Archos spills the beans on its upcoming lineup of smart home devices ahead of CES

By Drew Prindle December 30, 2013

Web-connected, automated smart-home devices are going to be all over CES this year, so in a move that’s likely intended to keep the company from being drowned out at the show, Archos has released a handful of details on a few of its upcoming smart home products.

You can check out the company’s website to get a preview of the lineup, which Archos is collectively referring to as “connected objects.” The collection, or at least what they’ve revealed of it at this point, includes the following:

Presence sensors that can track and react to motion inside an entire room
Motion sensors that can tell when a door, window, or cupboard are opened/closed
Indoor/outdoor security cameras
Weather trackers that can gauge humidity, temperature, CO2, and barometric pressure
Smart plugs that can remotely switch appliances on/off and monitor electricity usage

In addition to being able to track the data via Archos’s iOS/Android app, you can also string them together to create home automation workflows. Using a motion sensor and a security camera for example, you could set up an automation flow that sends you an email with a picture whenever somebody arrives at your door. And because there’s no limits on how you string them together, the number of potential functions they can perform is only limited by your imagination.

Probably the most significant addition to the lineup is the weather sensors. Archos faces stiff competition from many of the well-established DIY home automation systems like Smart Things, Iris, and a slew of others – but the inclusion of weather sensors could be a major differentiator since it enables a broader range of potential functions. Imagine having an alarm that could respond to changing conditions outside and wake you up early when it detects that you’ll probably need to scrape your windshield. Functions like that could very well set it apart from the competition.

Detailed info on things like specs and pricing have yet to surface, but we expect to hear the rest of the story at CES next week. For now, you can find out more about Archos’s smart home products on its website.

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