The connected home began in fits and starts. There were smart thermostats with Nest, connected light bulbs, and Wi-Fi-enabled smoke alarms. For a while, all these devices were operating independently, but hubs such as Wink promised to unify smart homes. Now comes NUZii, which dubs itself “the world’s first smart-life hub.”
NUZii can get all your smart devices talking, but the hub wants to be your one-stop shop for everything: cloud storage device, music player, security system, and router. Soap also offers a hub-as-router but with not quite as many features.
“We’ve seen an influx of connected devices that all do amazing things, but they all function independently,” said creator Simon Watfa. “We’ve created a product that will harness the power of these smart devices and allow users to control them from one central location.”
NUZii’s list of features is impressive: HD webcam, temperature and humidity sensors, motion detection, malware protection, and encrypted cloud storage. Everything is controlled through NUZii’s app, sending users alerts and updates as conditions inside their home change.
Though it starts of smart, NUZii promises to get smarter, learning your favorite music and temperature preferences. It connects to your phone and can start playing Taylor Swift as soon as you walk through the door — provided you’re not trying to stream her songs.
The device is pretty small, too; check out the video above to see the four-inch-tall hub fit in a pocket. It’s definitely an advantage over other hubs.
Right now, NUZii is crowdfunidng on Kickstarter. The early bird price starts at $75; the device will retail for $130. That’s cheaper than something like Piper, which is designed solely as a security system, but it remains to be seen whether NUZii is a jack of all trades and master of none.
