo Paavola, Vice President, Head of Corporate Business Development, Nokia. “The home of today has intelligence everywhere, but to date there has not been a solution that is interoperable with wide range of home systems that can easily be controlled. We want to create an open solution where external partners can develop their own solutions and services on top of our platform. We believe that the mobile device is an ideal interface to control home intelligence, especially when the user is not at home.”

“We are delighted to have secured a world-leading technology partner in Nokia for our range of smart home energy products. Our aim is to offer innovative and affordable energy-efficient solutions for every household that are simple and convenient to operate,” says Carolin Reichert, Head of New Business at RWE.

The Z-Wave Home Control Centre solution will be demonstrated at the Nokia’s World event on December 2-3 2008. The solution will be available commercially by the end of 2009. No price details available yet.

Further, Nokia has started working with a number of companies to define and create a solid basis for building the next generation of products that will introduce a new kind of mobile access to intelligent systems at the home.

These collaboration partners include Danfoss, Delta Dore, Ensto, and Meishar Immediate Community (MIC) and Zensys. The Nokia smart home partner program is structured around five key areas which mobile access will open up, creating new opportunities for the next generation smart home. These are security, energy efficiency, wellness, construction, real estate, and smart home solutions.