by Katie Pilkington January 6, 2014 1:01 PM PST (Credit: Colin West McDonald/CNET) Breadth can be appealing, and that's apparently what Lowe's is counting on with today's announcement of a handful of updates to its Iris home automation system. Starting in the first quarter of 2014, Lowe's will begin offering, among other things, leak detecting smart shut-off valves, smart lawn sprinkler control and a voice-command interface for Iris. The company hasn't offered up any pricing information, but those add-ons as well as coming smart energy grid compatibility and a garage door opener accessory will make Iris one of the most feature-rich smart home kits available. We were already impressed with the sheer number of sensors and other options Lowe's offers with Iris in our review in December. We'd like to see it go deeper on its security features (no monitoring option, no touchscreen keypad) though, and its Web interface is too fragmented, dispersing settings controls in too many different places. The $10 monthly fee also stings. Regardless, it's clear that the Iris project continues to be a priority for Lowe's with this update, and with home automation competitors coming from smaller and larger companies, it's too surprising to see some polishing left for later in the scramble to establish these brands and capture early market share. The risk is that Lowe's might sacrifice too much usability for going too wide, too early. We hope to find out more once we get our hands on the new accessories.
(Credit: Colin West McDonald/CNET) Breadth can be appealing, and that's apparently what Lowe's is counting on with today's announcement of a handful of updates to its Iris home automation system. Starting in the first quarter of 2014, Lowe's will begin offering, among other things, leak detecting smart shut-off valves, smart lawn sprinkler control and a voice-command interface for Iris.
The company hasn't offered up any pricing information, but those add-ons as well as coming smart energy grid compatibility and a garage door opener accessory will make Iris one of the most feature-rich smart home kits available.
We were already impressed with the sheer number of sensors and other options Lowe's offers with Iris in our review in December. We'd like to see it go deeper on its security features (no monitoring option, no touchscreen keypad) though, and its Web interface is too fragmented, dispersing settings controls in too many different places. The $10 monthly fee also stings.
Regardless, it's clear that the Iris project continues to be a priority for Lowe's with this update, and with home automation competitors coming from smaller and larger companies, it's too surprising to see some polishing left for later in the scramble to establish these brands and capture early market share. The risk is that Lowe's might sacrifice too much usability for going too wide, too early. We hope to find out more once we get our hands on the new accessories.
