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Habitap and Keppel Land collaborate to build the best smart homes in Singapore

By Ng Chong Seng - on 28 Jul 2016, 10:45am

Habitap and Keppel Land collaborate to build the best smart homes in Singapore

 

While home automation isn’t exactly a new concept, new initiatives by the likes of Amazon, Apple, and Google in recent times have dramatically raised consumer awareness of home automation tech, and in turn, the idea of smart homes.

While the benefits of smart homes are undeniable (convenience, energy savings, etc.), the home automation space is crowded, with devices and standards aplenty. While it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to put together random equipment to add some smarts to a room, it’s a totally different ball game when you’re talking about smartening up the whole house. The hassle of integrating the various pieces of equipment and the troubleshooting that will inevitably follow down the road are hurdles preventing smart homes from taking off in a big way.

Of course, there are solutions to all these; assuming you’re receptive to the idea and willing to pay, it’s mostly a matter of finding the right experts. For those soon-to-be residents of Corals at Keppel Bay (that’s a luxury waterfront development by Keppel Land, by the way), you’re in luck. Because Corals at Keppel Bay will be using Asia’s first fully integrated smart home management system called Habitap.

Conceptualized and developed in Singapore by homegrown technology firm Philip Tang & Sons, Habitap claims to be the first to integrate the management of smart home devices, management of condominium facility bookings and lifestyle offerings into a single platform, all accessible within the Habitap app that’s specially customized for the Corals at Keppel Bay development.

For a start, all units will be fitted with a smart hub, smart door lock, and smart air-conditioning controls, so you can do things like unlocking the main door and switching on the air-conditioning units from anywhere (even remotely) at any time. If you’ve other needs, a wider range of compatible smart home products (over 100 of them) - like smart cameras, sensors, lighting, sound systems - from smart device makers like Bose, Fibaro, Foscam, Loewe, Philips Hue, Samsung, Sonos, Somfy, and Synology can also be directly purchased via the Habitap Store and added to Habitap’s Smart Control interface.

To create a safe and secure home, Habitap is also collaborating with internationally-renowned Swedish security system, Keypasco, to provide a state-of-the art bank-grade security system. In essence, even if someone downloads the app (that's easy) and manages to get hold of your username and password, he or she can’t access your smart home because that username/password combo only works on your registered device.

Of course, there’s no shortage of smart home controller apps out there. But what makes Habitap different is that it also includes a smart lifestyle directory and a smart condo management feature. For example, in it you'll find a wide range of lifestyle offerings, including dining, fashion, and beauty; and even grocery and parenting services. It can also be used to book condo facilities and manage guest lists. According to Mr. Franklin Tang, CEO of Philip Tang & Sons, residents of Corals at Keppel Bay using Habitap will have access to 600 restaurants, 1,000 food delivery choices, 30,000 home appliances and furnishing choices, 60,000 grocery items, and 320,000 personal drivers. Impressive numbers indeed, though not entirely a surprise since Habitap has managed to partner with over 50 brands like Deliveroo, Grab, Honestbee, Chope, 33 HIC Juice, Carecci & Figli, Da Paolo, One Concept, Krislite, Proof Living, Bo Concept, Crate & Barrel, Space Furniture, Marquis Q Square, Minotti, OM, Lifestorey, Whiteboard, Finn Avenue, Car Club, Simmons, SKII Boutique Spa, and ITAL Ferrari - just to name a few. So in more ways than one, Habitap can also be called a smart condo / smart living app.

As of now, Habitap will only be available as a customized platform for development projects such as Corals at Keppel Bay. But Mr. Tang did reveal that the company is looking to bring this hardware/software solution to retail in the near future.

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