Irvine-based home automation and control technology provider Insteon continues to beef up its integration with big-name product makers in a new partnership with Sonos Inc.
Sonos is a Santa Barbara-based speakers maker that burst onto the scene in 2014 with a campaign that included one of the more memorable Super Bowl ads, a spot trumpeting its wireless home audio system that costs upward of $1,000, depending on setup.
“We felt it was important to bring our customers to them and vice versa,” Insteon Chief Executive Joe Dada said at Pepcom’s Digital Experience this month, an annual event in Las Vegas that precedes CES, the world’s largest tech trade show.
Sonos owners can control their speakers through Insteon wall switches and set up their own home scenes with lighting, sound and equipment controls through Insteon’s wireless remote.
Insteon was among the first companies hand-picked by Apple Inc. for the initial lineup of Apple’s much-anticipated HomeKit, which offers a selection of services for connected home devices.
The Business Journal also has reported that Insteon engineers worked with Apple counterparts for months in preparation for the much-hyped release of the Apple Watch last April.
We estimate Insteon parent SmartLabs Inc. has annual revenue exceeding $200 million, including sales from its Smarthome retail store, which shares Insteon’s headquarters near John Wayne Airport and sells its products.
Insteon sells a hub that allows users to operate its own line of connected products—such as switches, outlets, thermostats and light bulbs—plus devices made by other manufacturers.
VR Device Debuts
The long-awaited consumer edition of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset is finally available.
The device, which helped position Orange County as a VR hub and propel co-founder Palmer Luckey into tech star status, will set buyers back at least $600, not including taxes and shipping.
The headset, which includes custom displays, optic and tracking systems, an external sensor that plugs into a computer, two OLED screens, and a camera that tracks body movement and mimics it in the virtual world, is bundled with video games “Lucky’s Tale” by Playful and “EVE: Valkyrie” by CCP, an Xbox One controller and an Oculus remote that helps users navigate the Oculus store and search for VR content.
Buyers will need to purchase an Oculus Ready PC to gain the full immersive experience, which costs about $900.
The expected shipping date is June, according to its website, with limited retail availability in April.
Oculus VR Inc. moved from Irvine to Silicon Valley after its $2 billion sale to Menlo Park-based Facebook Inc. in 2014.
Fantasy Sports Win
Daily fantasy sports proponents and the industry’s two largest players were handed a big victory when the State of New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division granted FanDuel Inc. in New York and Boston-based DraftKings Inc. a permanent injunction against state officials aiming to shut down business.
The Jan. 11 ruling essentially means the sites can operate for the foreseeable future and provides some clarity for other competitors, including Aliso Viejo startup FantasyAces LLC, which is working with state legislators to enact regulations in California on the booming daily fantasy sports segment.
