iControl on the iPhone-embrace the little "i"
By Daniel Gelinas
Updated Thu May 29, 2008
So i hear a good amount about remote monitoring in the security industry and i've seen plenty of demonstrations that should make me a believer, yet some doubt remains that the residential market will embrace it. However, yesterday i spoke with Paul Dawes, the CEO of iControl, about being selected as one of only two companies that have been publicly announced (out of a reported 1,700 who submitted applications) to develop an application function for Apple's iPhone. That means people with iPhones can select an icon on their application page to access their iControl functions including arming/disarming their system as well as home automation functions like lighting and entertainment control. You know, the cool fancy stuff.
Back in April, iControl received $15.5 million in funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, the venture capital firm which runs Apple's iFund that's designed to advance functionality and development of the iPhone. Part of the money iControl raised will be used to specifically develop the iPhone application. So not only is iControl part of the "cool" revolution in security, but they also get to do some cool things like attend Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference in San Fran on June 9 (where Apple is rumored to be releasing the next version of the iPhone, OS 2.0). However, Dawes didn't think the company would be demonstrating their new product, but I asked him to say hi to Steve Jobs for me anyway, but I doubt he'll remember.
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