Qivicon is an alliance of companies from different industries that was founded in 2011 by Deutsche Telekom. The companies are collaborating on a cross-vendor, wireless-based home automation solution that has been available in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

market since fall 2013. It includes products in the areas of energy, security, and comfort. It connects and combines controllable devices made by different manufacturers such as motion detectors,

smoke detector A smoke detector is a device that senses smoke, typically as an indicator of fire. Smoke detectors are usually housed in plastic enclosures, typically shaped like a disk about in diameter and thick, but shape and size vary. Smoke can be detecte ...

s, water detectors, wireless adapters for power outlets, door and window contact, temperature and humidity sensors, wireless switches, carbon monoxide sensors, thermostats, cameras, household appliances (e. g.

washing machines A washing machine (laundry machine, clothes washer, washer, or simply wash) is a home appliance used to wash laundry. The term is mostly applied to machines that use water as opposed to dry cleaning (which uses alternative cleaning fluids and i ...

, dryers,

coffee machines A coffeemaker, coffee maker or coffee machine is a cooking Small appliance, appliance used to brew coffee. While there are many different types of coffeemakers the two most common brewing principles use gravity or pressure to move hot water t ...

weather stations A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate. The measurements taken include tempera ...

, sound systems, and lighting controls. Qivicon has stated that it would like to take the "Smart Home" further forward around the world. The alliance uses Smart Home optimized wireless protocols to make solutions easy to install in any home without needing to lay cables.The technical platform is international and open for companies of all sizes and in all industries.

Members

It currently consists of over 43 companies in different industries such as energy, electrical and household appliances, security and telecommunications. Qivicon partners include Deutsche Telekom, E wie Einfach, eQ-3,

Miele Miele ( ; ) is a German manufacturer of high-end domestic appliances and commercial equipment, headquartered in Gütersloh, Ostwestfalen-Lippe. The company was founded in 1899 by Carl Miele and Reinhard Zinkann, and has always been a family-o ...

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

and

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...

. In March 2018, Deutsche Telekom announced that it had integrated the Home Connect platform, which works with Bosch and Siemens connected devices, into Qivicon to enable greater functunality between the two. For example, as well as being able to control connected Bosch and Siemens appliances directly via the Home Connect app. DT also announced a number of new compatible devices broaden the Qivicon portfolio, such as the Nest Protect smoke and CO alarm. *

EnBW EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG, or simply EnBW, is a publicly-traded energy company headquartered in Karlsruhe, Germany. As its name indicates, EnBW is based in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. History Foundation and development ...

* eQ-3 *

* Deutsche Telekom *

Assa Abloy Assa Abloy AB is a Swedish conglomerate whose offerings include products and services related to locks, doors, gates, and entrance automation. Related products and services include controlling access and confirming identities with keys, cards, ...

* bitronvideo * Centralite *Cosmote *digitalSTROM *

D-Link D-Link Corporation is a Taiwanese multinational networking equipment manufacturing corporation headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan. It was founded in March 1986 in Taipei as ''Datex Systems Inc.'' History D-Link Corporation changed its name fr ...

* DOM Technologies * Entega * E WIE EINFACH * eww Gruppe *

Gigaset Gigaset AG, formerly known as Siemens Home and Office Communication Devices, is a German multinational corporation based in Bocholt, Germany. The company is most active in the area of communications technology. Gigaset manufactures DECT telep ...

* Google *

Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology corporation headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics and various smar ...

* Hitch *Home Connect *Junkers *

kpn KPN (in full Koninklijke KPN N.V., also Royal KPN N.V.) is a Dutch landline and mobile telecommunications company. KPN originated from a government-run postal, telegraph and telephone service and is based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. History Un ...

Logitech Logitech International S.A. ( ; often shortened to Logi) is a Swiss multinational manufacturer of computer peripherals and software, with headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, and Newark, California. The company has offices throughout Europe, ...

* Nest *

Netatmo Netatmo is a French company which manufactures smart home devices. Founded in 2011, it has launched a variety of products including various security cameras, personal weather stations, and an internet-connected smoke detector. The company was bo ...

* Osram * PaX *

* Plugwise *

RheinEnergie RheinEnergie can refer to: * RheinEnergie AG, energy company based in Cologne * RheinEnergieStadion, sports stadium in Cologne *Köln 99ers Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rh ...

* Sengled *Smappee * Sonos * Stadtwerke Bonn * VW

History

The Qivicon platform has been around in the German market since the fall of 2013. The platform's technical control unit, its home base, is connected to the Internet via a broadband connection in the house or apartment. In August 2016, Qivicon launched a new generation of the home base focusing on international markets. The range of different models will keep up with the diverse range of wireless protocols found throughout the international market. The models all have an identical outward appearance. But they differ in terms of their pre-installed protocols. For example, the model designed for the German market, and several other markets, already includes the protocols HomeMatic, ZigBee Pro and the inclusion of HomeMatic IP and DECT ULE has also been completed. Another model includes the ZigBee Pro and Z-Wave radio modules. All versions of the new home base can be connected to home DSL routers either by cable, wirelessly, via Wi-Fi or via Deutsche Telekom's Speedport Smart router. The system can be expanded to include other wireless standards by means of USB sticks for which there are four corresponding slots in the home base of the first generation and two slots in the second generation. Qivicon partners’ devices can be controlled and monitored via various partner apps for the smartphone, the tablet or the PC. Since November 2017 Qivicon is compatible with

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from

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

. Users can control lights, blinds or alarm systems with their voice via

Amazon Echo Amazon Echo, often shortened to Echo, is an American brand of smart speakers developed by Amazon. Echo devices connect to the voice-controlled intelligent personal assistant service '' Alexa'', which will respond when a user says "Alexa". Users ...

Google Home Google Nest, previously named Google Home, is a line of smart speakers developed by Google under the Google Nest brand. The devices enable users to speak voice commands to interact with services through Google Assistant, the company's virtual ...

. In March 2017, Deutsche Telekom launched a White Label Smart Home portfolio that includes platform, gateways, applications, compatible devices and services. The portfolio is designed to help telecommunications service providers, utility providers, hardware manufacturers and other enterprises create and offer smart home services. Deutsche Telekom extended its international footprint within the smart home sector by partnering with Cosmote, the largest mobile operator in Greece and part of the OTE group, as well as Hitch in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

, adding

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

and Norway to Qivicon's current footprint of Germany,

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. AV-Test, an IT security test institution, rates Qivicon as “secure”. It found that the Smart Home platform used encryption for communication and provided protection from unauthorized access.

Awards

Qivicon won repeat awards from the international management consulting company

Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan is an American business consulting firm. It offers market research and analysis, growth strategy consulting, and corporate training. It has about 45 offices in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe; the principal office is in Sa ...

’s. In 2016, Frost & Sullivan has awarded Qivicon with the European Connected Home New Product Innovation Award. In 2014, the smart home platform has been awarded with the European Visionary Innovation Leadership Award in recognition of what the management consulting company saw as the most innovative Smart Home solution of the year.''Frost & Sullivan Applauds Deutsche Telekom’s Breakthrough Innovation for the European Connected Home Market''
Frost & Sullivan, August 22, 2016

References

Bibliography

Ohland, Günther. ''Smart-Living.'' Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2013. {{ISBN, 978-3-7322923-0-1.

External links

Qivicon home page
Home automation Building engineering organizations Technology consortia Environmental technology Building automation