Home is where the smart is: Telstra Smart Home is available now
The new smart home service from Australia's biggest telco is built around a companion app and comes with either a security-focused or energy-focused starter set.
While Australia has felt behind the smart home curve due to the absence of central hub devices like the Amazon Echo or Nest thermostat, Telstra wants to change that. Available today, Telstra Smart Home is based around a single app and central device that manages the rest of your home's compatible smart devices.
The Aussie telco announced back in June that it was planning the release the subscription-based smart home platform and product range before the end of 2016. What we didn't get back in June was the pricing. Today, Telstra said that the Smart Home package will cost AU$25 per month over 24 months (for a minimum cost of AU$600), available online and in select stores.
To get started, Telstra Home and Premium Services Executive Director John Chambers says all you'll need is home broadband, a reliable Wi-Fi setup and an iOS on Android device to run the Telstra Smart Home app.
Along with the monthly fee, you'll get access to the service and one of two Smart Home "starter kits". The first option is "Watch and Monitor," which sounds ideal for the security conscious, packing in two motion sensors and an indoor Wi-Fi camera that can either record video and take photos or stream live to the Telstra Smart Home App. The second, which feels more in line with the US direction of smart home tech, is "Automation and Energy". That comes with two smart power plugs, two door or window sensors and a motion sensor, which can be set up to automate the lights in your house and keep better track of your energy consumption.
Whichever kit you pick, you'll also get the Telstra Smart Home Hub, which will serve to connect all the various pieces of your budding smart home together, and hopefully plug a hole in the Australian smart home market.
Those aren't the only compatible devices, with Telstra offering a range of certified smart home staples for the open platform, like lightbulbs, thermostats, locks, cameras and motion sensors. Chambers also said that "you can expect more devices to be added to Telstra Smart Home early next year".