Smart Home Startup Brilliant Runs Out of Cash, Which Could Mean Lights Out For Its Light Switches (theverge.com) 44
Smart home device maker Brilliant has laid off most of its staff and is seeking a buyer after failing to secure funding, CEO Aaron Emigh told The Verge. The company has shut down its support center and halted sales of its smart light switches and controllers, which integrate with various smart home platforms. Emigh said existing devices will continue to function, but their long-term functionality remains uncertain. Founded in 2016, Brilliant aimed to simplify smart home control but struggled with high prices, interoperability issues, and slower-than-expected market growth. The company raised $60 million in funding over eight years.
Rule number 1 (Score:5, Insightful)
Never buy a product that needs a internet connection to a server at the manufacturer to work
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Well, I do go along with that, but it caused me to stop buying computer games a few decades ago. (Alpha Centauri is getting rather old.)
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Well, I do go along with that, but it caused me to stop buying computer games a few decades ago. (Alpha Centauri is getting rather old.)
I don't think you have missed anything in the computer game world. Some of that old stuff was actually really good. Fancy graphics? PFFT! /s
Microsoft (Score:3)
Virtually every Microsoft common product now requires a phone home once in a while to keep functioning.
How this meshes with high security work environments where computers are air gaped and cannot get out onto the internet, I don't know.
Office, Office 365, Teams, development tools, ....
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Well, I do go along with that, but it caused me to stop buying computer games a few decades ago. (Alpha Centauri is getting rather old.)
Ah yes, Alpha Centauri. Where cheating is part of the game code.
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Never buy a product that needs a internet connection to a server at the manufacturer to work
Perhaps this bankrupt manufacturer should open source their code so makers can create homebrew solutions for these now stranded customers.
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Full release of technical documentation including source should be a requirement of bankruptcy.
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It'll never happen, because the counter-argument is that the new buyer of that IP might turn around and leverage it.
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It'll never happen because the law favors big capital. If the new owner wants to leverage it, they need to either honor the original deal struck with buyers or do a full buy-back.
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It looks like the open source Tasmota firmware supports most of their product line. If they go bankrupt then they could be well worth getting at scrap value prices.
Re:Rule number 1 (Score:4, Interesting)
Never buy a product that needs a internet connection to a server at the manufacturer to work
I would go further than that: Never buy a product that needs a smartphone app to work. If the product needs switches, knobs, and/or a remote, all those things had better be included in the box.
This is a rule that's getting harder to follow all the time. I used to have a Philips RGB lamp with a nice, solidly built remote that let you control the color, saturation, brightness, etc etc. I tried to replace it after it got lost, and you just can't buy a similar product any more. Every RGB lamp is either 1) controlled by a smartphone app, or 2) comes with a incredibly cheap plastic remote that looks like it came out of a Cracker Jack box.
Re:Rule number 1 (Score:4, Insightful)
I'd temper that slightly: it's fine if it has no knobs and switches but a standard or documented protocol you can control e.g. with an app.
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A better rule is to only buy things that support the Tasmota open source firmware.
In time Matter compatible devices may become a viable alternative, but it depends what the set-up process is like. It's a bit early to say.
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When did we switch from zero-based list indexing? I never got the memo.
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A lot of new models of digital pianos have an app that you need to set certain functions on the piano.
I've already decided that when I decide to replace my current piano I won't be buying one of those.
A series of physical buttons on the control panel is good enough for me.
Re: Rule number 1 (Score:2)
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Never buy a product that needs a internet connection to a server at the manufacturer to work
I agree with this sentiment, but so many of them are cloud by default. Trying to find ones that don't depend on the cloud is challenging.
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Yep, and when you find one that isn't you'll need to invest some time in trawling the documentation. Because it is unlikely that an international privacy thief has invested billions in it, and you're going to have to do the groundwork yourself.
That said, I got HomeAssistant running pretty quickly with off-the-shelf modules and even created a couple of my own devices using ESP32 dev boards amazingly simply - HomeAssistant does the device identification, code, compiling, and flashing all for you! Leaving it
Management (Score:3)
Seems like upper management were dim bulbs.....
They re-flash for use with the Open HomeAssistant (Score:5, Informative)
The Brilliant light switches and some smart lights at least are recoverable. These can be re-flashed as detailed here:
https://devices.esphome.io/dev... [esphome.io]
https://community.home-assista... [home-assistant.io]
They can then be integrated with HomeAssistant, which is Open Source and not cloud-based (unless you particularly want it to be).
Re: They re-flash for use with the Open HomeAssist (Score:2)
Time to pick up some cheap switches..
They spent all their money (Score:1)
They spent all their money on Youtube sponsorships. For the past few years it seems like I've been fast forwarding through "Brilliant" sponsored ads by top tier Youtubers.
Re:They spent all their money (Score:5, Insightful)
Wrong company. You're talking about Brilliant the online education company, not Brilliant the lightswitch company.
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Oh, well that's what I get for skipping over every single ad I encounter.
Local Only (Score:2)
This is why everything you are going to permanently install should use a local protocol with the ability to run off an on-LAN controller such as Zigbee, ZWave, or Thread. Sure, I might use the cloud-enabled app for convenience once in a while, but I treat that as a perk that might go away at any time. I know that I can always control anything I install via Home Assistant.
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The other day we had approx 24hr outage on our fibre connection which resulted is VOIP phone also down, along with nearly every light bulb (Alexa controlled)
Not a surprise, at those prices (Score:3)
They charge $400-550 USD for their light switches. My Zigbee light switches cost $25 a pop. Would I pay more than $25 for a light switch with a built-in touchscreen? Sure! Will I pay ten times as much? Hell no.
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Math fail, more like 20x as much.
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A regular switch costs about $4.
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The control panels are $400+, the smart dimmer switch is $49. Still expensive, but you can get a 10 pack for $410. Or at least could.
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And that $49 is a good price for a smart dimmer that can actually control non-smart lights electrically. However, that appears to be a liquidation price (since sold out), full priced at $70, which is around what other similar products cost, and because that type of product is a dime a dozen, there's nothing to make Brilliant's smart dimmer stand out.
Their control panels are the only interesting thing they make, and that's where we see a single-gang control panel costing $399, where they're competing with ot
Internet connected switch (Score:2)
At work, we have these kinds of things. They're branded "Allen Bradley," cost a crap ton of money for the device, require some level of skill and specialized knowledge to install, and oh yeah they need a 10k+/seat license to actually program them, plus an equivalent cost for whatever is on the other end of the internet connection.
Some amount of that is just enjoying the revenue stream enabled by vendor lock-in, but given that the big boys (Siemens, Schneider, NI, etc) are in the game too, the margins can't
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Schneiders Version called C-Bus is common in upscale homes in Australia. It uses twisted pair wiring between switches and relay units and is aimed at Electricians. Not cheap by any means but if installed properly will last for years and it is upgradeable. You CAN control it yourself but you need an expensive adapter and the software to access it.
Tuya (Score:5, Insightful)
Many of Brilliant products are Tuya based and will continue to work for the life of the product.
The Brilliant's app is just a rebranded Tuya app. You can use Tuya's app instead, which is arguably much better anyway.
If you'd rather have local control, you can go the OSS path. Most of these devices are use Espressif (ESP) or similar modules that can be reflashed (OTA or directly) with OSS firmware by ESPHome, OpenBeken or Tasmota. You can find configuration templates for many at these sites
Tasmota https://templates.blakadder.co... [blakadder.com]
ESPHome https://devices.esphome.io/ [esphome.io]
OpenBeken https://openbekeniot.github.io... [github.io]
Some devices do require opening to flash, where OTA options like CloudCutter https://github.com/tuya-cloudc... [github.com] or Tuya-Convert https://github.com/ct-Open-Sou... [github.com] don't work (newer Tuya firmwares).
If reflashing the device isn't an option, Home Assistant also features a (Tuya Local addon) that provides local control of Tuya devices, independent of Tuya Cloud. You just need to register the device with Tuya cloud and use a developer account to obtain the device key.
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"Tuya's app... which is arguably much better anyway."
Brutal
Your light switch needs an internet connection? (Score:2)
From brilliant... (Score:2)
Hold on (Score:3)
You bought a smart device that only works when connected to its maker? So... technically... you're not turning your lights on and off, what you do is to ask the maker nicely if he would be so kind to turn the lights on or off?
I have nothing to say that hasn't already been said [youtube.com].
Former Wink Users (Score:2)
Former Wink users sit idly by, with an "I told you so" look.
I'll stick with my dumb house.... (Score:2)