UEI Smart Thermostat Platform Expands Capabilities with Matter and Zigbee Connectivity for Enhanced Interoperability, Automation and Support Services
–Universal Electronics Inc. (UEI) (NASDAQ: UEIC), the global leader in wireless universal control solutions for home entertainment and smart home devices, announced at the Air-conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration (AHR) Expo trade show in Atlanta, that the UEI Smart Thermostat Platform is Matter and Zigbee compatible. Building on more than 20 years of experience in creating control solutions for the world’s leading HVAC brands, the company is showcasing the expanded capabilities of its next generation of the connected thermostat platform. The platform is marketed in three variations including UEI TIDE Dial, UEI TIDE Touch and UEI TIDE Bridge.
Cloud Native Design Optimized for Easy Installation, Management, and Support of Advanced Climate Control Systems
The UEI Comfort platform is a white-label smart thermostat designed for HVAC OEMs as well as Home Automation and Hospitality solution providers. It supports Wi-Fi for cloud connectivity, Bluetooth LE for network and device onboarding, and Zigbee for wireless local network connectivity. To control, manage and support the HVAC system, it is designed with UEI’s QuickSet® Widget, connects to QuickSet® Cloud, and is supported by UEI’s Virtual Agent. This provides the platform with state-of-the-art system installation support, network onboarding capabilities, device management capabilities as well as lifecycle support services. It is supported by the white-label my Nevo mobile app to simplify system installation and support and provide remote management capabilities and automations on your mobile device or computer.
The platform is enabled with Zigbee connectivity that provides interoperability with a variety of white-label sensors, smart home devices and ecosystems. During the AHR show, the company announced a white-label Zigbee line-up of motion, window and door, temperature, humidity, and CO2 sensors. With the addition of Matter, which is planned for later this quarter, the thermostat is now able to discover and interoperate with third-party Matter sensors and devices as well as provide the thermostat with Matter bridge capabilities that connect non-Matter sensors to other Matter Controllers such as Alexa, Google Home and Apple HomeKit. This makes the thermostat truly integrated with your smart home user experience.
UEI TIDE Thermostats and UEI TIDE Bridge for Ultimate Comfort and Flexibility to OEMs, Installers and Consumers
The first platform variant, UEI TIDE Dial, is launching in Q1 2023 and offers a full-color screen display with a customizable user interface and jog dial for easy navigation of advanced thermostat functions. The secondary white-label product, UEI TIDE Touch, features a full-size touchscreen color display for even easier user interaction and will launch towards the end of 2023. Both products have an interchangeable, modular system interface to allow you to connect with different HVAC systems in the field. This allows for ultimate convenience during installation as well as greater flexibility in your supply chain.
Next to built-in sensory capabilities, both UEI TIDE thermostats are supported with a local rule engine for easy automation and control. To reduce the energy consumption of the HVAC systems, the thermostat knows when doors or windows are open or when family members or guests have left the room so it will adjust the HVAC system accordingly. It can schedule an automated room and zone control, and it supports full home automation capabilities so it can adjust third-party motorized blinds or shades when the sun shines or turn off the lights when guests have left the room. All are easy to onboard, manage and support via the thermostat display or my Nevo app on your mobile device.
The UEI TIDE bridge enables remote installation of the system interface while you wirelessly control via the thermostat at a location of your choice. You can now put the thermostat with its sensory capabilities near you in your living room or bedroom, while the UEI TIDE Bridge remains in the hall or at your heater or boiler. This allows the system to be easily accessible and provides temperature control just where you need it. In addition, it connects to 110-230VAC networks, making it compatible across the world.
“With our latest innovations in smart thermostats in both functionality and expanding connectivity standards, we now have our biggest growth in the company with customers in HVAC, this is exciting for UEI as we bring our control and connectivity leadership from home entertainment to new energy management and smart home applications with our expanding HVAC customers and partners,” said Arsham Hatambeiki, UEI Senior Vice President of Product and Technology. “It’s an exciting time for us and our HVAC, automation and hospitality customers to deliver intelligent climate control solutions built into OEM systems, removing the need for expensive aftermarket products with limited function and reach, and improving the user experience around home or room climate control that helps save energy at a much larger scale.”
UEI has been at the forefront of developing entertainment and smart home control technologies for over three decades. It continues to drive innovation around universal control, wireless connectivity, sustainability, energy efficiency and ultimate ease of use.
For more information about the Smart Thermostats visit us at booth #C7234 or schedule a meeting with us here.
About Universal Electronics Inc.
Universal Electronics Inc. (NASDAQ: UEIC) is the global leader in wireless universal control solutions for home entertainment and smart home devices and designs, develops, manufactures, ships and supports hardware and software control and sensor technology solutions. UEI partners with many Fortune 500 customers, including Comcast, Vivint Smart Home, Samsung, LG, Sony and Daikin to serve video, telecommunications, security service providers, television, smart home and HVAC system manufacturers. For over 35 years, UEI has been pioneering breakthrough innovations such as voice control and QuickSet cloud, the world’s leading platform for automated set-up and control of devices in the home. For more information, visit www.uei.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the Safe-Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words and expressions reflecting something other than historical fact are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including the timely development, delivery and market acceptance of products and technologies identified in this release; the purchasing by UEI customers of the UEI Comfort line and UEI Tide home control products identified in this release in the quantities anticipated by management; the adoption of the cloud-based and advanced control technologies identified in this release by UEI customers, the continued penetration and growth of UEI smart thermostat technology and other products and consumer technologies identified in this release; and other factors described in UEI’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The actual results that UEI achieves may differ materially from any forward-looking statement due to such risks and uncertainties. UEI undertakes no obligations to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release.
