Aside from the lack of cool name, there's another issue with 6lowpan (at least for now), along with most other competing standards, and that's the lack of a common protocol/profile.
For clarity's sake, we need to make the distinction between ZigBee (the radio technology) and Smart Energy (the application-specific profile). While 6lowpan, or wifi, or bluetooth, or zwave for that matter all offer competing radio technologies, each with pros and cons, none of them offer a standardized protocol for home area network devices to trade data such as price, consumption, messaging, etc.
That's where ZigBee has the lead now. If I build a 6lowpan device today, I have to invent such a protocol - this means it won't be compatible with any other device unless they happen to use my proprietary protocol too. Any device with a ZigBee Smart Energy implementation however will work on any Smart Energy home network, letting you mix and match devices from different vendors. That's a HUGE difference in terms of readiness for large scale rollouts and consumer adoption.
So far, the Smart Energy standard has also been branched out to HomePlug. It may end up coming to other radio technologies in the future, though that remains to be seen.
Only because right now, every home automation system is a hobbyist/specialist product. Most people don't even realize that stuff exists, and if they do, don't know where to start/what to choose. So economies of scale aren't there.
Control4 has done a good job marketing their consumer products (with a little help from Oprah).
But when your local utility puts a zigbee gateway in your house, connected to a web-based interface (you know, like Google PowerMeter with some home control stuff built in), it suddenly gets a lot easier. First of all, they've taken care of the control system - usually the most expensive part. Secondly, you can go to Home Depot and pick up a ZigBee thermostat or switch, or even a washer and dryer or fridge (see this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUITFR5gA4I)
With major manufacturers pushing out millions of units (because now there's a market of millions of homes for them to go into, many of which getting tax breaks for buying said products), prices will drop dramatically. And I say this with some expertise considering I make the radios that go in these systems.
ZigBee is designed to work around competing signals.
A company I used to work for did ZigBee based hospitality energy saving systems. So think networks with hundreds of nodes (thermostats, relays, etc), coexisting with wifi networks ranging from your standard off the shelf box to commercial setups, microwaves, phones, etc. Those networks were extremely reliable.
This is actually one of the strengths of ZigBee as opposed to a weakness.
(Disclosure/Insight: My company, MMB Research http://mmbresearch.com/, makes ZigBee Smart Energy hardware and software to help people integrate this kind of technology into products, and I've been involved with ZigBee for a number of years.)
A lot of commenters here seem to be comparing the various features of competing home automation technologies, which is certainly appropriate, but you also have to look at the bigger, future picture.
ZigBee - and specifically the ZigBee Smart Energy profile is becoming the standard of choice for in-home networks that will exist on the Smart Grid.
So it's one thing to compare ZigBee to Z-wave or X10 on a merits basis (though I believe it's far superior based on years of real-world experience), but when you consider your utility is going to put a ZigBee Smart Energy enabled meter/gateway in your house, and that hundreds of OEMs are going to be integrating it into wide variety of appliances that can hop on that network, you're going to see drastic reductions in cost, and increases in choice and quality.
In a few years, there might be a handful of WiFi or Z-Wave thermostats (or pool pumps, or light switches), but there will be dozens of ZigBee ones, because the installed user base will be there.
Now, Control4 is talking about ZigBee Pro and the Home Automation profile, which isn't technically part of the Smart Energy profile, but they can coexist, and many developers of Smart Energy products/solutions - including ourselves - have implemented both, opening up the HAN (home area network) to a variety of devices and controls.
The number of comments on here about how there's only a format war cause both format owners are GREEDY, and it's causing consumer confusion, etc. amaze me.
This is the same crowd that goes APE SHIT over monopolies and proprietary formats, and goes on and on about how there should be more open competition. Well you got it! Unfortunately, sometimes with competition, there are, you know, competing solutions.
So yes, it's annoying and potentially confusing. But do you think that there would be $100 HD players if there wasn't such intense competition? Do you think the formats would get such big support if there wasn't intense pressure to roll out? Would you rather a company like sony have total dominance in the market? Yes, some titles are on one and some on the other.
Don't worry. Whoever wins, all the titles will eventually come out on that format, or dual-format players will be cheaper. In fact, I almost prefer the latter, as I actually like when there's multiple solutions to choose from.
Competition is GOOD. It will mean cheaper, better, and a wider variety of goods for consumers. Too often, companies cite "consumer confusion" to mask what they're really concerned about - consumer CHOICE. I'm just surprised to see that happening here.
So when Universal does their research to find out how piracy has been affected, who are they going to use?
Cause for years they've been using "researchers" trained to inflate the numbers as high as possible regardless of how ridiculous it was. If they want the TRUTH (i.e. reliable data they'll need to determine real cost-benefit), they're going to have to use LEGITIMATE research, and I don't know if they can afford legitimate research getting out there for use by policymakers. Or you know, to point out that they've been full of shit for years.
True of course. I'd be the last to generalize. But in this case I'm talking about McCain, who has latched on to the President, and adopted a "If we just keep saying how safe bagdahd is, it makes it true!"
They can patent calling a customer to check up on an order? That's great!
I'm filing a patent tomorrow for "Calling one's mother on mothers' day", and "Just calling to say I Love You"
I'm going to make a mint.
Actually - I should probably try to patent "Calling people to market products they don't want", and do some public good.
I think it makes even more sense than that. Ballmer is a PERFECT canditate for the current administration / Republican philosophy - that is "If we stick our fingers in our ears and talk really loud, the problem goes away"
Ballmer has repeatedly discussed how he bans his kids from using Google (instead of using it as a fantastic opportunity for first hand research into what makes a competitor's product better than his to the degree that his OWN KIDS would rather use it), and runs a company that sneers at employees that use ipods instead of zunes (instead of asking them WHY, so as to maybe make their own products more competitive).
Giving sh-t to Microsoft for supporting China - an oppressive regime - is a cheap shot that only alleviates our guilt. Did any one of you refuse to purchase the componets from the computers you are using right now that were made in china? Fuelling money into this opressive regime? Did anyone complain about how cheap their latest gadget was because it was manufactured in China? Did you opt out of buying clothing that was made there?
Are Microsoft's actions more politically vulnerable to attack? Yes. But lets not forget all the other companies that operate in China that we are all too happy to support.
In my opinion, Microsoft getting their software in the door with restrictions is much better than an insulated China-made alternative. Anyone who thinks that it's the microsoft software that's keeping people from free expression, and not the people that are going to come knocking at your door, is crazy. Free expression in China will require people who can avoid detection and get around restrictions anyways - a word filter from Microsoft isn't going to stop them.
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Aside from the lack of cool name, there's another issue with 6lowpan (at least for now), along with most other competing standards, and that's the lack of a common protocol/profile.
For clarity's sake, we need to make the distinction between ZigBee (the radio technology) and Smart Energy (the application-specific profile). While 6lowpan, or wifi, or bluetooth, or zwave for that matter all offer competing radio technologies, each with pros and cons, none of them offer a standardized protocol for home area network devices to trade data such as price, consumption, messaging, etc.
That's where ZigBee has the lead now. If I build a 6lowpan device today, I have to invent such a protocol - this means it won't be compatible with any other device unless they happen to use my proprietary protocol too. Any device with a ZigBee Smart Energy implementation however will work on any Smart Energy home network, letting you mix and match devices from different vendors. That's a HUGE difference in terms of readiness for large scale rollouts and consumer adoption.
So far, the Smart Energy standard has also been branched out to HomePlug. It may end up coming to other radio technologies in the future, though that remains to be seen.
Only because right now, every home automation system is a hobbyist/specialist product. Most people don't even realize that stuff exists, and if they do, don't know where to start/what to choose. So economies of scale aren't there.
Control4 has done a good job marketing their consumer products (with a little help from Oprah).
But when your local utility puts a zigbee gateway in your house, connected to a web-based interface (you know, like Google PowerMeter with some home control stuff built in), it suddenly gets a lot easier. First of all, they've taken care of the control system - usually the most expensive part. Secondly, you can go to Home Depot and pick up a ZigBee thermostat or switch, or even a washer and dryer or fridge (see this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUITFR5gA4I)
With major manufacturers pushing out millions of units (because now there's a market of millions of homes for them to go into, many of which getting tax breaks for buying said products), prices will drop dramatically. And I say this with some expertise considering I make the radios that go in these systems.
ZigBee is designed to work around competing signals. A company I used to work for did ZigBee based hospitality energy saving systems. So think networks with hundreds of nodes (thermostats, relays, etc), coexisting with wifi networks ranging from your standard off the shelf box to commercial setups, microwaves, phones, etc. Those networks were extremely reliable. This is actually one of the strengths of ZigBee as opposed to a weakness.
(Disclosure/Insight: My company, MMB Research http://mmbresearch.com/, makes ZigBee Smart Energy hardware and software to help people integrate this kind of technology into products, and I've been involved with ZigBee for a number of years.)
A lot of commenters here seem to be comparing the various features of competing home automation technologies, which is certainly appropriate, but you also have to look at the bigger, future picture.
ZigBee - and specifically the ZigBee Smart Energy profile is becoming the standard of choice for in-home networks that will exist on the Smart Grid.
So it's one thing to compare ZigBee to Z-wave or X10 on a merits basis (though I believe it's far superior based on years of real-world experience), but when you consider your utility is going to put a ZigBee Smart Energy enabled meter/gateway in your house, and that hundreds of OEMs are going to be integrating it into wide variety of appliances that can hop on that network, you're going to see drastic reductions in cost, and increases in choice and quality.
In a few years, there might be a handful of WiFi or Z-Wave thermostats (or pool pumps, or light switches), but there will be dozens of ZigBee ones, because the installed user base will be there.
Now, Control4 is talking about ZigBee Pro and the Home Automation profile, which isn't technically part of the Smart Energy profile, but they can coexist, and many developers of Smart Energy products/solutions - including ourselves - have implemented both, opening up the HAN (home area network) to a variety of devices and controls.
The number of comments on here about how there's only a format war cause both format owners are GREEDY, and it's causing consumer confusion, etc. amaze me.
This is the same crowd that goes APE SHIT over monopolies and proprietary formats, and goes on and on about how there should be more open competition. Well you got it! Unfortunately, sometimes with competition, there are, you know, competing solutions.
So yes, it's annoying and potentially confusing. But do you think that there would be $100 HD players if there wasn't such intense competition? Do you think the formats would get such big support if there wasn't intense pressure to roll out? Would you rather a company like sony have total dominance in the market? Yes, some titles are on one and some on the other.
Don't worry. Whoever wins, all the titles will eventually come out on that format, or dual-format players will be cheaper. In fact, I almost prefer the latter, as I actually like when there's multiple solutions to choose from.
Competition is GOOD. It will mean cheaper, better, and a wider variety of goods for consumers. Too often, companies cite "consumer confusion" to mask what they're really concerned about - consumer CHOICE. I'm just surprised to see that happening here.
So when Universal does their research to find out how piracy has been affected, who are they going to use? Cause for years they've been using "researchers" trained to inflate the numbers as high as possible regardless of how ridiculous it was. If they want the TRUTH (i.e. reliable data they'll need to determine real cost-benefit), they're going to have to use LEGITIMATE research, and I don't know if they can afford legitimate research getting out there for use by policymakers. Or you know, to point out that they've been full of shit for years.
True of course. I'd be the last to generalize. But in this case I'm talking about McCain, who has latched on to the President, and adopted a "If we just keep saying how safe bagdahd is, it makes it true!"
They can patent calling a customer to check up on an order? That's great! I'm filing a patent tomorrow for "Calling one's mother on mothers' day", and "Just calling to say I Love You" I'm going to make a mint. Actually - I should probably try to patent "Calling people to market products they don't want", and do some public good.
I think it makes even more sense than that. Ballmer is a PERFECT canditate for the current administration / Republican philosophy - that is "If we stick our fingers in our ears and talk really loud, the problem goes away"
Ballmer has repeatedly discussed how he bans his kids from using Google (instead of using it as a fantastic opportunity for first hand research into what makes a competitor's product better than his to the degree that his OWN KIDS would rather use it), and runs a company that sneers at employees that use ipods instead of zunes (instead of asking them WHY, so as to maybe make their own products more competitive).
No, it means that you shouldn't ask anyone else to follow a set of moral guidelines that you yourself aren't willing to follow.
Giving sh-t to Microsoft for supporting China - an oppressive regime - is a cheap shot that only alleviates our guilt. Did any one of you refuse to purchase the componets from the computers you are using right now that were made in china? Fuelling money into this opressive regime? Did anyone complain about how cheap their latest gadget was because it was manufactured in China? Did you opt out of buying clothing that was made there? Are Microsoft's actions more politically vulnerable to attack? Yes. But lets not forget all the other companies that operate in China that we are all too happy to support. In my opinion, Microsoft getting their software in the door with restrictions is much better than an insulated China-made alternative. Anyone who thinks that it's the microsoft software that's keeping people from free expression, and not the people that are going to come knocking at your door, is crazy. Free expression in China will require people who can avoid detection and get around restrictions anyways - a word filter from Microsoft isn't going to stop them.