Belkin launched their WeMo home control system as an iOS exclusive and except for a Beta Android app that was released in February for the Galaxy S III, we as Android users, have been pretty much left out in the cold since then. Happily today Belkin has announced that they have released a full Android WeMo app into Google Play which is compatible with their full range of WeMo products.
The WeMo range if you aren’t familiar is range of products – WeMo Switch, WeMo Baby and WeMo Motion – that are connected to your home IP network and allow you to control them from your Smart Phone. It’s a pretty basic concept, you plug your appliances into the WeMo Switch and you can turn them on and off from your Android or iOS device, the addition of the WeMo motion sensor allows you to setup things like lamps to activate when you walk in a room for example.
The WeMo Switch can actually be setup with If This Then That (IFTT) rules to perform certain functions. It’s a pretty comprehensive system and great for convenience.
Still confused? Well, watch this ‘What is WeMo?’ video :
The Android app brings about all the functionality you’d expect, it’s pretty nice to look at as well. The App is only available to devices running Android 4.0 and higher. The app will work on 3G/4G as well as your home WiFi network and appears to be very straight forward to use.
Today’s launch was a dual release, with the Android app coming with a new product in the WeMo range – the WeMo Light Switch. Currently the WeMo Light Switch is a US only release however, according to the Belkin Australia Twitter feed, the WeMo Switch could be coming to our shores in October.
@agsmith87 Hi Andrew, Australia will be launching the product later in the year approx. October. Well worth the wait! We are very excited!
— Belkin Australia (@BelkinAU) July 22, 2013
The WeMo range is available from the Apple store….I know….or you can jump onto Static Ice for a list of retailers who have the WeMo Switch in stock. We’ve asked for a review unit to test WeMo out, but I think I may just go ahead and buy a couple of these.
[app]com.belkin.wemoandroid[/app]
What uses could you put WeMo to?
Have been using Wemo for the past few months. The biggest problem I see is that its not an account based system. You have to register each device with the product. An account based system would be so much better. What I would also like to see is may be Wemo based on Ethernet over Power(cuz wifi isnt always reliable)