Engineers at Irvine-based Insteon, a home-automation technology provider, worked with Apple Inc. counterparts for months in preparation for the much-hyped April 24 release of the Apple Watch.
“We’ve been engaged for some time now,” Chief Executive Joe Dada said of the relationship with the Cupertino-based consumer electronics giant.
The Apple Watch, synced with an iPhone, allows users to control appliances, lights, thermostats and connected rooms; view camera footage; and monitor a variety of sensors, including door, motion and carbon monoxide.
The latest strategic relationship with tight-lipped Apple could be a boon for Insteon because the device is expected to smash smartwatch sales records.
Slice Intelligence forecasts 957,000 U.S. consumers preordered the watch. Other analysts have predicted unit shipments in the first year to hit 9 million to 30 million units.
That’s a lot of opportunity for Insteon, which links its app that remotely controls home utilities and appliances to the Apple Watch, plus several of its own products, such as motion sensors, switches, LED bulbs and indoor cameras, as well as to offerings from other manufacturers.
“The watch is going to tell you more than any other device. It’s going to be the No. 1 place to get your alerts,” Dada said. “We’re trying to bring all the connectivity we can to the tips of their fingers.”
The Business Journal estimates 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.
New CEO at TigerLogic
Irvine-based TigerLogic Corp. has promoted Chief Financial Officer Roger Rowe to chief executive following the departure of Brad Timchuk, who left the software maker to pursue other interests, according to the company.
Rowe takes over a company that has lost more than $28.6 million in the past three years and whose share price has sunk to about 40 cents, prompting the Nasdaq to issue a delisting notice to regain minimum price compliance of at least $1 by Oct. 5.
TigerLogic, which develops cloud services, and mobile, search and social networking applications for corporate and government customers, has shrunk its local operation to six employees after selling its database management systems business in 2013 to Waltham, Mass.-based Rocket Software Inc. for $22 million. It employs 60 companywide.
Laguna College’s New Program
Laguna College of Art and Design will launch a graduate degree program in game design in the fall. The two-year Masters of Fine Arts program is designed for people who want to pursue or advance a career in game development, production and creative leadership.
The Laguna Beach liberal arts school is partnering with San Francisco-based game development software maker Unity Technologies—whose big-name customers include Cartoon Network, Disney, Electronic Arts, Microsoft, and Warner Bros.—to launch the program.
Game Art instructors and mentors hail from several local companies, including Blizzard Entertainment, Double Helix Games, Obsidian Entertainment and NCsoft Carbine Studios.
Interested students can apply for the program at www.lcad.edu/introducing-art-game-design-mfa/.
