This week’s SmartHome roundup features smart home prediction in 2014, a faster way to transfer media files at home, and Ninjas go open source.

The future of US smart homes

International research firm Parks Associates recently held a webcast featuring analysts pondering the future of smart home automation.  The firm estimates that by 2017, more than 11 million US homes will have some type of smart home controller, a huge increase from the two million homes equipped with one this year.

The webcast addressed a variety of implications brought about by new mobile and connected home products and services, including data analytics, personalization, and targeted advertising, across a variety of industries such as entertainment and access services, mobile services and devices , connected CE, controls, energy, and smart home services, tech support, digital health, and the app ecosystem.

Eye-Fi launches beta support for Windows

Eye-Fi, the company that brought us wireless solutions for memory cards, recently updated its beta Windows desktop receiver, for the Mobi card.  The Eye-Fi Mobi card enables the instant transfer of photos and videos from cameras to mobile devices, without needing wires or card readers.  With the support for Windows, users can now enjoy the same ease of media transfer directly on their desktop.

The price for the new version of Eye-Fi Mobi card has yet to be revealed, but the beta version is now available as a free download to existing Eye-Fi customers using Windows with the Mac version slated for release at a later date.

“Our customers love the ability to snap great pictures on a camera and instantly share from a phone or tablet, and now we’re taking that experience one step further,” said Matt DiMaria, CEO of Eye-Fi.  “Now we’re adding a simple, instant way to transfer to the desktop and make it easy for customer to get their photos on their computers to edit and archive.”

Ninjas go open source

From the makers of Ninja Blocks, a smart home automation solutions, come Ninja Sphere, its next generation device that does more.  The “spheramidal” device features WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, ZigBee technology, USB port, gesture control, and open-source architecture that allows users to connect the device with other devices by writing their own drivers to make them compatible.

What makes Ninja Sphere unique is that it learns about the user and the environment, making it easy for the device to know if something is out of place or something does not feel right.  It can accurately locate tagged objects within the home.  It monitors temperature, lighting, energy usage, you and your pets’ presence, and anything else you connect to your sphere.  By learning from you and its environment, Ninja Sphere can advise you intelligently and give you control only when you need it.

This could be the next big thing in smart home automation.  It can tell you when you get a call and where your phone is if it’s not with you, inform you of lights still turned on when you’re already in bed and ask you if it should be turned off or not, alerting you if something is occurring in real time.

Ninja Sphere is currently a Kickstarter project but it has already surpassed its funding goal of $115,000 with 26 more days before the funding period ends.

photo credit: h.koppdelaney via photopin cc