therockhr Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 I was just looking over the specs for the rumored new Dish Hopper and noticed it was going to include a Zigbee radio. Even though it's probably there for just their remote, there are rumors that they would like to do some home automation. If they wanted to get serious about it they would just go ahead and buy Control4. Here are a couple of reasons it would make sense: - Expands their dealer base: Sure some Control4 dealers are not going to want to be satellite installers or sell Dish, but for small shops it would provide additional revenue. It also provides dealers leads that they otherwise wouldn't have.- Gives the potential for add-on sales after the install: If you have had Dish installed lately you notice they try to push some additional things like HDMI cables or mounting TV's. With Control4 they could add the option for a HC-250 and SR-260 to control a family room setup. There would also be the potential to integrate Control4 software into the Dish Hopper system. You could make the Dish Joeys act as HC-250's and include a couple of IR/RS232 ports on them. Would really reduce the number of boxes and installation someone would need at a TV endpoint. Anyway, I think it would be interesting if Dish is serious about trying their hand at home automation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 Just putting a radio in 1 box doesn't make them serious about home automation - it means they are exploring. I would think that buying someone like C4 would benefit them but it wouldn't benefit C4 IMHO. I dont think it would benefit us as users either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakeItAMudLight Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 Just putting a radio in 1 box doesn't make them serious about home automation - it means they are exploring. I would think that buying someone like C4 would benefit them but it wouldn't benefit C4 IMHO. I dont think it would benefit us as users either.I agree. I think this would be a horrible idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therockhr Posted December 21, 2015 Author Share Posted December 21, 2015 Just putting a radio in 1 box doesn't make them serious about home automation - it means they are exploring. I would think that buying someone like C4 would benefit them but it wouldn't benefit C4 IMHO. I dont think it would benefit us as users either. That was my point; I think them buying C4 would benefit Dish. If/when Dish decides to do more than just put a radio inside a box they will have to make a decision whether to spend millions to develop a home automation platform or just buy an existing company. If they bought them they would probably keep the entities somewhat separate like they did when they bought Sling but would integrate it into Dish hardware. I agree. I think this would be a horrible idea! Would it? Say they integrated some of the AV only features of the Control4 software in the Hopper system. A customer calls Dish and wants to get a Hopper system installed. Once the installer is on-site they ask the customer if they would want more control over their system and demo's some of the basic Dish/Control4 integrated AV features and shows where they could expand in the future if they want. The user likes it but doesn't want to pay $100-$300 up front. The installer says they can spread it out over the monthly Dish network programming charges. The user agrees and the installer does a basic 4 room setup. The Dish Hopper and Joeys would have a couple of integrated IR/RS232 ports on each box to control TV's and AV devices (along with IP drivers). The Dish Hopper would be the master controller in this setup. Would make for a pretty neat, easy to install system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 It would kill all international association.How would that deal with Dish's competitors - both internationally and locally?Where would Dish take it as far as R&D goes? If it were to happen - it would end up a disaster for the home automation side.And I really don't see it benefiting Dish at all either.That's apart from the fact that adding a ZigBee radio to one device is a long stretch from getting into 'home automation' (which is NOT adding a few lighting controls to a remote) - let alone taking over a company far removed from their target market. MakeItAMudLight and msgreenf 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therockhr Posted December 21, 2015 Author Share Posted December 21, 2015 It would kill all international association.How would that deal with Dish's competitors - both internationally and locally?Where would Dish take it as far as R&D goes? Why would it kill it internationally? When Dish bought Sling they didn't just totally abandon the product and make it Dish only. They just integrated that software into their products but still kept the existing Sling products. You can still use Sling with other Satellite/Cable providers. As for R&D I would think Dish would be able to provide more for that than C4 could on their own. Dish hinted at CES last year that they wanted to expand into whole home audio. This gives them a way to do that. If it were to happen - it would end up a disaster for the home automation side.And I really don't see it benefiting Dish at all either.That's apart from the fact that adding a ZigBee radio to one device is a long stretch from getting into 'home automation' (which is NOT adding a few lighting controls to a remote) - let alone taking over a company far removed from their target market. Why would it be a disaster? For most users and dealers they would probably not even notice a change. Dish's competitors are doing more than dipping their toes into it: http://www.xfinity.com/home-security.html- Comcasthttp://www.verizonwireless.com/smart-home/- Verizonhttps://my-digitallife.att.com/learn/explore-home-automation- AT&T/DirecTV While it is far fetched to think Dish would buy C4, they are going to get into this market eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therockhr Posted December 21, 2015 Author Share Posted December 21, 2015 Doing some more research it looks like Dish/EchoStar is already trying their hand at some of this stuff: http://www.sagebyhughes.com/https://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/242509739?access_key=key-kBEnQYy6VEvg901NZlsh&allow_share=true&escape=false&view_mode=scroll It looks like it hasn't really gotten off the ground yet. This is the reason why it would have just made sense to buy a company like C4 who is already doing that stuff. Spend time on expanding the product instead of just getting it up and going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 Dish's competitors are doing more than dipping their toes into it: http://www.xfinity.com/home-security.html- Comcasthttp://www.verizonwireless.com/smart-home/- Verizonhttps://my-digitallife.att.com/learn/explore-home-automation- AT&T/DirecTV While it is far fetched to think Dish would buy C4, they are going to get into this market eventually. And how are they doing there? It will kill it internationally because they are not focused on those markets - nor will they have a direct desire to do so. Incorporating a single device function like SLING while still selling it abroad is a far cry from turning their boxes into full-fledged automation systems - and still selling and supporting such a setup across the world. It would make far more financial sense for them to PARTNER with an automation system then to buy one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therockhr Posted December 21, 2015 Author Share Posted December 21, 2015 And how are they doing there? I don't know how they are doing. I just know that all their competitors want a piece of that market. It will kill it internationally because they are not focused on those markets - nor will they have a direct desire to do so. Incorporating a single device function like SLING while still selling it abroad is a far cry from turning their boxes into full-fledged automation systems - and still selling and supporting such a setup across the world. It would make far more financial sense for them to PARTNER with an automation system then to buy one. Again, I don't see how that would kill it internationally. If it were to happen it would be Echostar that would buy C4. Control4 the business would still operate the same way except that now Dish would now integrate Control4 technology into their products and would also have some installers who were trained on both platforms. If someone wanted a "full-fledged automation system" then they would be able to use the existing C4 offerings, but if someone wanted simple AV control of a few rooms, a few lights, door lock and a thermostat then integrating that into the existing Dish hardware and software would fill the hole that Dish and the other cable/satellite providers are looking at. The product would be "Dish Smart Home powered by Control4" as the tagline. Again, not much on the upper end of the product offerings would really change and C4 would still function as a separate entity in the Echostar company. It would be "business as usual" for existing installers and dealers. Yes, Dish could partner with C4 and try to achieve the same thing but that is not really what a lot of these companies do anymore. Just easier to buy them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMHarman Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Perhaps the radio Chip in the New box has zigbee on it because the soc includes it? It's just another WiFi radio stack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therockhr Posted June 17, 2019 Author Share Posted June 17, 2019 It looks like Dish network has launched their Smart Home install business. I still say they should have bought C4 back then. http://about.dish.com/2019-06-17-DISH-launches-OnTech-Smart-Services-a-new-direct-to-consumer-smart-home-solutions-brand?utm_source=t.co&utm_medium=referral Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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