Intel will demonstrate its full suite of IoT solutions at CES 2017 using a Tiny Smart Home powered by Amazon Alexa for voice control and MiOS for home automation.

MiOS? Yes, MiOS is the company behind the popular Vera DIY home automation system. Its SHaaS (smart home as a service) may be “The Biggest Home Automation Platform You Never Heard of,” as we wrote back in 2013.

A MiOS gateway with an Intel Quark processor serves as the home automation hub for the Tiny House. Amazon Alexa enables voice control, while Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides the cloud-based processing that lends connectivity to the space.

Although we don’t have exact details on the CES demo, at least one version of the 210-square-foot Smart Tiny House – demonstrated for the first time in November of this year – features:

Philips Hue lights

Nest thermostat

Sonos Playbar soundbar and subwoofer

QMotion (Legrand) motorized shades

Kuna and Vera security cameras

Somfy motorized awning

Amazon Fire TV streaming media player

Plex home media software running on Lenovo computer with Intel Core I5 inside

Amazon Echo, Dot and Tap

Wi-Fi gateway with Intel AnyWAN GRX750

While Intel has been a relatively silent partner in the home-automation movement, the company wants everyone to know about Intel Inside the smart home.

“Intel technology … enables home networking devices to deliver seamless connectivity in the home, laying the foundation required for a smart home,” says the voice-over in a video of the tiny house. “With AWS and Intel, you can implement an IoT solution quickly, and with minimal up-front investments, seamless connectivity and deliver enhanced security from device to network to cloud. Then, use AWS big-data services to drive business insight.”

Intel Tiny Smart Home with MiOS and Amazon Alexa

Awkward Voice Commands

While the home automation in the Smart Tiny House is pretty standard, there are at least two interesting implementations.

First is a sliding bed that emerges for sleep-time and retracts when not in use.

Second is a motorized QMotion shade that both darkens the room and serves as a video projection screen – a handy combo in a small space.

And then comes the awkward voice commands, illustrating how we’re not quite there yet.

“Alexa, turn on movie time” is a fairly natural request. The command triggers the shades to drop, the lights to dim, the Fire TV to power up, and the Plex software to project media options on the big screen.

Where the whole ecosystem falls short is when the user must command, “Alexa, turn on goodnight” and, later, “Turn on good morning.”

Doesn't exactly trip off the tongue, but we’ll get there.

Quickie on Intel and the Standards

Intel (with Samsung and Broadcom) was a founding member of the Open Interconnect Consortium (OIC), purveyor of the IoTivity open-source project for smart-home connectivity.

The group, founded in 2014, changed its name in 2016 to the Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF), adding Microsoft, Qualcomm and Electrolux to the brotherhood – all major stakeholders in the competing group AllSeen, based on Qualcomm’s AllJoyn connectivity technology. (Broadcom was dropped.)

By October 2016, all parties decided to come together under the OCF umbrella, agreeing to make their respective platforms – IoTivity and AllJoyn – compatible with each other.

OCF will have a sizable presence in the Smart Home Marketplace at CES (booth #40930). Intel’s main booth at CES is in the Central Hall at the LVCC (#10048).

MiOS has a stand in the Z-Wave Pavilion in the LVCC South Hall (#20900).