We reviewed the singular nCube unit before Christmas, which was a streamlined smart hub for the home. Well, at this year’s CES they have stepped it up a gear creating the modular nCube. The 4 layers of stylish blue boxes will make any home smarter and more autonomous than before.
The nCube Base is a full redesign of the existing nCube hub which is no longer Raspberry Pi based but has a fully customised board embedding Z-Wave, Zigbee, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. The base can support both Wi-Fi connection to the home network and simultaneously allow Wi-Fi smart home devices to connect to the nCube base.
The nCube Security module provides mobile network back-up and battery back-up for approximately 12 hours. This means the whole nCube platform continues to function in the event of either or both a power failure and internet connection failure and is, therefore, more advanced than many other DIY smart home solutions from a security perspective.
The storage layer provides 1Tb SSD storage for home security camera footage recording for consumers that are wary of cloud storage. Optionally, the user may opt-in on an ad hoc basis to cloud storage accessing recordings when a security incident has occurred.
The voice layer provides voice control such as the existing Alexa integration. With all modules being optional, the consumer can choose exactly what they want from their smart home hub instead of being forced into accepting voice for example.
As part of the new launch from nCube, they have released a series of smart add-ons for your smart home including plugs and lights.