Insteon SmartLinc Review

One line Summary: Not Very Good

I've wanted to get into home automation for a while so I thought I would splash out on an Insteon Smartlinc Plugin Starter Kit, i figured it would be a good weekend project and for $200 i thought - why not? I was pretty disappointed to find out the device is poorly made and does not work as advertised.

First off despite being controlled via a web interface it cannot be accessed by any device running linux. Well actually it can be accessed but because of the bug the load times are intolerable, just to navigate to the button to turn off a light will involve about 2 minutes of loading. "How can that be?" you ask. Amazingly the device does not implement networking protocols correctly and was clearly under tested. Due to this bug it will not communicate properly over a network with any linux device. "Who cares? linux has a pretty small user base" I hear you thinking. Well, ever heard of a little operating system called Android? That's right this device WILL NOT WORK WITH ANDROID. Despite the description on SmartHome's website saying "direct communication via the Internet or Wi-Fi from an iPhone, iPod touch or any other Web-enabled PC, Phone or PDA". After talking to Insteon and SmartHome they are aware of the bug but have no plans to fix it(or update their product description). So if you are running android or linux do not buy this device.

You can check out a detailed assessment of the bug here.

The second huge problem with this device is that despite being a web device you can only(reliably) access it from one browser on one device at a time. Due to the incredibly shoddy design the mechanism for determining a devices's status(On or Off) will only work for one client at a time. That means for instance if you left your browser logged in at home and then go out or to another computer you have no way of know if you devices are on or off. Again Insteon and SmartHome are aware of this and have no plans to fix it(or mention it in the product description apparently, so it's a nice surprise for you after you spend the $200).

There are a bunch more bugs as well(ie. dimming does not work etc.) they have been outlined here.

So in conclusion: the device is poorly designed, tested and coded. It may work for your circumstances and setup but it certainly didn't for me and many others. I could not recommend anyone buying this device. If Insteon was actually going to fix the bugs with a firmware update I might change this opinion as the hardware seems like ok quality but as it stands the device is essentially useless for my needs - despite clearly stating it should work in the product description.

Blumpit Firefox Plugin for Touchscreens Review and Walkthrough

I recently tried out a rather nifty Firefox plugin called Blumpit which is designed specifically for touchscreen devices. Blumpit is currently in alpha so it is still a work in progress but the alpha release is relatively stable and functional. My inital thoughts on Blumpit: Almost Awesome! When I say awesome I mean not just the product, but the idea. The use of a Firefox plugin to achieve the end result(ease of browsing on a touch screen) is a very novel idea and also means cross-platform compatibility. When I say almost I mean the product is still in the alpha stage and is not yet considered finished so there are plenty of rough edges. If the Blumpit team can polish it up before the final release then they will have a very slick applic ation which offers a universal touchscreen browsing experience regardless of the OS platform(as long as it runs Firefox).

I think the best feature of Blumpit is the the on screen keyboard. It works well and appears automatically when you click a text input on a web page and slides back into the bottom of the screen when not needed. Another nice feature is the "Web Applications" screen which functions kind of like a desktop, with big glassy icons for all your favourite web apps.

I guess the niche I could see Blumpit filling is for use on convertible netbooks/laptops which combine both a keyboard and a swivel around touchscreen for use in tablet mode. If you are using a touchscreen only device you are probably better off using a touchscreen oriented operating system like Android. I'm using it with the Asus eee T91 and Blumpit provides a quick and easy way for me to switch from a full desktop operating system to a touch based interface without the need to reboot.

One feature that is quite obviously missing from the alpha version is touch screen scrolling, however this can be easily overcome by installing Grab and Drag plugin for Firefox. Another feature that is missing is multi-tabbed browsing which I sincerely hope will be coming in the 1.0 release. Autocomplete on the search box is also missing but will hopefully be in the next release too.