David RichardsCisco Systems has made an undisclosed investment in US tech Company Zensys in an effort to expand into the home automation.
The Zensys product range will be re branded as Linksys a brand name owned by Cisco. Zensys is the developer of Z-Wave, a wireless networking technology that lets users remotely control lights, security systems and other household electronics. At the recent CES Expo in Las Vegas a senior executive of Cisco owned KISS Technology admitted that Linksys and Cisco were well advanced in delivering broadband and connectivity over electricity cables that are already installed in most homes
“We expect the digital home control market will be our next big chance,” Malachy Moynihan, Linksys vice president of engineering and marketing, told tech trade publication Computer Reseller News.
Linksys makes home networking products, some of which already include chips for Z-Wave. Cisco acquired Linksys or $500 million in 2003. Zensys said plans to use the money from Cisco to work its technology into other Linksys products. The deal marks a big win for Zensys, which is battling to be the standard for wireless home automation versus a rival technology called ZigBee.
Linksys has benefited from other Cisco spending. Last year, Cisco paid $61 million for Denmark’s Kiss Technology, which was folded into Linksys. Before that, two other Cisco buys made their way to Linksys: Sipura Technology. and Airespace.