Hive Connected Home
|
Type of site
|
Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2012 |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| Industry | Home automation |
| Products | Hive Active Heating Hive Active Light Hive Sensors Hive Active Plug Hive app |
| Employees | 200+ (2015) |
| Parent | Centrica (2012-present) |
| Website | www |
| Native client(s) on | iOS, Android (Google Play and Amazon Appstore), Windows 10 Mobile |
Hive is a trademark owned by Centrica Connected Home Limited that produces smart home devices. It is one of the largest connected home providers in the UK and, as of August 2016, the company had more than 360,000 customers.
Using the Hive app and website, customers can control a range of internet-connected devices, from a thermostat, to lights, smart plugs, motion sensors, and window and door sensors.
Hive was established when parent company Centrica, owner of British Gas, formed its Connected Homes sector in 2012. The year after it was founded, the company launched Hive Active Heating on October 14, 2013, a smart thermostat that allows customers to control heating and hot water in their homes via the companys website or app. The system is installed in customers homes by a British Gas engineer.
In February 2015, British Gas purchased the connected home firm AlertMe in a deal worth £65 million. This allowed Hive to build its devices using the Honeycomb platform developed by AlertMe, which facilitates the capability for users to control all their smart home devices through an app. This meant Hive could more closely compete with similar platforms used by rivals such as HomeKit, Project Brillo and Nest.
Hive Active Heating 2, the second edition of the company's smart heating system, was released in July 2015. The new model was upgraded to include two additional features. The holiday mode setting allows customers to set a given temperature while away from home. The boost function allows customers to immediately turn heating and hot water on for a period of up to six hours.
The smart thermostat was designed by Silicon Valley-based Swiss designer Yves Béhar, who won Design Miami Design Visionary Award in 2015. It was praised for its sleek look, with critics saying it was an improvement on the company's first active heating model, which was criticised for having a dull aesthetic. However, in the same year, complaints about the lack of data security led to changes in the software. The company improved data encryption as a result of an investigation by Which? magazine.
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