Motorola Homesight is a brand name for a range of home security and automation products marketed in the U.S. and UK, which include separate items and a product package. The latter is marketed and sold as a kit and the product range offers flexibility in choice of accessories with which the customer can expand the kit into a more complex system.

Description

As per Motorola's marketing material, the system uses a broadband Internet connection in order for the customer to stay connected to their home and its other residents through the kit owner's computer or compatible mobile phone. Sensor-detected activities are alerted and/or notified of to the customer and up to seven other customer-designated persons by the system.

Technical disadvantages

Although the XG1000 gateway does NOT require a host PC (the system needs a PC only to be configured, not for normal steady state operations), the less expensive USB gateway system requires that its user's computer be turned on all the time, but such an always-on requirement is a disfavour in places with otherwise old electrical equipment and wiring (may be cause for fires in case of failing cables or connections) or unstable power delivery. The latter may be mitigated by the use of a

UPS UPS most commonly refers to: * Uninterruptible power supply, a device which provides continuous power to electronics * United Parcel Service, an American courier company UPS or ups may also refer to: Companies and organizations United Parcel S ...

for the computer and some combination of backup power sources, such as

diesel generator A diesel generator (DG) (also known as a diesel genset) is the combination of a diesel engine with an electric generator (often an alternator) to generate electrical energy. This is a specific case of an engine generator. A diesel compress ...

solar panel A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...

s, a

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that wind power, converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. , hundreds of thousands of list of most powerful wind turbines, large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, were generating over ...

or other

off-the-grid Off-the-grid or off-grid is a characteristic of buildings and a lifestyle designed in an independent manner without reliance on one or more public utilities. The term "off-the-grid" traditionally refers to not being connected to the electrical ...

energy sources. Installation and maintenance costs may vary.

OS compatibility

The Homesight Wireless Easy Start Kit (HMEZ2000 and similar) software does not run on any variety of Macintosh or Linux/UNIX OS. Feedback received from both Motorola and the UK distributor (myhome247) is that there are no plans to provide a driver for Macintosh or Linux/UNIX OS's. The latest version of the Homesight software does run on Windows Vista and is available from www.myhome247.co.uk. The XG1000 base unit is completely stand-alone (does not require a USB internet connected host) and does not require an always-on computer but is $200 vs $100. There is currently no supported functionality for Windows 7 or Windows 8.

Homesight Remote

''Homesight Remote'' is a

FOSS Free and open-source software (FOSS) is software available under a license that grants users the right to use, modify, and distribute the software modified or not to everyone free of charge. FOSS is an inclusive umbrella term encompassing free ...

-licensed web interface to Homesight and is hosted a
SourceForge.
Information about its licensing is conflicting, as the home page for the project links to

LGPL The GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) is a free-software license published by the Free Software Foundation (FSF). The license allows developers and companies to use and integrate a software component released under the LGPL into their own ...

, while the project page shows

GPL The GNU General Public Licenses (GNU GPL or simply GPL) are a series of widely used free software licenses, or ''copyleft'' licenses, that guarantee end users the freedom to run, study, share, or modify the software. The GPL was the first c ...

as its license.{{cite web , url = http://sourceforge.net/projects/homesightremote , title = Homesight Remote project page , publisher = SourceForge , accessdate = 2007-06-11 The Homesight Remote interface only runs on Windows XP.

Competing systems

AT&T Remote Monitor
— Similar packaging and marketing as Motorola Homesight (through Xanboo), but controller and camera (Panasonic BL-C10) are different. The controller and camera can connect directly to a home network router (which in most cases can then be accessed through the Internet) without requiring a PC, though the list of remote automation devices seems smaller (shutoff key, alarm horn, etc. do not appear to be offered with this system).
Home Heartbeat
* INSTEON and *Smarthome of SmartLabs Inc. *

Z-Wave Z-Wave is a wireless communications protocol used primarily for residential and commercial building automation. It is a mesh network using low-energy radio waves to communicate from device to device, allowing for wireless control of smart home d ...

References

External links

*VNUNet
Monitoring your home for intruders is made easy
accessed on July 18, 2006
Xanboo, Inc.
is the source company associated with both the Motorola Homesight and AT&T Remote Monitor systems Homesight