Should I wait for hardware updates or is everything going to be FW from now on?

[BrownChiLD]

hi guys

I'm very interested at the home automation features of almond+  but as per advise over at amazon reviews, one should wait because the almond+, at this time of writing, isnt the complete promised packaged yet and has limited HA support ...

My question is, should I wait? are there any HARDWARE UPDATES I should wait for? or will the promises be delivered thru firmware only? Because if it's the latter, I guess I need not wait correct?

Now, I must admit, being 1 of the first customers of Almond, I am very disappointed at the lack of updates to the first Almond version.    ANd i'm affraid this will be the same case again this time around


and to add, I wanted to program my own HTML5 GUI powered by APACHE/PHP for controlling my zwave devices... if my zwave devices are connected thru Almond+, is there a way for me to do this? Or will the HA devices connected to Almond+ only work w/ Almond official app? (basically being at the mercy of Almond developers hehe)


Thanks !

[RGloverii]

Take a look at the Micasaverde Vera.  Might be more along the lines of what you desire.

I *think* Securifi is positioning the Almond+ as more of a 'home use router that can also do a bit of home control'.  Not a really high end, customizable home automation device.

Just my observations.

[BrownChiLD]

Hmm ok.

But my other concern is, will the rest of its promised functionanilites be delivered via firmware? if so i dont mind buying one to try out. but I'm afraid it may be too soon?

[rldreams]

The Almond+ hardware is, what it is. The only hardware " update" that has been made is actually a downgrade with the release of the Almond 2015 which only has Zigbee ( no Zwave) and USB 2 ( not 3) .

IMHO they so overboard with the hardware in the Almond +, there is really no reason that they would have to change it, unless a new/ different protocol is suddenly pushed out and made the standard. In that case it wouldn't matter what hardware you had ,iut would all need to be upgraded ( think Betamax tapes , Lazer disks or HD-DVD).

[Amritendu]

The Almond+ is an extremely powerful hardware and don't think there is any hardware updates coming up. In fact the firmware isn't yet utilizing half of its potential. So going forward it would be firmware updates only. It depends on the potential user and their timeline to go for it now or wait. Also, the first generation Almond is pretty much saturated and there isn't any thing except for the BETA Time & Weather app and isn't a very high priority.

[matt]

and to add, I wanted to program my own HTML5 GUI powered by APACHE/PHP for controlling my zwave devices... if my zwave devices are connected thru Almond+, is there a way for me to do this? Or will the HA devices connected to Almond+ only work w/ Almond official app? (basically being at the mercy of Almond developers hehe)

There are completely undocumented libraries that you can use to create your own GUI. I would not recommend using apache/php on the router (very large stacks), but if it is on another machine on the network, that should be fine, or using the existing lighttpd stack for example on the A+. They use websockets to allow push notifications and device updates, and there has been some work in the software development section on figuring out how it works.