Universal Electronics Launches Connected Thermostats for HVAC Brands
Universal Electronics Inc.s' UEI Comfort family of connected thermostats, launched Thursday, uses the same intelligence unveiled initially on the company's Nevo Butler smart home hub, emailed Arsham Hatambeiki, senior vice president-products and technology, Friday. The line is built with UEI’s QuickSet widget, which offers setup and control via the cloud over Wi-Fi and allows interoperability with other smart home devices and ecosystems.
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The "first-of-a-kind, ambient-aware” Comfort connected thermostats sense temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide. The thermostats have a large color display with a graphical interface and physical controls for quick access to common features, said the company; occupancy-sensing technology is said to “optimize comfort and reduce energy costs.” They connect to other devices via Bluetooth Low Energy, Zigbee and infrared, and users can control the temperature through Alexa, Google or SmartThings-enabled devices.
The thermostats can provide temperature and sensing data to other connected devices, such as home automation systems and smart lights, said UEI. A new built-in UEI virtual agent serves ongoing needs with a support framework for connected devices, including guided setup and onboarding, feature discovery and troubleshooting.
Interoperability and device management services offered through QuickSet are the "core foundation of our new generation of white label connected products," along with UEI's virtual agent, powered by nevo.ai, which is designed to simplify daily device interactions, ongoing self-help and support, and new service activations, said Hatambeiki. The same capabilities are also offered and used as software solutions to be integrated into third-party hardware such as smart TVs, or through a new generation of connectivity solutions using QuickSet Widget, which is designed to simplify the upgrading of OEM products with "secure connectivity, interoperability with other devices and a better support framework," he said.
At CES, UEI announced it was introducing new capabilities and support across home entertainment and smart home devices for nevo.ai virtual assistant services. Since the introduction of nevo.ai as an integrated white-label virtual assistant in Nevo Butler, UEI has been adding capabilities and support across devices, including smart TVs, set-top boxes and home gateways, "where users can interact more easily with their smart home virtual assistant," it said. Nevo.ai is built on Microsoft’s open-sourced and extensible Virtual Assistant solution accelerator.
On how the company differentiates its thermostats from Google's Nest products, Hatambeiki said the UEI devices offer "unique possibilities" for major brands to offer interoperable solutions in residential, hospitality or light commercial applications. They offer compatibility with other hubs and assistants, while allowing brands to maintain a direct relationship with their customers or build managed independent networks, he said. He cited features including new sensing technologies, expanded wireless communication capabilities and interoperability with a wide range of devices, which address major pain points in residential, light commercial and hospitality markets. They're also optimized to integrate with existing infrastructure, he said.
The Comfort family is "applicable to a wide range of channels" where the company already has a presence, said Hatambeiki, and it's targeting new and existing customers. "The smart home is still early in its journey, and we believe we can help deliver meaningful experiences that can help many users," he said. The first product in the UEI Comfort family will be available to OEMs in the second half of 2021, he said. A version designed for the hospitality market is due to follow later in the year.