At CES, Belkin’s WeMo line added a new product to its growing catalog. But let’s start from the beginning. Announced one year ago today (Happy Birthday BTW) at last year’s CES. WeMo is a line of products allowing consumers ways to automate their home. By home automation, I mean to control household electronics from your smartphone/tablet – even if your are not home. All you need is an outlet, Wi-Fi network and a compatible smartphone or tablet.
Among their current products are a Home Control Switch ($49.99) that allows you to turn whatever electronics you have plugged in (fans, lights, etc.) on or off by using smartphone via the WeMo app. You can also create schedules to automatically turn devices on or off as well.
You also have a Motion Sensor that works hand-in-hand with the Home Control Switch. The motion sensor can react to movement like automatically turning on the lights when entering a room in your home. this is sold with the Home Switch as a bundle for $99.99.
Today the company announced a new product, the WeMo Light Switch. The switch replaces an existing light switch as it connects to your existing home wiring to control more than just plug-in lamps. The Light Switch can be put an a schedule, remote control access via smartphone, and also works with the other WeMo products
WeMo products currently works with iOS as Android support is coming later this year. Interested Galaxy S III users can join their open Beta testing kicking off next month. No word on pricing for the Light Switch at the moment.
While we are no where near to Jetsons status, WeMo gets us a little bit closer.
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