SmartAMERICA Announces Active Support for Microsoft Initiative for Global Home Automation Control Standard.

Business Editors

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 21, 2000

SmartAMERICA Development Corp., a major developer and marketer of CEBus-based home automation control solutions, enthusiastically supports combining the standards activities of the CEBus Industry Council (CIC) with Microsoft Corp.'s initiative to develop a worldwide home automation control standard called Simple Control Protocol (SCP), it was announced by President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis A. Murray.

Murray is a member of the CIC board of directors, which unanimously voted in favor of the combined activities this week.

Based on the convergence of the CEBus standard and Microsoft's Home Plug and Play protocol, an early version of SCP is being demonstrated this week at the Home Automation Conference in Chicago. Like CEBus, SCP is a networking technology for devices such as smart appliances and home control products. Both are optimized for devices with limited memory and processing power and for networks with low bandwidth, such as the Power Line Carrier (PLC) medium.

"It is exciting to be involved in Microsoft's global effort toward interoperability," Murray said. "The multiplicity of standards in the home control field has been a primary reason for its slow development as an industry. With the sanction of our parent company, IHG Ltd., SmartAMERICA has been a meaningful contributor to the efforts of the CIC, and we intend to be active participants in the further development of SCP and in the Universal Plug and Play Forum (UPnP). By so doing, we can continue to grow our business under a mature standard and at the same time, assure our customers and installers that they have a reliable and uncomplicated migration path for the future."

According to Murray, SmartAMERICA and its overseas parent and marketing partner, IHG Ltd., Perth Australia, will continue to develop and sell products based on the CEBus standard for distribution in the Americas, Australia, Europe, Japan and Southeast Asia. Nevertheless, he said, interoperability is the operative word and to assure customers the optimum level of confidence and flexibility SmartAMERICA will feature CEBus/Home Plug and Play-compliant products immediately and will introduce SCP-compliant products as the standard evolves.

At the same time, Murray said, the two companies will support ongoing work to assure that systems based on CEBus that are installed in residences today communicate seamlessly with SCP devices from appliance vendors such as General Electric, a key partner in the initiative.

"There has been no dominant participant in the home automation industry to date," Murray said, "and now that companies like Microsoft, General Electric and others are making serious commitments to the field, we can expect that home automation will become one of the `must-haves' in the minds of homeowners who wish to maximize the efficiency and convenience of their home appliances and their security, comfort, information, entertainment and communications systems. With the interoperability of SCP, the industry takes a giant forward step."

SmartAMERICA Development Corp. is the American arm of IHG Ltd., leaders in the development of Residential Gateways and Home Automation Controllers for the world market. Since winning the Home Automation Association's Award for Excellence in 1994, IHG has developed the world's first commercially available Residential Gateway for the utilities market. SmartAMERICA is located at 125 Bethany Drive, Scotts Valley, Calif. 94066; tel [phone]; fax [phone]; e-mail [e-mail] or visit www.smart-america.com.