April 21, 2014
by Ezlo Admin

The release of the new Vera UI7 user interface software is getting near, and it will be the clearest expression yet of our vision of what Vera smart home technology is all about: Expandable, flexible, mobile, easy-to-use, and powerful.

Each month there are many new home automation product introductions, and we follow them closely because we strive to keep Vera compatible with practically every new device that’s introduced (see Vera’s Interoperability Guarantee).

Vera is fundamentally different from most of the newcomers in one key respect, however, and for anyone contemplating setting up home automation and control, it is a crucial distinction:

Vera is a platform.

Most competing home automation equipment works as an appliance. Sure, if all you want is a remote-controlled door lock, you can buy one and it will come with its app and you’re set. Or if all you want is a smart thermostat, it will come with its app for remote control and will work fine. But if you want them to work together, so that for example when you unlock the door the thermostat automatically adjusts to your favorite temperature, that’s where Vera comes in. Want the door to lock itself at midnight, and the thermostat to change then too? It’s easy with Vera.

The power of a Vera smart home comes from the synergy of combining many devices and having them all available and controlled from one convenient app. Some competing “systems” attempt to combine a few devices, but usually expansion is limited to just a handful of available accessories. If you want to add a lawn sprinkler, or a motion sensor, you may find just one in each category (and if it doesn’t have the features you want, like a lawn sprinkler with a built-in rain sensor, you’re stuck.) Ditto for many of the home automation systems the big telephone and cable carriers offer: On top of all those monthly fees, they’re quite limited in what you can add.

The Vera platform is fundamentally different from these “walled garden” home automation systems. The Vera platform is expandable. It is designed for expansion from the ground up. Our goal is to provide consumers with the most user-friendly, secure, private, and comprehensive platform for creating a smart home, with plenty of room to grow.

It’s the difference between buying an appliance that does one job or buying a platform capable of empowering your life with time-saving, energy-saving, and security-enhancing conveniences. Most new devices coming on the scene are not viewed as competitors, but rather as complements to a Vera system — if you like the way company XYZ does a camera, a door lock, or a thermostat, then great, add it to your Vera system. It will work.

The Vera vision is to offer a sophisticated yet easy-to-use platform that can be expanded to include practically any new home automation device that becomes available and to enable users to incorporate that device into a system where it can trigger or be triggered by other devices, to interact in a multitude of different ways that can make life more convenient, secure and energy efficient.

It’s ambitious, but it’s humble as well. We know what we do best, and that’s providing the platform, the sandbox where everything else gets to play together. Combine best-in-class devices, such as thermostats and locks from the brands you like best. There’s no need to settle for compromise components — build your system exactly as you want.

Best of all, with Vera, you get all this power, flexibility, and ease of use, yet there are no monthly fees required, which makes Vera today’s undisputed best value in smart home control. When you see how Vera UI7 brings this vision to reality, Vera’s value appears even more extraordinary.

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