Malcolm Owen
Furniture giant Ikea may add more products to its range of smart home devices, after an FCC filing from the company revealed it was producing a compact remote control, one that is thought could be used to open and close smart blinds.
The FCC listing spotted by Dave Zatz offers three views of the device, identified as "E1766 Tradfri" on an illustration of regulatory information that will be included on the back of the. Tradfri is Ikea's name for its range of home automation devices, which includes a selection of color-changing lightbulbs.
Described on the label as "Open/Close Remote," it is believed by Teknikveckan to be a switch for operating motorized blinds, which suggests Ikea may be launching Tradfri-branded versions in the future. Customers have apparently wanted Ikea to produce blinds with automation elements for some time, in part due to the expense of existing automated blind systems and the expectation of more reasonable pricing from the retailer.
Few other details are provided in the filing that confirms it is meant for blinds, as it is a switch that connects to another device for control purposes. The relatively limited scope of smart home products that can be automated to open and close does however suggest it would be used to control blinds or a curtain system, though the former is more likely due to the simpler construction.
Ikea is believed to be looking to expand its smart home product line, with a report in August indicating it plans to launch smart plugs in October. A screenshot displays a smart plug with a separate remote, which could be wall mounted and is seemingly similar in design to the item in the FCC filing, but as the recently-discovered switch is to "open and close" rather than being labeled for "on and off," it is likely to be a separate product entirely.
There is no immediate indication that the remote or the blind mechanism would be HomeKit-compatible, but considering Ikea previously added support for Apple's home automation platform to its smart bulb line after some teething issues, similar support in the firm's new devices is quite likely.
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11 Comments
The most exciting part about this is that IKEA is showing that they are committed to this line of products; and unless they back away from the HomeKit support, then this could easily become the biggest chunk of the HomeKit ecosystem.
Wonder if it comes in some miniature flat pack full of compressed cardboard parts / plastic rivets that you assemble yourself using superman comic instructions.
Exciting to see them get in. If they can combine automation with the ability to manually adjust them, this would be way better than what's out there now.