Arlo Offered by Broadband Service Providers
Arlo has a new partnership with cloud and software platform company Calix, enabling Calix’s broadband service provider partners to offer Arlo’s products and services to their own subscribers. Arlo’s cameras and doorbells, along with the Arlo Secure subscription plans, will be made available.
The NPD Take:
- This partnership gives Arlo broader access to the consumers that Calix’s partners cater to and could be key to reach consumers who live outside of major metropolitan areas and don’t have easy access to retailers. Interest from broadband service providers in smart home as a path to competitive differentiation highlights how competition to the retail model can become even greater than it is today.
SmartThings Edges Closer to Home
Samsung has released (in beta) SmartThings Edge, a new locally-based smart home platform for third-party app developers and those who write drivers for devices integrating with SmartThings. Essentially, Zigbee, Z-Wave, and LAN devices will now be able to process smart home automations locally on a SmartThings Hub instead of having those events occur in the SmartThings Cloud. Samsung says Edge will expand to include the new Matter standard, too.
The NPD Take:
- For consumers, theoretically, this local processing should improve the reliability of connections and reduce latency, as well as enhance security. It would also allow for automations to be possible even when the Internet is not. All good news for those who are committed to the SmartThings ecosystem.