The Connected Home

Petaluma's Threshold Corp. devises more affordable way to manage household technology

By STEVE HART
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Thursday, June 26, 2008

In the 1960s, a cartoon family called The Jetsons brought us the original "smart" home, complete with robot servants, picture phones and other futuristic gadgets.

Forty years later, a Petaluma tech startup is launching a wireless automation system aimed at making the smart home a reality.

"The home of the future is going to be very connected," said James Martin, chief executive officer of Threshold Corp.

His 4-year-old company hopes to begin selling its system in August. It's built around a digital home controller that lets consumers manage all their electronics -- TVs, media players, clocks, lights, computers, security systems and temperature controls -- from a single point. The technology also shows homeowners how much energy they're using.

The U.S. market for home automation systems is expected to grow from $3.5 billion in 2007 to $6 billion by 2012, according to Parks Associates, a Texas-based consulting firm that focuses on home networking.

But today's technology is expensive -- costing $10,000 or more -- and usually requires professional installation, Martin said.

Threshold's basic system costs $500 to $600 and is easy for consumers to install and configure, Martin said. When consumers hold one device to another, the gadgets wirelessly "talk" to each other, programming themselves with passwords, network addresses, device IDs and other data.

The system will first be available online, but Threshold also is also talking with home improvement, electronics and appliance retailers, Martin said.

James Martin, CEO of Threshold Corp., creates wireless networking devices for homes, which allows users to control devices, such as lights, monitor their property and chart appliances' energy use on computer. 

Threshold was founded in 2004 by a small group of Telecom Valley engineers with experience at Nokia, Next Level, Diamond Lane and DSC Communications. They planned to release the home server in 2006, but delayed the launch to work on a suite of peripherals and a power-control module for tracking energy use. "We had to create more technology along the way," Martin said.

With utility prices soaring, Threshold saw energy management as a major selling point, Martin said.
"We felt we had to bring it into our early release," he said.

The energy-monitoring feature lets consumers track the consumption of various home electronics on Threshold's controller, personal computer or laptop.

Threshold also is offering the power-control module to manufacturers who want to add energy tracking to their own electronics.

In addition to the power module, the company has developed a set of cameras, sensors, adapters and controls to link different home electronics. To drive the network, Threshold also invented a low-power wireless standard, called ONE-NET.

The company has started volume production in China and the Philippines and is adding marketing, business and manufacturing executives to its staff.

Threshold, which has 15 to 20 employees in Petaluma, has raised about $2 million from private investors. It is now looking for $5 million in venture funding to take the business to the next level, he said.
"We're anxious to get into the revenue mode," Martin said.

You can reach Staff Writer Steve Hart at 521-5205 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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