Yetu wants to put all your smart-home devices on a single platform
Yetu is a combination of a hardware gateway and a software platform that aims to provide a single interface for all your smart-home devices.
LAS VEGAS -- If you have a collection of smart home devices from a variety of different manufacturers, then Yetu might be the product you're looking for.
Yetu is a combination of a hardware product -- the physical gateway box -- and a software platform, which aims to provide a single interface for all your connected devices and appliances, regardless of their respective operating systems and standards, although it's a little unclear exactly how the product will accomplish this.
The gateway itself connects to your network and has an HDMI output so you can connect your TV and access the interface on that via an included remote control, but it also works across tablet, smartphone and PC. This means a single UI for things like your Hue lightbulbs, connected thermostat, energy monitoring devices and much more.
In a quick demo at the Showstoppers event here at CES, a Yetu representative showed us how a user could easily access an online video service such as Netflix or YouTube via the PC interface, but choose watch it directly on the TV. While watching the video, the demonstration showed how a connected doorbell ringing could automatically freeze the video, show an image of the person at the door via a camera then let you open the door if you have a smartlock.
Yetu is a German company and it showed off the device at IFA towards the end of last year. The CES 2015 showing is its official launch into the US market, although no firm pricing or dates were available.
We'll be keeping an eye on this as it gets a wider release to see just how Yetu actually performs in a real test environment.