Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) said it is now selling products from third parties that work with its Xfinity Home security and home automation platform. The company announced its intent to integrate third-party products into the offering in May, and today the company said it is now selling its initial batch of integrated products.
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Comcast's Xfinity Home now supports some products from third parties |
Specifically, starting today Comcast's Xfinity Home customers will be able to use an iOS and/or Android Xfinity app to control August Smart Lock devices, Chamberlain MyQ garage door controllers, Lutron Caseta wireless light controllers and dimmers and Nest Learning thermostats.
Dan Herscovici, senior VP and GM of Xfinity Home, said Comcast has been developing a software development kit that simplifies the integration of products from third-party vendors. This work includes the creation of a testing and certification program. Smart devices that are certified will be branded at retail with the "Works with Xfinity Home" moniker.
"Our engineers in Philadelphia have not only tested to make sure the integration was done right, but we're also testing to make sure that what we're bringing in is a great door lock or lighting control solution. We're looking for best-in-class partners," Herscovici said in an interview with FierceCable.
All devices included in the Xfinity Home integration will receive technical support from Comcast. Herscovici said Comcast will begin offering installation for these devices "in the coming months."
Also, Comcast said it plans to expand control of its Xfinity Home platform to its X1 video platform, and associated voice-control features. Such plans are noteworthy considering Apple is in the early stages of rolling out third-party products that support its HomeKit home automation service; a major selling point to HomeKit is that it can be controlled by Apple's Siri digital assistant service.
Other third-party integrations for Xfinity Home are on the way. Comcast in May also announced partnerships with Rachio (maker of irrigation control systems), Cuff (wearables), Automatic Labs (car adapters), Whistle (pet monitors) and SkyBell (video surveillance and doorbells).
Comcast hasn't broken out customer figures for its three-year old home automation business for quite some time. As of the end of the third quarter of 2013, it had just over 500,000 customers.
Of course, Comcast isn't the only smart home vendor opening its platform to products from other suppliers. AT&T is working on the same strategy with its Digital Life home automation service, and Google's Nest has been open to third parties for a year now. Other suppliers, like Samsung's SmartThings business, launched with the specific intent to work with a range of products from other suppliers.
For more:
- read this Comcast blog post
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