Tag Archives: Lowe’s

Lowe’s talks about its Iris line at CES

January 25, 2016cesces, home automation, Iris, Lowe'sAlan

lowes The Internet of Things (IoT) is a quickly growing segment of the tech market with products that can do just about anything, from locking garage doors, turning lights off and on, opening and closing blinds and much more.

Lowe’s has been in this market for a while with Iris, a product line that has multiple devices to help homeowners automate their lives.

What you may not know is that these products can also be utilized to help the elderly and the handicapped. Lowe’s explains how this works, citing an example of a paraplegic who uses these devices to manage her own apartment.

Lowe’s stopped by the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to show off this technology and we stopped by to take a look. You’ll see some of the ones the company thinks are most important for medical and senior care. You can find it all in the video posted below and also visit irisbylowes.com.

Jamie Davis is the host of Health Tech Weekly at HTWeekly.com. He is a nurse, paramedic and health journalist

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Lowes set to offer home monitoring for its Iris Smart Home Solution

January 4, 2016cesces, home automation, Internet of Things, Lowe'sAlan

lowes Is home automation, or the Internet of Things as it’s also known, the wave of the future? It sure seems that way these days, though there have been some bumps in the road. It’s getting better though as things begin to integrate with one another more and security, a major concern, is being improved.

Now Lowe’s is announcing new monitoring systems for its line of Iris Smart Home Solution products. This is, of course, related to home security. What the company has in mind is a system that will allow for the dispatch of responders in the event of an intrusion, carbon monoxide detection or a panic alert. Lowe’s claims that this type of security is most important to 62 percent of customers, at least according it its survey.

“Many of our customers have been interested in the added peace of mind of 24/7 protection with live professionals available to help if problems occur, but only if it was as affordable and flexible as Iris is today”, says Mick Koster, vice president and general manager of Iris Home Systems. “By providing customers with Iris’ easy-to-install, wireless DIY system combined with professional monitoring capabilities they can trust and afford, we are offering the most all-inclusive smart home solution available at the best value for both homeowners and renters alike. Whether our customers self-monitor or use our new professionally monitored service, Iris is the smart home system that evolves with you as your life changes and helps make your life easier”.

This isn’t free of course, it will set you back $19.99 per month. That includes the $9.99 fee for “advanced monitoring and control of the home” as well as a cellular connection when broadband goes down, something that goes for $4.99 monthly. It will be available in the second quarter of this year.

Lowe’s Iris Home Automation Program for Security

February 6, 2013hifi, Home Automation, second lifehome automation, Iris, Lowe's, SecurityKL Tech Muse

Kevin Meagher from Lowe’s talked to Todd and Daniel about the Lowe’s Iris Program. The idea behind the Lowe’s Iris program is to bring home automation to the masses. The base program which is a security program starts at $175. You control the program through a smart phone or a computer. The base program is very easy to set up you simply plug the base unit into the router, hang the sensors up and do the setup and you are ready to go. The total setup should take about an hour to complete. Lowe’s is working with their vendors to make sure that the vendors devices work with Iris. If you’re looking for device that can run under Iris just look for the Iris logo.

There is no subscription for the entry-level program. The more advanced program which is known as Magic is an all-inclusive program and is available for $10 a month. The Iris program is fairly new and its development is continuing.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central for the TechPodcast Network and Daniel J Lewis of The Audacity to Podcast

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Iris Security Smart Home

February 3, 2013ces, Home Automation, Securityces, home automation, Iris, Lowe's, SecurityAlan

Iris is a new home security system being offered through Lowes, the home improvement giant that has stores around the country. The Iris system is not new, but a lot more upcoming features were unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and Andy McCaskey stopped by the booth to take a look.

Iris is about more than just security. It is also home automation. For instance, the system can tie into your irrigation system and keep your plants watered. Each feature will require a separate controller, but the good news is that each is affordable — think X-10 type pricing, but with better features. You can even put a tag on your dog’s collar to control pet doors. All of this can be handled from an app via iOS or Android.

All of this is available for $15 per month. You will need to purchase the individual sensors, but that is, of course, a one time cost. Those interested can visit this Lowes site for more information.

Interview by Andy McCaskey of SDR News and RV News Net

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Are Smartphone Apps Really Practical?

August 6, 2010amazon, Android, application, google, HTC, search, sprint, Technologyamazon, barcode, Evo, HTC, Lowe's, smartphone, sprinttomwiles

Today’s smartphones are amazing devices and can do some pretty cool things. Some of the apps can be quite remarkable, but do they offer real-world functionality?

Yesterday was another 104 degree day. Get used to it – there are days like this every year.

I was in my bedroom yesterday afternoon and suddenly the lights went out. To spare you the details, the problem ended up being an aging 60 amp breaker that had weakened to the point where it couldn’t handle my dishwasher and washing machine running simultaneously.

So here I was standing there in front of the breaker box with a magnifying glass trying to make out the tiny numbers printed on the breaker in question and writing them down on a piece of paper. After a few minutes, I realized there was a barcode sticker located on the top of the breaker. Unfortunately, it was located in a position where there was no way that I could see the numbers on it.

Barcode… barcode… BARCODE!!! I have multiple barcode apps on my HTC Evo smartphone. “I wonder if I can possibly scan that barcode with my phone?” I thought to myself. I got the phone, started the Amazon Barcode app, and held the phone up a rather awkward, non-ideal position, trying to hold the phone as still as possible. Success!! The barcode suddenly scanned. I was able to click on the button to look the number up in Google and to my delight it popped right up with the product description and the actual model number of the electrical breaker.

A quick trip to the nearest Lowe’s store and $10 dollars later, I had the exact replacement breaker model that I needed.

It turns out that the Amazon Barcode app ended up being very useful in a way that I could have never imagined.