IKEA France recently tweeted that their smart blinds will be delayed until August. Previously, the release date was April 2019. The blinds will be integrated with the three most popular smart home platforms, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple HomeKit. With these integrations, users will be able to command their blinds with their voices alone, or through apps.
While the blinds will be sold in two different styles, only one of them entitled Fyrtur will be available in the United States. IKEA hasn’t provided any information about sizing or pricing. However, they did confirm to CNET that they will only come in one color, which is gray.
In addition to its integrations with Amazon, Google, and Apple, the smart blinds will also work with IKEA’s existing smart home products, its TRÅDFRI smart lighting kit. Aside from smart lighting and blinds, IKEA will release its first smart speakers, powered by Sonos, next month.
IKEA is not the first company to create smart blinds. Home security company Netatmo, in a partnership with VELUX, created a “smart window” system which incorporated windows, shutters, and blinds into a larger smart home system. Unlike IKEA’s blinds, which will require the user to control them vocally or through the app, Netatmo’s blinds rely on smart sensors that measure carbon monoxide levels, temperature, and humidity. With these measurements, the blinds can open and close on their own, using the environmental data as their controls. Of course, if the user wants to make any further adjustments, they can do so through their apps on iPhones or iPads.
“Without having to program or operate a remote, the system has the ability to recognize a need for fresh air and open the skylights automatically,”
said Ross Vandemark, U.S national product manager for VELUX. With the rise of smart home devices, IKEA could prove to be a major competitor for companies like Netatmo and VELUX.
