smart home News

Viewpoint: Mars Mission Should Inspire Insurers to Embrace Smart Home

In February, an unprecedented winter storm left millions of Texans crippled without power, burst pipes, and compromised water. Homeowners were left both helpless and unaware of what to expect as a bitter cold created chaos across the state. In parallel, …

State Farm Pilot Uses Sensors to Detect Wiring Defects That Can Cause Fires

State Farm is sending sensors that can detect hazards in electric wiring to 40,000 homeowners in California, Arizona and Texas as part of a pilot project that will measure potential savings and customer acceptance. Mike Fields, a State Farm vice …

Business News: HomeCare Connect, Roost, Consolidated Claims Group

HomeCare Connect Rolls Out TextConnect HomeCare Connect, which provides in-home caregivers to injured workers, announced the launch of a free texting service to allow clients to communicate with care givers. HomeCare Connect said that during its initial contact with injured …

Business News: Nationwide and Notion, FileTrac and Hover, Octo and ICBC

Nationwide Teams With Notion for Smart Home Monitoring Nationwide has teamed up with Notion to offer smart home monitoring products to policyholders to guard against theft, fire and water damage. The Notion smart home monitoring system uses sensors with multiple …

Business News: Phyn, Envista Forensics, GuideOne and Stategos

Phyn Retailing Smart Water-Leak Detector Phyn announced the release of a water-leak detector that sends alerts to consumer’s smart phones, which will be available for sale in Best Buy stores for $299 starting next month. Phyn, based in Torrance, California, …

Walmart Will Put the Groceries in the Fridge While You’re Out

Walmart Inc. already sells more food than anyone else. Now it wants to put those groceries right in your fridge. Beginning this fall, about 1 million people in Pittsburgh, Kansas City, and Vero Beach, Florida, will be able to get …

Roost Gathering Data as it Awaits Insurance Industry Transformation

For years, insurance industry observers have been predicting that home telematics products would transform the insurance industry by forcing carriers to take on the role of damage preventer instead of just claims payer. Insurers are still experimenting. But one company …

Design Flaws Create Security Vulnerabilities for ‘Smart Home’ Internet-of-Things Devices

Researchers at North Carolina State University have identified design flaws in “smart home” Internet-of-Things devices that allow third parties to prevent devices from sharing information. The flaws can be used to prevent security systems from signaling that there has been …