There has been a lot of talk about the recently announced Garage Door Opener that was unveiled at CES 2014 back in January. This news was initially reported by CEPro with an estimated availability of March 2014. It appears that Lowes has been busy working on updating portions of the system long before it was announced at CES this year. We took a look under the hood of the Iris mobile app for iOS and want we found has led to the conclusion that it has already been updated to include support for this new device.
This is a picture of what alleged device is going to look like, which was posted by CEPro.
Linear GDO Control
The device on the right is believed to be a GDO Takeover Unit, which if the announcement is to be assumed to be true, is based on the Linear GDOOZ controller. A peek into the internals of the iOS app components revealed to us that the icon for this device already exists in the app. The icon below was located within the app bundle with the filename of device_gdotakeoverunit.png.
While we cannot be completely certain that the app fully supports the device, it’s fairly safe to assume that since the mobile app relies heavily on web services, the device can be supported without requiring any further app updates.
We also found an excellent explanation on the operation of the device over at the Z-Wave Alliance site.
The Linear GD00Z Garage Door Controller is compatible with virtually any automatic garage door opener connected to a sectional garage door. Installers only need to pair the unit to a Z-Wave gateway, mount the unit, connect two wires and plug it in. The garage door is then remotely controllable through any Z-Wave certified gateway or security panel. Providing both audible and visual warnings prior to door movement, the GD00Z meets UL 325-2010 safety requirements. The Z-Wave Garage Door Controller integrates with other Linear Z-Wave enabled products, and can also act as a wireless repeater to ensure that commands intended for another device in the home’s Z-Wave network are received.
Perhaps the most interesting capability of this device is the fact that it can act as a repeater. Having a repeater in an area Z-Wave coverage might already be spare is sure to be useful, especially for those using the GE outdoor modules.
The Iris Garage Door Opener isn’t available yet, but this year March madness is sure to bring much more than basketball. Check here often for further details on this exciting new device.
