February 6th, 2010

Shion 2.1.0b5 is now available.

This is a major release that includes the following changes:

1. The PowerLinc USB code has been updated to be more reliable. Controller lock-ups were an issue with previous releases, and this update improves that situation. This code is still being tuned, so your command latency may increase with this release.

2. Shion now supports the Smarthome SmartLinc 2414N controller.

3. Sprinkler support remains incomplete, but support for activating zones through AppleScript is now available. Additional device support has been added to the AppleScript dictionary (houses & thermostats).

4. Shion now supports Caller ID events when used with a compatible modem. Currently, Shion has been tested with an Apple USB modem.

Download the update now, and read more for details about the new features.

February 4th, 2010

As a software developer, I’ve become fond of the StackOverflow question and answer website model. Since home automation seems to be one of those subjects that has lots of twists and gotchas, I was wondering if there would be a community interested in a sponsored StackExchange site for home automation enthusiasts.

If there’s interest, I would certainly be interested in sponsoring such a site as marketing and community outreach vehicle for Audacious Software. The site would be product-agnostic and users would be free to post questions and answers about whatever hardware and software platforms that they were using. My interest in doing this stems from the fact that there’s quite a bit of home automation knowledge spread across fractured sites on the Internet and a centralized location might do wonders for helping everyone out and getting new users interested in wiring up their homes and offices to do crazy things.

If you would be interested in using such a site, please let me know by posting a comment below or sending an e-mail to chris@audacious-software.com. Also, if you’re a home automation technology developer and would be interested in sharing the sponsorship burden, I won’t turn you away. ;-)

February 4th, 2010

Due to popular demand, Shion now supports SmartHome’s SmartLinc 2412N network INSTEON controller. I’ve also gone ahead and reworked the preference panel a bit to support three kinds of controllers (USB, serial port, network):

A couple of notes:

1. Unless you have one already, I do not recommend that you purchase this device for operation with Shion. The major reason is that SmartHome really dropped the ball with this device, providing no APIs or other documentation for outside control. The support that you see has been reverse-engineered by myself with consultation with the sources from the OpenLinc project.

2. The major problem with the device is that available HTTP access points are built around an atrocious AJAX interface, leading to the bewildering outcome that the device is effectively one-way only, defeating the major reasons for using the INSTEON platform.

3. This means, while you will be able to send commands out to devices, you will not be able to monitor their state, making this device really only useful for controlling lamp and appliance modules. The thermostat device does work with this, but you will not be able to get the current temperature, nor pick up any remote changes in the thermostat’s state. As for motion and contact sensors – forget about it.

4. In terms of what this device does do, you can treat it like a one-way X10 controller. Commands can be sent to both INSTEON and X10 devices without any issues.

5. If you’re a tinkerer and would like to see how I implemented support for this device, the code is available in the Shion Framework source control (ASSmartLincWebController.m).

I have some UI work that I would like to do before pushing out a new release with this functionality, but keep your eyes open over the next few days for an update.

November 23rd, 2009

Shion 2.1.0b4 is now available.

This is a rough beta update that includes the following major changes:

• Support for remote control using Remote Buddy
• Initial support for sprinkler devices.
• Fixes for executing lengthy AppleScripts.

Read more for details.

October 16th, 2009

A few days ago, I posted an update describing what the company is up to. I wanted to follow up with a products post that describes what’s going on with some of the internal Audacious Software work. Since that work is almost all Shion-related at this point, this will be a Shion post. :-)

Read more for news on Shion, the iPhone client, and upcoming Caller ID features.