I thought the same thing. But to me it looks like they're not as ambitious as Electric Imp. If anything, it seems to me like they're trying to create yet another automation standard. An open standard, that includes interoperability (supposedly) with things like Z-Wave or Insteon, but still another standard.

SmartThings also doesn't seem to have the goal of being in large electronics like washer/dryers or fridges. In fact, they don't seem to have much of a specific gameplan at all. They don't mention how they're going about any of these things they're trying.

Last night I ordered one of these, which will become the new hub of my Z-Wave network. I'll be able to do a lot more with this thing. It can control Insteon and X10 as well, so I still don't get the point of this SmartThings project.


I maintain that the only thing that will ever change the home automation market is lower prices. The cost of these systems is still much to high for the average consumer to jump on it. Then we can start to address how awful it usually is to control all these things...