INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Are you interested in an Amazon smart lock for your connected home, but worried about Amazon Key’s hackable lock and disarm-able camera
Yale Locks could have a better, Alexa-enabled solution. Yale announced today that its Yale Assure Lock now supports voice unlocking through
You’ll be able to set up a four-to-eight-digit PIN, then speak that PIN out loud to unlock your Assure deadbolt when your hands are
full. Any persons with Yale Z-Wave or Zigbee locks can currently lock their doors and check lock status through the Alexa app
But only Assure Lock owners can now link their devices with an Amazon Echo Plus or other compatible smart home hubs (like Samsung
SmartThings) to unlock doors. Yale Assure will also let you enter your code using buttons or a touchscreen
Plus, you must opt into the unlock feature, since it’s off by default, meaning burglars can’t just say 0000 to get in before you set it
up. Jason Williams, President of Yale’s parent company ASSA ABLOY, said in a statement that Yale’s customers had been requesting voice
control. “With the addition of the Alexa unlock feature our locks now allow consumers to secure their homes and enter them using simple
voice commands, delivering a new level of convenience without any compromise on security,” he said.Unfortunately, Yale’s press release
made no mention of specific security features for the smart lock, such as voice recognition or anti-hacking measures.Customized security
settingsOutside of locking and unlocking, Yale says that its locks can be connected to a home alarm or automation system
That way, you can program your lock to trigger when an alarm sounds, or unlock right around the time you know your kid’s school bus
arrives. Plus, you can give out specialized codes to specific people that only work at certain times—like giving your neighbor access
when you're away on vacation to water your plants—and you can check access logs after the fact to see when and for how long he or she
visited while you were away. Of course, other Yale locks have these features, for buyers interested in other smart home ecosystems than
Amazon. The Nest x Yale non-touchpad lock comes with an elegant gold finishAt CES 2018, Yale also announced its specialized Nest x Yale
lock, which lets you connect your smart lock to your Nest Secure Alarm and Nest Hello video-enabled doorbell for automated lock/unlock
responses. Unfortunately, the Nest-specialized lock and Alexa-specialized Assure Lock won’t work interchangeably, so if you use Google
Home, Nest x Yale could be your best bet
It seems likely that Yale will add Google Assistant support to its Nest locks in the near future as well.Ty6Gj9EwpPZHsttcTPAhgd.jpg#
