The ZigBee Alliance, a global ecosystem of organisations creating wireless solutions for use in energy management, commercial and consumer applications, has announced the ratification of the ZigBee Remote Control 2.0 standard. The standard is now available for product development and can be downloaded for free from the Alliance website.
ZigBee Remote Control is the industry-leading standard for smart home remote control technology and ZigBee Remote Control 2.0 continues to use the faster, more reliable radio frequency technology that allows operation from greater distances than infrared. This new standard includes a “Find My Remote” feature, the ability to connect to other devices in the smart home, as well as complete control of the set-top box or TV set.
“With this release, which includes a range of necessary enhancements, ZigBee is now the most comprehensive standard for an optimal control experience,” said Arsham Hatambeiki, vice president of corporate product strategy at Universal Electronics. “The native support for an application capable of automatic discovery and configuration of an entertainment system, finally allows for a hassle-free control experience and addresses the most essential needs of the consumer.”
The new ZigBee Remote Control 2.0 standard provides consumers with the capability to directly control all devices in a home with one remote control. All parts of a ZigBee smart home network including lights, heating, air conditioning, security and home monitoring can be operated with the same remote control. It also enables telecom companies and cable operators to seamlessly integrate their smart home offerings with set-top boxes. These newest updates will allow companies to deliver innovative new products and services using ZigBee to improve comfort, security and convenience in the smart home.
“ZigBee Remote Control offers significant enhancements to life in the smart home,” said Tobin J.M. Richardson, president and CEO of the ZigBee Alliance. “Continuing to lead and define the Internet of Things, the Alliance and our members have completed work on ZigBee Remote Control 2.0 in order to deliver all the benefits of the smart home right to the palm of your hand.”
Major contributions to the implementation of the standard have come from the semiconductor companies Freescale, GreenPeak Technologies, NXP, Silicon Labs and Texas Instruments, all who have provided golden units for testing compliance with the specification to guarantee a multi-source, fully interoperable supply of chips that implement this ZigBee Remote Control 2.0 standard and are readily available. Certification for ZigBee Remote Control 2.0 will begin immediately; ZigBee Certified Products can be found on the website at http://zigbee.org/Products/ByStandard/AllStandards.aspx.
