This smart home hub won't ruin your decor – and it’s raised more than $100,000 in one day

Silk Labs

Smart home hubs are starting to appear in more and more homes, but users who buy them face one unavoidable problem.

The hubs aren’t too pleasing to the eye.

Consider two of the leading products on the market. The Amazon Echo is just a black cylinder, while the Samsung SmartThings kit is a series of plain white boxes.

But tech startup Silk Labs, led by former Mozilla CTO Andreas Gal, is looking to combine style and function with its new smart home hub called Sense, which the company debuted on Kickstarter on Wednesday.

While most smart home hubs are boxy and uninspired in their aesthetic design, Sense has a sleek, thin, curved design that rests atop a wooden stand.

The hub communicates with other smart home devices via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but it is not currently linked to any communication networks such as Zigbee or Thread, which have emerged recently in the smart home connectivity space.

Sense costs $249 on Kickstarter and has garnered 563 backers as of this writing. It has raised $124,872 to surpass its $100,000 goal, and it still has 27 days to go.

The device works with a variety of connected smart home products, including the Philips Hue and LIFX lighting solutions, Sonos sound systems, and the Nest thermostat, according to the product’s Kickstarter page.

It also features a camera that allows it to determine who is in the room at any time. Furthermore, Sense can distinguish between animals and humans and learn the patterns and movements of household pets.

Silk Labs plans to begin shipping the device in December.

Sense will face the challenge of standing out from a still rather young but increasingly crowded market for smart home hubs. The aforementioned Amazon and Samsung products are already on the market, and Google will release its Weave later this year. So Sense will need to find its place among these major players.

Whether they are ultimately successful or not, Sense’s debut is yet another sign of the imminent arrival of the Internet of Things (IoT), which has already started to permeate everyday life...

EXCLUSIVE REPORT Reveals:  The ABCs of the IoT

The IoT Revolution is picking up speed and when it does, it will change how we live, work, travel, entertain, and more.

From connected homes and connected cars to smart buildings and transportation, every aspect of our lives will be affected by the increasing ability of consumers, businesses, and governments to connect to and control everything around them.

Imagine “smart mirrors” that allow you to digitally try on clothes. Assembly line sensors that can detect even the smallest decrease in efficiency and determine when crucial equipment needs to be repaired or replaced. GPS-guided agricultural equipment that can plant, fertilize, and harvest crops. Fitness trackers that allow users to transmit data to their doctors.

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Silk Labs

The report gives a thorough outlook on the future of the Internet of Things, including the following big picture insights:

• IoT devices connected to the Internet will more than triple by 2020, from 10 billion to 34 billion. IoT devices will account for 24 billion, while traditional computing devices (e.g. smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, etc.) will comprise 10 billion.

• Nearly $6 trillion will be spent on IoT solutions over the next five years.

• Businesses will be the top adopter of IoT solutions because they will use IoT to 1) lower operating costs; 2) increase productivity; and 3) expand to new markets or develop new product offerings.

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