Control4 Acquires Remote Control Specialist NEEO
Control4 will use NEEO’s expertise for its latest smart home touch panels, remote controls, keypads and similar devices.
The NEEO remote is known for its simplistic setup, out-of-the-box interoperability and industrial design.
DRAPER, Utah — Control4 (Nasdaq: CTRL), headquartered here, has acquired Switzerland-based smart home company NEEO as part of its plan to offer next-gen interactive smart home tech.
Terms of the transaction were not initially disclosed.
Control4 will use NEEO’s expertise for its latest touch panels, remote controls, keypads and similar devices, according to an announcement. The acquisition follows the launch of NEEO’s smart home remote control four years ago.
Introduced in 2016, NEEO’s original remote, which is sold direct to consumers, is known for its simplistic set up, out-of-box interoperability with thousands of devices, and its sleek industrial design. With this acquisition, the NEEO remote will no longer be sold direct to consumers.
Meanwhile at CEDIA Expo 2018 in San Diego, NEEO announced the launch of its NEEO PRO remote with integration to Kaleidescape, Lutron and Control4, among others.
The NEEO PRO version features more powerful hardware and a whole set of professional channel specific software, according to founder Raphael Oberholzer. He noted some of the highlights of the NEEO PRO are the admin interface for installation professionals to maintain systems of any size remotely and the Multi-Brain feature, which allows integrators to build systems of any size.
NEEO PRO is compatible with over 60,000 devices.
“Thanks to its architecture there is — compared to the traditional control systems — no single point of failure,” said Olberholzer in an online blog.
Based in Bern, the NEEO product team, led Oberholzer, will be working with the Control4 engineering group in Salt Lake City on the development of the next generation of Control4 remote controls, touchpanels, keypads and other devices.
Oberholzer will take a leadership role in the development of Control4’s interaction devices and will report to Charlie Kindel, Control4 senior vice president, products & services.
“Raphael built a world-class customer-centric product team with proven strengths in industrial design, product development, and user experience. We’re keen to add NEEO’s unique expertise and award-winning Swiss design ethic to enhance our plans for reimagining the way homeowners interact with their Control4 systems,” says Martin Plaehn, chairman and CEO of Control4.
“The NEEO acquisition is a talent and technology investment that will yield beautifully-designed and deeply integrated products in the future. We’re excited to welcome the NEEO team to the Control4 family,” he adds.
“From the start, it was obvious that both our companies are passionate for customer-centric design,” says Oberholzer. “By joining the Control4 team, we can execute our shared vision to accelerate the creation of beautiful products consumers want in their smart home.”
As mentioned, NEEO previously sold its remote to homeowners online but is discontinuing all direct-to-consumer distribution in connection with this transaction. Control4 will support existing NEEO customers via www.neeo.com and plans to provide an upgrade path to make it easy for users to experience Control4’s broad array of smart home solutions.
(This story first appeared in SSI sister publication CEPro.)
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About the Author
Jason Knott
Jason Knott is Chief Content Officer for Emerald Expositions Connected Brands. Jason has covered low-voltage electronics as an editor since 1990, serving as editor and publisher of Security Sales & Integration. He joined CE Pro in 2000 and serves as Editor-in-Chief of that brand. He served as chairman of the Security Industry Association’s Education Committee from 2000-2004 and sat on the board of that association from 1998-2002. He is also a former board member of the Alarm Industry Research and Educational Foundation. He has been a member of the CEDIA Business Working Group since 2010. Jason graduated from the University of Southern California. Have a suggestion or a topic you want to read more about? Email Jason at [email protected]
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