Microwave Journal
www.microwavejournal.com/articles/30852-laird-leverages-amazon-web-services-iot-analytics-for-first-of-its-kind-smart-appliance
Laird

Laird Leverages Amazon Web Services IoT Analytics for First-of-its-Kind Smart Appliance

August 6, 2018

Laird is making the world a cooler place by helping Kapsul launch their first app-driven, smartphone-controlled air conditioner. Laird has helped Kapsul bring the product to market quickly with groundbreaking security, connectivity and features that have never been seen in home comfort products. 

The Kapsul W5 connected window air conditioner has all the cooling power of a traditional 5000 BTU window air conditioner, but packs it into a beautiful, compact design that is only 7 inches tall, 2x as quiet as the competition and the easiest unit to install. Beyond its elegant design and powerful cooling capabilities, the Kapsul W5 has wirelessly-enabled features that make it a landmark in the appliance industry–features that were made possible by Kapsul’s collaboration with Laird. 

Laird utilized its industry-leading expertise in the design of smart products to make the Kapsul W5 highly secure–a feature that is proving to be a key selling point with consumers as the number of cybersecurity attacks on IoT devices continue to grow. 

"When we designed Kapsul, we wanted it to not only be beautiful, easy-to-use and smart, we also wanted it to build in security features from the start in a way that sets a new standard for this type of product," said Don Pancoe, co-founder and CTO of Kapsul. "With so many IoT-related cybersecurity attacks in the news, this is an issue that is top of mind for consumers, and Laird helps us provide peace of mind to our customers with security that is built into the fundamental design of the product."

"No one has the experience, resources and track record that Laird has in helping companies make their wirelessly-enabled products secure, cloud-connected and successful with customers," said Dan Plach, VP of engineering services for Laird's Connectivity Solutions Business. "This collaboration with Kapsul and the integration with the AWS IoT Analytics platform is a case study in how companies can utilize IoT features to differentiate their products with capabilities that resonate with customers."

Laird also helped Kapsul develop an intuitive app-based smartphone interface for the air conditioner that makes this a landmark home comfort appliance. This interface connects consumers with their Kapsul unit via AWS IoT. AWS IoT is a fully-managed service that makes it easy to run IoT without having to worry about all the cost and complexity typically required to build your own IoT platform. Laird utilized AWS to provide Kapsul with a cloud-enabled solution for its consumer product that supports the smartphone capabilities that consumers expect.