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[dave w]

I would guess... X10 will remain the overwhelmingly largest part of my setup.

Yep, I join you in that sentiment. Besides, X10 is a continual mind challange for this old geezer. "Darn, why didn't the outside lights go on tonight? They worked last night." And away we go chasing a new sucker or source. 

[HA Dave]

I stopped into a Home Depot today.... to expand the new MyQ portion of my setup. Unfortunately... the local Home Depot I visited had very little of the automation accessories I had thought would be on hand. So much for the new old days of locally available HA stuff.

[HA Dave]

I was in Walmart today. And although I had no need for anything in the electronics department.... well you never know.. so I took a look around. And sure enough they had a MyQ garage door remote (keychain size) in a combo pack with a lamp module. Clearance priced. 

Setup was both simple and interesting.... almost too easy. The lamp modules will handle CFL, LED's, and old-style bulbs. I set mine up to work on all my garage door remotes (one of the small remote buttons turns the light on/off). PLUS I added the light to the Internet/phone app so it can be controlled using ether of our iPhones... from anywhere... and it verifies its condition/state as far as on/off.

I also setup the light module to automatically turn on/off with the light on the garage door opener. That light is set to stay on if the door is open.... and turn off 4 minutes after the door closes.

This could replace the previously setup small lamp that now comes on when the garage door is open. It involves a magnetic switch... and X10 control with a (computer) voice announcement for the garage door. My wife really likes that setup, as do I, so that will stay.... at least for now.

All-in-all.... it's pretty slick. I have no idea how to un, de, or re-program any of the MyQ devices which could become handy to know someday as garage door openers do last several years (or decades). Something I may want to look into.

[dhouston]

Earlier Chamberlain garage door remotes and indicators (mercury switch mounted on door) used 312MHz (IIRC) which could be received by super-regenerative RF receivers tuned to 310MHz for X10 RF.

You might want to check the FCC website for the frequency used. The FCC ID should be on the remote.
http://transition.fcc.gov/oet/ea/fccid/

[HA Dave]

Earlier Chamberlain garage door remotes and indicators (mercury switch mounted on door) used 312MHz.....

Yeah... those were the ole days weren't they! My intercom system still uses an old odd-ball frequency. But modern household devices are all WiFi now-a-days... garage door openers included. Everything sends.... what is it... 16bit strings of data. Remotes are all registered (permissioned) with the device they control... or the gateway device.

The Chamberlain gateway is also compatible with wink, quirk, Z-wave.... and the list goes on. Don't take this info as a recommendation.... I haven't made a selection... yet.

The compatibility issues of different flavors/brands of devices are interesting... and GE seems to leading the charge with this. And WiFi networks are at the center of it all. We could end-up with a new golden age of automation! If one app on a phone and/or tablet can control/monitor/program 2 or 3 different flavors/brands of devices... AND I run 2 or 3 different automation apps.... where are there ANY limits?!?!? Sure it isn't the single user interface exactly as many of us may have imaged when we thought of touch-screen control. But it's close enough for me!

I know for a fact I can run X10 and the Chamberlain automation both side-by-side AND seamlessly. AND it really looks like I might be able to run Wink, Z-wave, and whatever.... tickles my fancy along with everything else. I like having choices!

 

[dhouston]

A WP article addresses the issue of compatibility.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2015/06/05/apple-and-google-set-their-sights-on-their-next-battleground-your-home/

[HA Dave]

A WP article addresses the issue of compatibility.

I think the issue of compatibility is quickly becoming moot. I run different versions of Microsoft, Apple phones and an Apple tablet, and an android tablet (and looking at another), using Roku and using the SEN [Sony Entertainment Network] for streaming content in conjunction with my cable. I use X10 along with [now] the MyQ stuff.

However I don't think that I... or anyone else here at the forums... are the "typical" automation users that vendors are trying to attract.

I've thought (for sometime now)... that the ultimate automated smart home.... will be more program-controlled than human controlled. "The unified program"... that controls the various array of programs used on our computer devices should put it all together. Is anyone coding that app yet?

I've noticed that my exercise app... can communicate with my diet app. as well as the message apps which all link with the facebook app. When someone texts me an address... it automatically links to a map... and the GPS function. All the apps have already started to talk to each other (as well as the Chinese and the NSA)

I am looking forward to the day.... when my phone automatically connects itself to the houses Bluetooth speaker system to tell me it has noticed I am surfing TV channels more than usual. Then suggest that I switch from watching "Big Bang Theory re-runs" to watching a free Crackle movie... maybe in my home theater.

We have seen the future. And the future is automated.

[dhouston]

I've thought (for sometime now)... that the ultimate automated smart home.... will be more program-controlled than human controlled. "The unified program"... that controls the various array of programs used on our computer devices should put it all together. Is anyone coding that app yet?

I can understand the desire for "The unified program". Almost 15 years ago I designed the BX24-AHT which interconnected most of the HA systems then available. And, I wrote Windows 98 software for it. I compared it to a switchboard, joked that I considered calling it Ernestine and coined the phrase if this then that long before it became a thing.  But that was before the cell phone & WiFi became ubiquitous and before USB and LAN displaced RS232 as the most common wired connection for HA devices. http://davehouston.org/files.htm

However, it's not in the (self)interest of the manufacturers to integrate their competitors system/devices and the proliferation of different systems (and interfaces) makes it much harder (and costlier) for someone like Tuicemen to offer such an integrative app . The speed at which new systems/devices/interfaces displace established norms also complicates life for the amateur developer.

[Tuicemen]

I've thought (for sometime now)... that the ultimate automated smart home.... will be more program-controlled than human controlled. "The unified program"... that controls the various array of programs used on our computer devices should put it all together. Is anyone coding that app yet?

This was the idea behind PC Companion (PCC)
As Dave stated:

it's not in the (self)interest of the manufacturers to integrate their competitors system/devices and the proliferation of different systems (and interfaces) makes it much harder (and costlier) for someone like Tuicemen to offer such an integrative app . The speed at which new systems/devices/interfaces displace established norms also complicates life for the amateur developer.

However with Wi-Fi fast becoming the communication norm it is allowing more interconnecting.
I've always tried to have  PCC capable of interacting with other PC programs and devices.
With the popularity of Wi-Fi the option was added to send web requests (added 2008).

Ultralight (free to active members on my forum) also has this ability.
However knowing what the other apps expect and or send in response is also needed to be known by the end user.
  

[HA Dave]

.......  it's not in the (self)interest of the manufacturers to integrate their competitors system/devices and the proliferation of different systems (and interfaces) .....

Yet... they're already doing it... and GE is leading the way with compatible devices that share the WiFi enabled hubs. And although I haven't seen automation apps sharing info yet. Other apps already integrate well with other apps.

It would seem that in the new marketing paradigm.... integration might be in everyone's best interest. And as more connected devices also have their own processors/chips/programing..... the automation possibilities may only be limited... by our imaginations. I think we may be at the very edge of a new golden age of automation.   

[dhouston]

Yet... they're already doing it... and GE is leading the way with compatible devices that share the WiFi enabled hubs.    

Are you sure about that? To me, it appears that it's Wink leading the way...
http://www.wink.com/products/
http://www.cnet.com/products/wink-hub/?_escaped_fragment_=#!
with GE breaking the compatibility web by requiring their own hub in order to connect their bulbs to the Wink app and I assume all the non-GE Wink-compatible devices will still need the Wink hub.

[HA Dave]

Yet... they're already doing it... and GE is leading the way with compatible devices that share the WiFi enabled hubs.    

Are you sure about that? To me, it appears that it's Wink leading the way...

Yep! Wink, Quirky, Z-wave........... it's all under the direct leadership of GE, IMHO.

For the last year, Quirky has worked with a group of manufacturers, encouraging them to adopt its technology and approach. Fifteen companies plan to offer nearly 60 Wink-enabled products in July. The companies are as varied as giants like General Electric, Honeywell and Philips and fast-growing start-ups like Rachio. The connected products include light bulbs, video cameras, garage doors, water heaters and lawn sprinklers.

[dhouston]

Yep! Wink, Quirky, Z-wave........... it's all under the direct leadership of GE, IMHO.

Hmm - see...
http://www.wink.com/products/ge-link-starter-kit/
and scroll down (near the bottom of the page, on the right) where it says,

Link Hub
Works ONLY with GE Link bulbs

IMHO, about the only thing GE ever did right was to hire me about 45 50 years ago.