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Coming Soon: ZigBee Control by PDA

Posted by timothy on from the wireless-torchiere-is-a-zigbee-pole dept.

palmtops writes "The new ZigBee (IEEE 802.15.4) wireless protocol designed for home automation is getting a lot of exposure lately and got some more exciting news today. Wired Home Weblog has a brief mention and press release about the first ZigBee SDIO card that allows your home to be controlled by your PDA. The card was introduced by C-Guys at Cebit today and will definitely add a whole new dimension to home automation."

1 of 77 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Good times ahead by colenski · · Score: 3, Insightful

    could someone explain why Zigbee and the other newer alternatives are better than X10?

    'cause X-10 doesn't scale. It only transmits on 1 phase of the power, and you need a phase coupler to ensure it covers a moderately sized house. In practical use, you'd be hard pressed to get it to work consitiently in a > 3000 sq ft house.

    Oh yeah, and there's no security layer, so it's possible to turn on your neighbor's lights when you turn yours on if they choose the same "channel" as you.

    I am an X-10 pro certified installer and I think X-10 is neat (and cheap) but it's old. Really old. Really, really friggin old. Time to shoot it in the head and come up with something better.