Unveiled at CES 2018, the Toshiba Symbio supports Z-Wave, Zigbee and WiFi. It’s being billed as “the world’s first all-in-one smart home solution.”

Toshiba Symbio home automation hub at CES 2018: Is it really the "world’s first all-in-one smart home solution with 6 functions"?

LAS VEGAS — Joining countless other home automation hubs, Toshiba debuted its new Symbio smart home system (model TH-GW10, $249) at CES 2018.

Like the others, it doesn’t really need much description. They all sound alike: “Essentially, with one simple device, Symbio can deliver a smart home experience that previously required professionally installed systems.”

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The money quote, from Mineo Maruyama, vice president, Toshiba Visual Solutions Corporation: “Symbio is a tremendous addition to our growing portfolio of Toshiba Visual Solutions consumer smart home products, which includes our smart TVs with voice search and home appliance control services. By integrating the latest IoT technologies, such as AI, audio technologies and voice recognition, we will continue to expand the functionality of today’s smart homes while providing easy, useful and personalized services to support this evolution in the future.”

The ‘First’ claim: “The world’s first all-in-one smart home solution with 6 functions in one easy-to-use device.”

First question on Amazon: How tall is this product? (Answer: 8.63 inches)

First comment from verified user: What is unique about Symbio is that it has both a security camera and a full featured smart home hub built in. As far as I know, there is not another product available with this combination.

The obligatory video:

The peaceful baby:

Toshiba Symbio Specs

Security Camera

1080p Full HD, wide-angle, low light camera

Physical camera privacy cover

Security siren, audible alarm

Sound- and motion-based smart phone alerts

Two-way remote communication with app

Built-in environment sensors (e.g., temperature, humidity, ambient light)

Smart alerts and notifications

Smart Sound Detector

Get alerts on your smart phone from both connected and legacy devices (e.g., smoke alarms)

Makes your existing legacy alarms part of the system

Alerts you to noise (e.g., baby monitoring, elder care)

Wi-Fi Streaming Speaker

High-excursion speaker with high quality audio processing

Popular music CSPs (e.g., Amazon Music, iHeart Radio®, Pandora®, Tune-in)

Local Bluetooth music playback

Voice Control with Amazon Alexa

Touch-free voice activation

Proprietary far-field voice recognition

Amazon Alexa voice control

Amazon Alexa information services

Natural language interface

Digital Hub

WiFi, ZigBee and Z-Wave wireless radio technology

Supports a variety of third-party IoT devices

Quad Core CPU enables full expandability to add dozens of smart home devices

Built-in home environment sensors

Compatible with iOS and Android™

Provides simple control of multiple smart devices around your home

Intercom

WiFi, 2.4GHz (5GHz)

Two-way remote communication Call from Smart Phone to Symbio Call from Symbio to Smart Phone

Get alerts from crying baby using loud noise detector

Activate music remotely

The Press Release

IRVINE, Calif. –Toshiba Visual Solutions Corporation has announced the U.S. release of the new Symbio™ multi-function smart home solution, delivering the capabilities of six products—a wireless security camera, smart speaker, voice control with Amazon® Alexa, an intercom, smart sound detector and an expandable smart home hub—all in a single elegant device. “Symbio is a tremendous addition to our growing portfolio of Toshiba Visual Solutions consumer smart home products, which includes our smart TVs with voice search and home appliance control services” By consolidating multiple smart home functions into one solution, Symbio eliminates the need to purchase and control multiple devices, giving consumers more value for their money and empowering users to manage their smart home quickly and easily with their voice or a simple touch. All Symbio functionality is controlled through a single, user-friendly app, which works with iOS and Android™ smartphones. The Toshiba Smart Home App turns a smartphone into a remote control for all Toshiba Symbio™ connected smart home devices. With the app, users have full control over everything from lights and music to door locks and temperature settings, from any location—at home, at the office or out of town. Symbio also functions as a smart home hub, which accommodates many connected devices powered by Z-Wave or ZigBee wireless technology, the wireless communications protocol used in hundreds of home automation devices. With a growing number of devices available today, and more being continually introduced, users can easily expand and customize their home with additional smart devices over time. Essentially, with one simple device, Symbio can deliver a smart home experience that previously required professionally installed systems. Six smart home Symbio functions: Security Camera: 1080p Full HD, wide-angle, low-light camera keeps an eye on children, pets and the home environment for greater peace of mind. Provides sound- and motion-based alerts, and streams live HD video to a smartphone.

Smart Sound Detector: Monitors for loud sounds, including legacy smoke detectors, and sends smartphone alerts for increased safety.

Smart Speaker: Integrated full-range speaker offers built-in access to Bluetooth® or almost limitless streaming music from leading services like Amazon Music, Pandora and iHeart Radio. Features an exclusive ODMD (Onkyo Double Molding Diaphragm) high-excursion driver to deliver rich, immersive sound.

Touch-free Voice Control with Amazon Alexa: With simple voice commands, Alexa can answer questions, play music, provide news updates and control lights, temperature and more.

Smart Home Hub: Allows your Symbio to connect and control additional sensors and devices. Easily expand your system over time with a variety of third-party IoT devices.

Intercom: Offers built-in microphones and speaker to enable two-way communication between Symbio™ and your smartphones. In addition to retail sales, the power and flexibility of Symbio™ makes it an ideal solution for those interested in launching “smart-home” related services such as home automation, security or providing access for curated service providers. “Symbio™ is a tremendous addition to our growing portfolio of Toshiba Visual Solutions consumer smart home products, which includes our smart TVs with voice search and home appliance control services,” said Mineo Maruyama, Vice President, Toshiba Visual Solutions Corporation. “By integrating the latest IoT technologies, such as AI, audio technologies and voice recognition, we will continue to expand the functionality of today’s smart homes while providing easy, useful and personalized services to support this evolution in the future.” CES – LVCC, Central Hall – #14706

Editor’s Note: This article first ran in Security Sales & Integration’s sister publication CE Pro.