Notifon
Hardware
wireless iot sensor
SHOW HN2014
129points
57comments
#207of 2,272 in 2014
Top 10%of 2014 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
6 positive, 9 neutral or asking, 1 mixed, 14 critical, out of 30 comments about the project. Thread score -0.20.
Docs: 1 for, 3 againstPerformance: 1 for, 2 againstPricing: 0 for, 3 againstIdea: 1 for, 2 againstDesign: 0 for, 2 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Impressive that one person built the whole product
From 1 comment
That you managed to do everything is impressive, especially given the costs involved in production tooling for plastics. I assume you had to build a large quantity of PCBA's as…
pdx on HN
Long battery life from low-power design
From 1 comment
I really need to understand and learn how it works on such less power. Kudos.
motyar on HN
Objections
Too expensive for consumers
From 3 comments
This is cool marketing but it is way expensive than I expected. I am not sure pricing is DIY-friendly but you would certainly find people to buy that.
aalpbalkan on HNI expected this to work through either wifi or a very cheap USB dongle. The price point for a base station with one device should be 49.99 and each additional device should…
zapt02 on HNI agree this is way too expensive.
zapt02 on HN
Open/closed state detection unclear for magnetic sensors
From 1 comment
Sorry, but just saying "it can do it" without explaining how, is not convincing! The magnetic switch in the video - I have used before, and they do not distinguish between "open"…
exodust on HN
Limited range compared to alternatives
From 1 comment
The key is to get notifications when you're away. BLE don't have a good range (about 10 meters). ZigBee is more like Wifi (about 50/100 meters).
clement87 on HN
Website does not explain the product clearly
From 2 comments
The web page gives me pretty much absolutely no idea what this product does, except for the abstract "notify me of things". How does it do it, how do you interface to it, etc?
johansch on HNThat sounds cool! I do recommend you highlight a few practical use cases, i.e. what benefits does (or will) it provide? Try to lead with why rather than with what. It took me a…
namenotrequired on HN
Requests
Android compatibility
From 1 comment
1) All screenshots are of iPhones, is there Android compatibility? 2) PushingBox only allows login with a Google account. Both of these mean I could never be your customer.
edwhitesell on HN
Use a cheaper radio such as BLE or WiFi
From 2 comments
I expected this to work through either wifi or a very cheap USB dongle. The price point for a base station with one device should be 49.99 and each additional device should…
zapt02 on HNLooks great! Out of curiosity, why go with the hub/node approach using ZigBee for sending such a small amount of data? There are WiFi modules like TI's CC3000…
jpwright on HN
Discreet, paintable design
From 1 comment
Congrats, this is an interesting project and props for doing it all on your own! I thought our kind has gone all but extinct these days :) That said, here's a problem from just…
abcd_f on HN
Questions
Why ZigBee instead of WiFi or BLE
From 2 comments
Looks great! Out of curiosity, why go with the hub/node approach using ZigBee for sending such a small amount of data? There are WiFi modules like TI's CC3000…
jpwright on HNWow, Amazed someone used ZigBee instead of Bluetooth Low Energy. There's just so many more BLE chips out there and Android and iOS phones are even compatible nowadays.
lnanek2 on HN
FCC compliance
From 1 comment
What do you need to do for FCC compliance? Is it all taken care of because you're using ZigBee?
smni on HN
How the open/closed state is detected
From 1 comment
How do you know the garage door is "open"? If you receive an identical notification whenever the sensor is triggered, the door could be open or closed. With something like a…
exodust on HN
Alternatives named
Sen.se
From 1 comment
Interesting. Seems similar—complete with slightly creepy base station—to Sen.se: https://sen.se/store/cookie/#mother (Though it appears Karotz is a separate thing:…
itafroma on HN
Ninja Blocks
From 1 comment
My first thought was that it looked very similar to Ninja Blocks: http://ninjablocks.com/products/ninja-blocks-kit
barbs on HN
Electric Imp
From 1 comment
Interesting. Seems similar—complete with slightly creepy base station—to Sen.se: https://sen.se/store/cookie/#mother (Though it appears Karotz is a separate thing:…
itafroma on HN
Karotz
From 1 comment
Interesting. Seems similar—complete with slightly creepy base station—to Sen.se: https://sen.se/store/cookie/#mother (Though it appears Karotz is a separate thing:…
itafroma on HN