New Mixtile Hub from CES

This new hub is able to use Z-Wave and Zigbee devices in HomeKit. Focalcrest Unveils Revolutionary HomeKit Smart Home Bridging Solution Mixtile Hub at CES

That’s the press release, much skepticism in the technology press about this one. For example, they say can do Z wave but it doesn’t have a Z wave radio. They are not displaying any of the certification logos for the protocols they claim, including HomeKit, and they don’t appear on any of the certification listings.

Apple insider, among others, have asked the company for more details, so let’s see what actually happens.

Just Putting an MFI chip in a device doesn’t make it HomeKit-certified – – there are a lot of rules the device has to follow that this one appears to break. But we’ll see.

2 Likes

All these companies bringing up new hubs and stuff should use some of the heavy ST users to put their products through the test lol.

1 Like

I bet it is a Pi, with Homebridge installed.

1 Like

That was my first thought, too! Although they say it has an MFI chip. But having the chip certified and having the bridge certified are two very different things as far as HomeKit goes.

Plus, they say it has Z wave and it doesn’t have a Z wave radio, so there’s obviously a disconnect between the marketing and the actual physical device. So either the device is still just a proof of concept and they have a lot of engineering work still to do on it, or the marketing will need to be tightened up.

Not necessarily. Press release says Z-Wave is optional, which means it’s enabled via one of the 3rd-party Z-Wave USB dongles.

1 Like

Fair enough. Like I said, we need more details. We’ll see what Apple insider can track down, they’re usually good on specs.

Yes, I quoted myself. :wink:

But, no surprise, the company now says that their device will not work with HomeKit, because HomeKit does not allow bridges of the type that they have designed. Which was also true back when they made their initial announcement but apparently they hadn’t looked into all the details at that time.