August Home Joins Z-Wave Alliance For Smart Lock Pro

August Home announced today that it has joined the Z-Wave Alliance, which only means one thing: Z-Wave home automation accessories are on the way. The first of these accessories will be a Z-Wave version of its Smart Lock (called the Smart Lock Pro), but it doesn't sound like this new lock will be available directly to consumers. Instead, the Smart Lock Pro will be offered through August Pro, a division of August Home that serves security dealers for home installation.

Indeed, the big news for today isn't so much the launch of the Smart Lock Pro, but rather August Home's decision to join the Z-Wave Alliance. Not only does this mean that the Smart Lock Pro will be compatible with the 1,700 home automation devices using Z-Wave, but also that we'll see many more Z-Wave products launching from August Home in the coming weeks and months.

Getting August Home to join will certainly bolster the ranks of the Z-Wave Alliance, too. August Home will be joining other corporations like ADT, LG Uplus, and Samsung SmartThings in the Z-Wave Alliance, so it'll be teaming up with a number of big security and home automation corporations.

For those unfamiliar with Z-Wave, you can consider it to be something like Bluetooth but specifically made for interoperability between home automation devices. The low latency standard has a range of 30 to 40 meters, but Z-Wave devices can create a mesh network that expands the overall range well beyond the range of an individual device.

So, we can expect to see many more Z-Wave products from August Home coming down the pipeline soon. It doesn't stop there, though, as August Home CEO Jason Johnson said today that the company is considering joining the ZigBee Alliance and "other standards' organizations that support the professional channel." In the short term, the Smart Lock Pro will be available through August Home's distributors this fall.