During IFA 2017, COMMAX showcased ANSWER, an on-table AI speaker with the touch screen and smart home gateway function. “ANSWER is compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Home, and can be applied to all other AI assistant systems for better control of home appliances and smart home devices. With the built-in camera and motion sensor, ANSWER detects the family members coming back home and automatically adjusts the home settings according to the owner’s preferences,” introduced Joe Kim, China Team Manager of COMMAX.
While ANSWER is able to communicate with Zigbee and Z-Wave, the gadget serves as a music speakers for the home entertainment purposes.
The new COMMAX smart home
mirror has functions of both a wall
pad and a mirror.
The other highlight of COMMAX at IFA 2017 is the just-launched smart mirror. “The smart home mirror makes your home more luxurious and has an added value like the upgrade version of the general wall pad. While the traditional ones focus on the function, the smart home mirror has more design with capabilities of both a wall pad and a mirror. It shows home status like a monitor, and communicates and controls smart home appliances as well,” explained Kim.
According to Kim, the smart home mirror also has been applied to commercial areas such as the tallest building in South Korea, LOTTE 2nd Tower, and is globally available in 123 countries.
Kim noted, “With the support of AI data analysis, the mirror can serve as a personalized catalogue for every single customer in the retail application. By displaying customer images with different outfits or hair colors, the mirror will be able to efficiently assist purchasing decisions and enhance sales.
Mentioning the changes of the smart home market, Kim considered it has been growing rapidly over the past three years thanks to technologies such as IoT, cloud, and AI. “However, stability and practicality are still insufficient. I do not think customers have enough understanding of smart home yet. By far, it is not appealing enough for general users to own the system. So, it takes more time to realize the smart home imagined by the customer,” commented Kim.
Coming from a background of professional security, COMMAX has its strong footholds in Europe, especially in eastern European market including Czech Republic, Poland, and Russia. These markets have been progressing from analog to IP system of security systems, video doorphones, and smart home solutions now.
“COMMAX has possessed home automation systems and professional security technologies such as TCP/IP for over ten years. And it has gained partners all over the world. We work closely with local partners in the growing smart home and security markets.” Other than Europe, Kim specially noted that COMMAX has more than 50% market share in Saudi Arabia.
In order to meet the various demands from different regions, COMMAX is providing more than 50 new models of doorlocks and access-control products annually. The brand focuses on so called “glocalization” concept, to accurately innovate products and sales strategies based on user habits and cultures.
Currently, COMMAX stands at an important crossroad from the door entry market to the home IoT market. “We are changing from a hardware manufacturer to a provider of a service platform. The goal is to make the home IoT business more sophisticated and to provide value-added services. We are cooperating with global companies and will make a successful 2018 with better products and services,” concluded Kim.