Adrian Caceres, Co-Founder, Chief Technology Officer, Ayla Networks, provides insight on several key industry trends for Parks Associates’ 20^th-annual CONNECTIONS Conference, which will be held May 24-26 in San Francisco:

How is your company engaging consumers through new technology solutions?

The best way to answer is with a couple of smart-home use cases.  

1. Hunter Fan has introduced two new WiFi-enabled ceiling fans, the Symphony and Signal. The fans, which support Apple HomeKit technology, can interact with other HomeKit-enabled products and allow homeowners to check on, program and control the fans wirelessly, from anywhere, using their iOS device or via a mobile app on their Android device. Homeowners can use the mobile app to control Symphony’s or Signal’s operating speed to optimize temperature and energy efficiency. They can also control the fans’ lights to enhance home security – such as turning lights on and off at night or when residents are away from home. The free mobile app can control one, two or even more fans in multiple rooms of a home – and enables the fans to interact with other WiFi enabled products, such as thermostats, light bulbs and smoke detectors.
2. Hampton Products has added cloud connectivity to its forthcoming Brink’s Home Security Array digital deadbolt, creating a connected digital door lock that works with smartphones via WiFi wireless connectivity. Array is among the first digital door locks to use built-in WiFi, connecting directly to a homeowner’s router and bypassing hubs, making it one of the most consumer-friendly Smart Home lock products available.

What is the biggest change you have seen in the past year in the connected home and entertainment industries?

Consumers are starting to see the benefits of owning connected products, seeing them as devices that make your life easier. Not through just the improved usability of individual devices, but through the increased user experience and benefits of being able to interact seamlessly with the entire ecosystem around them.

What do you think is the biggest driver for the connected consumer market?

As more manufacturers develop connected products, they are seeing the real value behind having home devices connected. For the first time, they are able to truly visualize and understand how their products are being used. Data -- provided from the products in use -- is allowing them to build better products and, more importantly, optimize how they do business. Manufacturers are realizing that the connected appliance market is a new channel facilitating an ongoing relationship with the consumer.

What is the greatest challenge for the connected home industry in the next year?

There are many misconceptions and false assumptions around smart, connected appliances. The confusion lies in the uncertainty of what a smart, connected appliance can do. If you were to ask any number of people what a smart appliance is, from what we have seen, a good majority of them would give you a different answer. Answers range from people who believe smart, connected appliances are devices that are simply controllable from a mobile app, to others who believe a smart, connected appliance is not only a controllable device, but also something that fits into a larger picture, influencing and interacting with a larger ecosystem.

 Click to Tweet this image:

Caceres will speak on the session “IoT and Smart Home Devices: Privacy and Security” on Tuesday, May 24 at 4:45 p.m. Other speakers on the panel include Greenwave Systems and Intel Security.

For more information on CONNECTIONS, visit www.connectionsus.com or register by clicking here.