WEMO, a subsidiary of

Belkin Belkin is an American consumer electronics and networking company headquartered in El Segundo, California. It produces mobile and computer connectivity devices and peripherals for consumer and commercial use. These include wireless chargers, pow ...

, are a series of products from

that enable users to control home electronics remotely. The product suite includes electrical plugs,

motion sensors Motion detection is the process of detecting a change in the position of an object relative to its surroundings or a change in the surroundings relative to an object. It can be achieved by either mechanical or electronic methods. When it is done by ...

light switch In electrical wiring, a light switch is a switch most commonly used to operate electric lights, permanently connected equipment, or electrical outlets. Portable lamps such as table lamps may have a light switch mounted on the socket, base, or ...

es, cameras,

light bulb An electric light, lamp, or light bulb is an electrical component that produces light. It is the most common form of artificial lighting. Lamps usually have a base made of ceramic, metal, glass, or plastic, which secures the lamp in the so ...

s, and a

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on ...

Products

The Wemo Switch can be plugged into any home outlet, which can then be controlled from an

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

or Android smartphone running the Wemo App, via home

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio w ...

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive telephone call, calls over a radio freq ...

network. The Wemo Motion Sensor can be placed anywhere, as long as it can access the same Wi-Fi network as the Wemo devices it is intended to control. It can then turn on and off any of the Wemo devices connected to the Wi‑Fi network as people pass by. The Wemo Insight Switch provides information on power usage and cost estimation for devices plugged into the switch. The Wemo Light Switch is for use where a light is controlled by a single light switch. Multi-way switching is not supported at this time but can be approximated by installing a Wemo Light Switch at each location. The Wemo App controls the Wemo devices from anywhere in the world as long as the Wemo devices' wireless network is connected to the Internet. Wemo devices can also be controlled using

IFTTT IFTTT (, an acronym of If This Then That) is a private commercial company that runs online digital automation platforms which it offers as a service. Their platforms provide a visual interface for making cross-platform if statements to its u ...

technology. Wemo devices can also be controlled by voice through the

Amazon Echo Amazon Echo, often shortened to Echo, is an American brand of smart speakers developed by Amazon. Echo devices connect to the voice-controlled intelligent personal assistant service '' Alexa'', which will respond when a user says "Alexa". Use ...

Google Assistant Google Assistant is a virtual assistant software application developed by Google that is primarily available on mobile and home automation devices. Based on artificial intelligence, Google Assistant can engage in two-way conversations, unlike t ...

, and

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ances ...

Siri Siri ( ) is a virtual assistant that is part of Apple Inc.'s iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, macOS, tvOS, and audioOS operating systems. It uses voice queries, gesture based control, focus-tracking and a natural-language user interface to answer ques ...

(through the use of the Wemo Bridge).

Remote security vulnerability

Wemo switches are controlled via IP networks; thus, for a switch to be controllable from a remote location, it must be open to receive connections from the Internet. In January 2013, it was revealed that the Wemo had a security flaw in its

UPnP Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) is a set of networking protocols that permits networked devices, such as personal computers, printers, Internet gateways, Wi-Fi access points and mobile devices to seamlessly discover each other's presence on the n ...

implementation that allowed an unauthorized user to take control of a switch. This could allow malicious attacks, such as flipping the switch at a very fast rate, which could damage certain devices and even cause electrical fires. This vulnerability has been addressed by updated firmware releases.

References

External links

* * Electronics manufacturing Home automation companies Home automation IOS software Android (operating system) software {{electronics-stub