Crownstone, the smart power outlet that recognizes you and your devices | Hacker News Reader

Crownstone, the smart power outlet that recognizes you and your devices

kickstarter.com

9 pointsharianus9 comments

From the description on Kickstarter: The Crownstone is a power outlet for both the European and the American market, that uses Bluetooth Low-Energy to establish your presence through your smartphone. Moreover, it recognizes devices by very accurate current and voltage measurements.

The Crowstone is a multifunctional product that simultaneously brings you comfort and reduces your energy bills.

There is no need to turn off every device or lamp when you are going for groceries! The Crownstones are nice gadgets. However, they are more than just nifty products, they are a first step to make your home aware of you and your presence. The Crownstones become the eyes and ears of your home to optimally cater to your needs.

Getting towards a real "smart home": Adding anti-theft, child safety, energy conservation, easy control and fun into every power outlet of your home!

How does this add child safety?

(Perhaps this is a cultural thing. I live in the UK which has very safe sockets already.)

You can define that a socket and thus a device cannot even be turned on when you're not in its proximity. So, it won't even be possible for a child to use the microwave when you're not present.

Will we be able to make our own apps for this or is it limited to what you guys are building?

This is Anne from DoBots.

It is definitely possible to create your own apps. We will make consumer apps for everybody. But if you like to program yours, there is a BLE API available.

And different from most projects, even the firmware is open source! Check http://github.com/dobots/bluenet. This means you can really hack your power outlets.

Cool, I'll take a look!

Great that you guys added a US plug right from the start! And where will it be produced, in the States?

It is a Dutch design from the famous school of Dutch design: straightforward, beautiful, and useful at the same time.

We will ship from the US, so US backers have a big advantage right there. Moreover, my wife is American so if this kicks off in the States, I have all the reasons to start a spinoff in the US as well. :-)

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