Thanks to the hard work of Kalle and David who really spearheaded this project and did all the initial work in getting this device up and running (and with some suggestions and contributions to software by me) we are just about ready to start sending out some early versions of the BEAM to our beta testers.
For those of you who have been patiently waiting for news about the BEAM I have created a video to give you an idea of what we have achieved so far and what you will be able to do with the device when it is ready to ship.
The video (playlist) below shows an early prototype model of the BEAM Sphere (not the final physical design, and with some battle wounds) but with the latest firmware so it should behave the same, it just doesn't look as good.
About the BEAM:
The BEAM Sphere is a wifi device. You can place it anywhere in your home and communicate with it through your local area network. All it needs is a good quality 5 volt 1 amp micro USB power supply. Its primary purpose is to control other devices in your home that use infrared and radio frequency codes.
The BEAM has been designed to learn IR and RF codes from whatever devices you have.
The Sphere is not just a blaster – it can also be used as a receiver, which means that you can use the various IR or RF remotes that you have in your home to trigger events, and that will allow you to further automate things in your home using VoxCommando.
The range will vary, depending on your devices, but in our tests we have had no problems controlling IR devices such as TVs and stereos from across the room. We’re still testing our RF ranges. The results have been inconsistent so far. RF sending shows a good range controlling devices through walls and the like. With RF reception (for learning codes or generating events), however, we’re still having inconsistent results.
It is also an RGB globe; you can use it as a mood light, or for practical communication purposes. For example, you can have it change colours when VoxCommando recognizes commands, or when it fails to recognize commands.
Here are a couple of videos showing the BEAM setup and basic operation.
Playlist:
or jump straight to the
Demo:
The images below are also not of the final design but are much closer to it and will give you a better idea of the level of fit and finish that Kalle is producing. Please note that these are still hand assembled by Kalle. This means that the fit and finish will not be at the same level and a Samsung or Apple product, but they are still pretty good IMO. It also means that the speed at which the devices can be assembled and shipped is still quite limited.
The final design of the PCB has been ordered and we are just waiting for it to be created in China and delivered to Kalle in Germany. Then he will be able to begin assembly. We also have some earlier versions of the PCB already in stock that are almost identical in functionality and we may ship some of these out to beta testers soon. It's up to Kalle.
We have a fully functional OTA update system now which means that we will be able to make new versions of the firmware available as we make changes. Updating the firmware is very easy. It's as simple as downloading a file and then uploading it to the BEAM through the web interface. I'm not actually sure if this qualifies as Over The Air but it's done through Wifi so you don't need to plug your BEAM into a computer to update it.
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