Hello Aaron.
I backed the Almond+ Mainly for the HA part.
And to me just the fact that it supports multiple standards is what made me pledge.
While I agree that I wish there were more information on the HA parts, mostly how we will control the logic in a smart home, i'm patient and wait for the developers to have something ready.
But even if Securifi for some odd reason fails to deliver on the HA side, well the platform has a SDK so it will not only be Securifi's systems we will see. It will be open to anyone with some skills to create something. And since everyone have different taste there will likely be different systems. This router will be very hacker friendly, and I truly believe that we will have a bunch of the people who are longing for a replacement of Linksys WRT54G for their hacking needs, and now they get HA also.
Some of the information you request is also reserved for the Beta and Developer levels, and some of the discussions that you look for has been taken place in those parts of the forum.
But even if i'm not associated with Securifi in any other way than pledging for the developer tier on Kickstarter and helping out with the forum and the wiki I can try to answer some of your questions.
'unique product'
- can you elaborate on what will make this device different than anything else? I'm asking, beyond the combining of a router with an HA controller?
How many of other systems has support for ZigBee, Zwave, Wifi at the same time? And with some hacking you can even add on USB, RS232 or other systems for your HA desires. In the same device you have a quite powerful Router with a feature set and hardware specifications that goes beyond most routers in the same price range. And then also tell me how many of those devices come with an SDK and a platform that promotes you to create your own software for the device?
'very possible to replace a home NAS'
- What makes Almond+ stand out and make me want to kick my Synology to the curb?
- Many, many routers do this, at a very basic level, today or even better, so does a $20 Pogo Plug or RasberryPi. Netgear/ASUS's most recent AC routers serve USB3 drives fine and pretty quickly. They are absolutely not going to replace a Synology, QNAP, etc
Sure, there are a lot of things out there that can act as a NAS now, most somewhat modern routers have some kind of NAS functionality. Personally I will likely not be using this function as I have a full fledged home server with ZFS.
But from what I have seen the Almond+ has amazing throughput on the USB3, something I have seen complaints about in other products. But think a bit further, since the Almond+ allows for third party software, we could see new things like personal clouds, backup systems, or things I can't even think of right now.
I'm concerned about ongoing development being slow and potentially overwhelming for Securifi
- you made it clear you entered unknown waters with the chosen hardware platform. This is a bit concerning itself. As you seem to have already seen, you are in the water by yourself - no help from friends that have already swam there. Unlike using a reference design as a base where there is tons of community knowledge.
- Touchscreen is unnecessary and should have never been in the product. But since it is, you will be and already are, spending cycles to support a feature that few will use, has limited use for those that will, and time could be better spent on coding more important things.
I will leave it to Securifi to decide if they want to answer regarding the developing of the platform so I will only comment on the touchscreen.
If it is unnecessary or not is subjective, you find it unnecessary, I find it not so useful (yet) and I wished that it had been big enough to act as a picture frame. But I also understand that the cost would be much higher. But since I plan to place the router somewhat central, I might use it as a extra control for setting the home automation features.
I read that others wanted it for quickly setting the Wifi off or on, or have a weather app, etc, etc. So some do find it useful, and it is kind of a signature feature for Securifi.
I've seen no community outreach to help design the HA parts/app
- you have spoken about how it will be great but you are so far behind on everything and we've seen nothing on the HA at all. You are not even asking for input on the workflow design, feature set, etc. How many HA systems have you guys designed? How many have you used? What apps do you like or have inspired you? What do you think it core to making an HA system work properly, easily, and be robust and extensible? Etc, etc, etc.
Again you are not a developer or a beta tester so you only see a small amount of the forum, there are sections completely dedicated to home automation, testing of sensors, development, etc.
I for my part have given plenty of input on my wishes and suggestions for Home Automation, others have tested hundreds of different sensors, and Securifi is testing internally also.
And from what I understood they have specific people assigned to just working on the HA parts.
Many people gush on how "great your communication is" ... though your communication is 99% = 'we ran into another problem and another delay'
... nearly nothing about what you are supposed to be delivering in functionality.
Wifi Routers are old hat and unless you are qualcomm (you are not), nothing you build is going to be better than what already exists. If you are as good as ASUS & Netgear's best I've be happily amazed. The only thing I'm holding on for is you have a sliver of chance to make a great HA platform BUT I've seen absolutely no evidence you have any clue how to do that - because you are not sharing anything or asking for assistance. I'd LOVE for you to prove me wrong. Really I would.
Stop typing the same old song and start showing us you have vision, brains, anything.
I know I'm a harsh critic - you have not provide ANY reason for me not to be. Developing products is hard. But the biggest problem I find people have is they are not wise enough to know what they don't know... and go find out before they make the product. Seems you might be in this category also.
This is where you dropped the ball, and the tone went down the drain, I think you are border-lining on being a troll. Too many unwarranted CAPITALS, rhetoric and false statements.
You are expecting information that you could probably have asked in the developer forum had you access to it, yes Securifi has had a few delays, but there has been plenty of other information also, and saying that 99% is about delays is just silly.
Comparing to ASUS or Netgear who have massive budgets, and huge R&D departments is also not really fair. Even though I think Almond+ will be a way better platform than anything they have produced, being small Securifi is also forced to try harder and is much more responsive to support questions. And they do not have to prove anything to anyone outside the Beta and Developers until the product is done.
I don't see what right you have to be a critic when you have not even tried and used the product, I think that is reason enough.
Securifi also has competitors, there is even a blatant ripoff copy of the design out there, so Securifi also has to be careful not to give out to much of the details on what the final product will have in terms of UI or features.
I also believe the product to become better and better long after it is released, when the community get's going.