Zensys Announces Z-Wave Software Upgrade Offering Unrivaled Support for Battery-to-Battery Communication

5.0 Software Upgrade Further Extends Lead of Z-Wave in Wireless Home Control

Fremont/Copenhagen, 17. October 2007 – Zensys, developer of the award-winning Z-Wave wireless home control standard, today announced a major software upgrade that will provide consumer electronics manufacturers developing Z-Wave-enabled products with a number of new enhancements including unmatched support for battery-to-battery communication.

“This is an important development for the Z-Wave standard that further distinguishes it from other control technologies for the home,” stated Tony Shakib, CEO of Zensys.

The 5.0 software release contains a number of enhancements and new introductions to Z-Wave. Key features of Z-Wave 5.0 are:

- Battery-to-battery communication – translates into real-time control of battery-operated devices used in home control and automation such as shades and doorbells. This also includes the ability to wake up battery-operated devices to communicate from main-powered devices.

- Z-Wave’s new ZensorNet™ functionality – allows operating not just point-to-point links, but entire networks of battery operated devices. Applications such as advanced smoke detectors where one device wakes up and alerts a whole network of smoke detectors that are reached via multiple hops can easily be implemented thanks to the ZensorNet feature in Z-Wave 5.0.

- Multi-year life in battery-to-battery operation – Z-Wave devices can now run for multiple years without requiring to be serviced.

- Battery-less devices – thanks to the further reduced power consumption in Z-Wave, entirely battery-less devices can be implemented that are powered through solar cells or other forms or energy scavenging.

- Full backward compatibility to earlier Z-Wave generations – new devices that are based on Z-Wave 5.0 are fully interoperable with all previous Z-Wave devices, protecting the investment of OEMs, consumers, and all Z-Wave partners in the market.

- Support for new frequencies – including the 919.82 MHZ band in Hong Kong, and 921.42 MHZ in Australia and New Zealand.

“As the only standard that offers battery-to-battery communication and even battery-less devices, Z-Wave extends its lead as the most mature and successful command and control technology available for the home today,” said Mark Walters, chairman of the Z-Wave Alliance. “We continue to grow its capabilities and our success can be seen in the number of Z-Wave-enabled products on the market.”

Z-Wave products are available from leading consumer brands in already more than 170 products, giving Z-Wave a significant time-to-market advantage over all competing wireless home control solutions. More than 160 companies – including industry giants Cooper Industries, Danfoss, Intel, Intermatic, Leviton, Monster, Universal Electronics (UEI), and Wayne-Dalton – are members of the Z-Wave Alliance and have selected Z-Wave as their home control technology of choice.

More Information:
Zensys Inc.
39350 Civic Center Drive
Suite 210, Fremont, CA 94538

Lew Brown
Executive Vice President Marketing
Tel.: +1 (510) 288-4680
Fax: +1 (510) 796-4611

PR-Agency:
Sprengel & Partner GmbH
Nisterstraße 3
D-56472 Nisterau

Fabian Sprengel
Tel.: +49 (26 61) 912 600
Fax: +49 (26 61) 912 6013
f.sprengel@sup-pr.de

About Z-Wave
Z-Wave® is the first technology to bring affordable, reliable and easy-to-use wireless control to every aspect of daily life – the home, consumer electronics, healthcare, and energy use, to name a few. Z-Wave is an award-winning, proven and interoperable wireless mesh networking technology that allows a wide array of devices in and around the home to communicate including lighting, appliances, HVAC, entertainment centers, and security systems. Z-Wave brings many benefits to everyday life including remote home monitoring, home healthcare, safety and security, and energy conservation. Z-Wave certified products are currently available from leading consumer brands in more than 170 products.Z-Wave is the recipient of the 2006 Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award in the wireless category, the CNET “Best of CES Award” in the enabling technologies category, along with PC World’s 2006 World Class Award, which recognizes the 100 best technologies and products of the year. For more information about Z-Wave please visit www.z-wave.com
Z-Wave® is a registered trade mark of Zensys, Inc. and its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

This release was published on openPR.