Nokia Home Control Center Wireless Smart-Home System Announced

Nokia has unveiled a cellphone-controlled "smart home" platform that will use Z-Wave and ZigBee enabled devices and a specially adapted WiFi draft-n gateway.  Nokia Home Control Center is being described as an "open platform" combining sensors, CCTV, wireless networks and mobile devices, usable both inside the home as well as remotely via any device with a web browser.  The first products will concentrate on home heating management.

That will include local and remote control of individual radiator thermostats together with central boiler control, either from a PC or a mobile device.  The second wave of devices will link to so-called smart meters, which give feedback on power usage in the home or office and can be used to automatically control power-demanding appliances.  At its simplest, it could alert a user by SMS message – there's an optional GMS/GPRS module slated – that the boiler has been left turned onto high, and enable them to switch it off without need to return home.

Nokia expect the first wave to be available by late 2009, with smart meter integration coming after that.  Of course, since the platform is open to third-parties, broader functionality could come earlier.  Danfoss, Delta Dore, Ensto, and Meishar Immediate Community (MIC) and Zensys have already signed up to develop compatible security, energy efficiency, wellness, construction, real estate, and smart home solutions.

Press Release:

Nokia develops a smart home platform to offer consumers new ways to control their homes with a mobile device

Espoo, Finland – Nokia announced today it is developing a smart home platform, Nokia Home Control Center. The platform is opening a new era for networked home services and solutions. Nokia's Home Control Center will be the basis for next generation security, smart home solutions and household energy management systems.

The platform is open allowing third parties to integrate their own smart home solutions and services; its core consumer value is the plug and play experience across all solution areas with high security levels built in. All solutions based on the platform can be used through a smart phone or PC locally or remotely. Consumers can monitor and control their electricity usage, switch devices on and off, and monitor different objects, such as temperature, camera, and motion. In future, entire systems within the home can be connected to the Nokia platform, including security, heating, and ventilation systems.

"We see there is growth potential in the smart home market", said Teppo Paavola, Vice President, Head of Corporate Business Development, Nokia. "The home of today has intelligence everywhere, but to date there has not been a solution that is interoperable with wide range of home systems that can easily be controlled. We want to create an open solution where external partners can develop their own solutions and services on top of our platform. We believe that the mobile device is an ideal interface to control home intelligence, especially when the user is not at home."

Nokia today also announced a partnership with one of Europe's biggest energy companies, RWE. The co-operation aims at developing a comprehensive solution for managing energy consumption and CO2 footage at home. This cooperation combines RWE's energy competence with Nokia's technological know-how.

With this in mind, the first joint solution from Nokia and RWE on late 2009 will focus on home heating management. The product consists of a central control unit together with remote-controlled thermostats for the actual radiator. The user interface will be the PC and the mobile phone. In addition, a separate display will be available. RWE is also planning special offers combining these devices with new energy supply contracts. In a second step, Nokia and RWE are planning additional services in connection with smart meters beyond 2009. These services will provide consumers with real-time information about their energy consumption and allow them to control their energy bill remotely.

"We are delighted to have secured a world-leading technology partner in Nokia for our range of smart home energy products. Our aim is to offer innovative and affordable energy-efficient solutions for every household that are simple and convenient to operate", said Carolin Reichert, Head of New Business at RWE.

Further, Nokia has started working with a number of companies to define and create a solid basis for building the next generation of products that will introduce a new kind of mobile access to intelligent systems at the home. These collaboration partners include Danfoss, Delta Dore, Ensto, and Meishar Immediate Community (MIC) and Zensys. The Nokia smart home partner program is structured around five key areas which mobile access will open up, creating new opportunities for the next generation smart home. These are security, energy efficiency, wellness, construction, real estate, and smart home solutions.

Nokia Home Control Center will be part of Nokia's home offering. The solution will be demonstrated at the Nokia World event in Barcelona, Spain, on December 2-3, 2008 and is expected to become commercially available by the end of 2009.

More information about Nokia's smart home project and the partner program can be found at www.nokia.com/smarthome/partners.

About Nokia

Nokia is the world leader in mobility, driving the transformation and growth of the converging Internet and communications industries. We make a wide range of mobile devices with services and software that enable people to experience music, navigation, video, television, imaging, games, business mobility and more. Developing and growing our offering of consumer Internet services, as well as our enterprise solutions and software, is a key area of focus. We also provide equipment, solutions and services for communications networks through Nokia Siemens Networks.