The HomeX, Panasonic’s smart home hub, has a control panel and can be mounted on the wall. The touchscreen lets users control all connected home devices, including thermostat, security cameras and smart doorbells.
First introduced in the January at CES 2018, the smart home hub from Japanese consumer electronics company Panasonic was formally launched at the Panasonic Innovation Forum in Tokyo.
The HomeX, Panasonic’s smart home hub, has a control panel and can be mounted on the wall. The touchscreen lets users control all connected devices at home, including thermostat, security cameras, smart doorbells and more.
Just like how other tech companies built their own smart home ecosystems, Panasonic connects its connected appliances as well: Panasonic smart refrigerator can tell the HomeX what is still inside, and the home hub will then show cooking instructions and monitor the temperature of a Panasonic cooker. Samsung and LG also have similar offerings.
The home hub also offers music playback, security control, timer, alarm and weather reports. The display will provide relevant information on the screen.
To differentiate itself from other smart home hub providers, Panasonic has designed the platform to have learning capability. It will remember the user’s daily routines and preferences over time, and offer suggestions based on past user actions. “Depending on what the person wants, HomeX may suggest anything from music, to a hotpot recipe,” said Kazuhiro Tsuga, President of Panasonic, to Techradar.
“HomeX is always connected with the resident 24/7…...Only when it provides exactly what the customer needs does it provide value. Like a living organism, a product must evolve to adapt to the person using it. Products need to be intentionally unfinished - the user creates the finished product at the time of use” Tsuga said.
From making televisions, hair dryers to ovens, the Japanese tech firm has envisioned itself going forward in the next 100 years with connected devices and IoT. At CES 2018, the company showcased a touch home automation environment and a touch ID authentication service to be used in factories and offices.
Its HomeX smart home hub will be seen in homes in 2019. The company did not indicate whether the home hub will have voice control features.