We know Yale as a university, but it is also a smart home brand. It is not the most famous brand, but that does not make it a less good choice. Yale has a large range of products, with more being added all the time. This is evident at the IFA, Europe’s largest tech fair, which takes place this week in Berlin.
Yale is the most trusted brand of all smart home brands in the world. Something a journalist wanted to know about during the presentation at IFA, why they put their name on products so big. By that he was referring to the brand’s outdoor siren, which is a big yellow, round thing with Yale in cow letters on it. He wondered if it isn’t made too easy for hackers if you already reveal which security system you have.
Yale
A bit far-fetched of course: there are undoubtedly hackers who hack smart home systems, but they are generally not very useful. In any case, it will not often be so consciously targeted. Anyway, what did Yale show at IFA? It is launching a new home security system complete with smart alarm, a video doorbell and security cameras. Yale already had items like smart locks, so now you have a lot of smart home items from the brand.
With the video doorbell you can look around no less than 154 degrees in 1080p and the device can even recognize what is walking or standing: a package, a cat, and so on, thanks to AI. Of course you will receive a notification when something remarkable happens or, for example, someone is at the door. In addition, there is a new smart indoor camera that offers a 110-degree view and 1080p images. Actually, it can do about the same as the doorbell, but you can, for example, set that when the door is unlocked, it will not be filmed. After all, then you are at home. A smart outdoor camera has also been announced. It can do almost the same as the doorbell, but has a spotlight to scare burglars and illuminate it for better images. All cameras have night vision.
Many collaborations
What is very useful about Yale is that it works with all kinds of tech: Alexa, Google Assistant, but also Philips Hue and Samsung SmartThings, for example. However, you have to count on the fact that viewing images on the cameras is only possible with a subscription. Yale has not yet announced how much that will cost. In short, great new things are coming for Yale, but we think it would be wise if the brand first establishes itself a bit more in the Netherlands. It is getting quite busy in terms of smart home equipment. And if you have been using different brands for a few years, you may just be ready for one system. And then market leader Philips Hue will also introduce a home security system during IFA.
Since Yale is not yet very well known to us, the chance that the Dutch will think about it is small. Can that big yellow siren change that?
