Smart home company Netatmo announced earlier this week its own API for third-party Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Called Netatmo Connect, the API provides developers with the ability to connect to Netatmo’s products and create meaningful interactions.
Connect has three major platforms – weather, smart home, and enterprise.
Weather uses data from the Netatmo Weather Stations network to provide real-time, accurate weather data. AccuWeather has announced its support for the API, and will use it to provide more accurate local forecasts.
See Also: Google invites all to its Nest in Amazon IoT battle
For the Smart Home, Netatmo has partnered with IFTTT (if-this-then-that) to create connections between devices. IFTTT already has one of the largest databases of services and apps, which includes Nest, Philips Hue, Belkin WeMo and popular apps like Facebook, Spotify, and Pocket. Samsung, SmartThings, and GreenIQ have already announced their support for Connect.
Netatmo also aiming at enterprise market
Netatmo is also making a play for the enterprise market, creating a platform specifically for the industry. It mentions in its press release a partnership Engie, a French electric utilities company, which connects to the company’s smart thermostats to track customer data.
To kick off the API launch, Netatmo has introduced an app competition. It starts today and will end on July 15. The winner will receive a complete Netatmo product pack, which includes the Weather station, thermostat, Welcome camera, and all the accessories.
The smart home company is stepping into a crowded market, Amazon and Nest have already grabbed thousands of smart home developers with their own APIs. Netatmo might have further trouble enticing developers to build for their platform first, since they do not have a super-successful product like the Nest thermostat or Amazon Echo. Without that, developers might see the Netatmo as too niche a product to bank on, though we suspect most smart home developers will support it in some capacity.
