Telldus next generation. A new chapter begins

For the last two years we have been working hard on the next generation of TellStick and accessories. It is time for us to present our next step.

One of Telldus main philosophies is that we don't want to lock our users into a one company closed down solution, limiting what products to use and how to extend it further. This thought is the foundation of the TellStick family. We want the user to be able to reuse the products in their home and freely choose what products to purchase to extend the smart home. When we started to work on the TellStick over eight years ago the (Swedish) market consisted nearly exclusively of 433 MHz products. Therefore the choice for communcation in the first TellStick was easy.

Some years have since then passed and the market has evolved. The needs are no longer the same as it where. We have thoroughly followed the development of the "Smart Home" and "Internet of things" areas to find out what the best next step is for Telldus. We still strongly believe that interopability is the key. We will never be able to solve everybodys needs ourselves. Instead we want you to freely choose between different vendors and products.

Therefore, we believe, the next step for us is Z-Wave.

Let us first explain what Z-Wave is and what it can do for you.

Z-Wave is a communication standard developed by the company Sigma Designs. Sigma Designs does not develop nor sell any own products. Instead they focus on the communication technology and let other companies use this standard for their products. In order for a company, like us, to be able to use this standard we must also guarantee compatibilty with all other producs on the market also using Z-Wave.

Different companies specialize in different areas. Z-Wave allows all these to talk the same language and communicate each other. Each company can focus on their area of expertise and what they do best, thermostats, garage port openers, or water leakage detectors.

This is one reason why we strongly believe in Z-Wave.

Another benefit is that Z-Wave has two way communication. Any command sent will be acknowledged by the receiver, ensuring the command actually was received by the receiver and resend the signal when needed. The receivers themselves can also act as a repeater and repeat the signal and extending the range even further.

Since about a year Telldus has been a member in Z-Wave Alliance. Z-Wave Alliance is a cooperation between the companies developing Z-Wave products. It aims to help companies ensure the interoperability between all the products using the Z-Wave logo.

What about the 433 MHz products, you may wonder?

We still believe in 433 as well. The 433 products are more affordable and easier to find in the market. For a lot of applications there is no need for Z-Wave. We will continue to support 433 and we are working on products with both 433 and Z-Wave. This way you will be able to mix and match what products fits you the most. And you will be able to use 433 and Z-Wave together in your home.

We have been developing both next generation TellStick as well as new accessories. We are now ready for testing and we will soon start looking for anyone wanting to help us test our new system and new products. Please keep an eye on this blog for beta-announcements in the near future.