The Schlage LiNK remote home-management system isn’t a new product, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. The company is making that happen, showing off some of the product’s new, expanded capabilities at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show.
Those new features promise even more control options over the home, allowing homeowners access to Z-Wave enabled locks, lights, Trane thermostats, Schlage cameras, and other Z-Wave devices. That control and monitoring can be done from any web-enabled computer or smartphone, such as the iPhone, Blackberry or Android phone.
More specifically, those new features include a new web interface, time-limited user access codes, and integration of Z-Wave-enabled sensors, so you can check windows, doors or motions happening in and around your home. Also, footage from Schlage cameras can be stored on a home-based server and accessed from anywhere with a web connection. Those features will be available in the second half of 2011.
New features for now include high-res (640 x 480) video quality and an overall better viewing experience, as well as the Schlage Android app.
Schlage’s basic LiNK Starter Kit costs $299. That price includes a keypad lock or deadbolt, a remote control lighting module and everything needed to set up a wireless Z-Wave home network. Use all of those elements for remote monitoring, which runs $8.99 per month. Other add-ons include the Schlage WCW100 wireless camera ($179), Schlage WCE100 wired camera ($149), Trane Remote Energy Management Thermostat ($149, model TZEMT400AB32) and Schlage light module ($49.99).