Latest news with #Wemo
Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Smart Today, Scrap Tomorrow: How Belkin Has Broken The Promise Of IoT
Back in 2020, I wrote here on Forbes about Belkin's decision to brick its NetCam product and abandon the customers who bought into it.I asked at the time whether the brand could ever be trusted again?Five years on, they've has answered that question themselves. A Belkin Wemo Insight Switch smart plug, taken on August 16, 2017. (Photo by Olly Curtis/T3 ... More Magazine/Future via Getty Images) Belkin dropped the bomb to customers last week confirming it will end its support for their Wemo smart home device range on 31st January 2026. No workaround, no software updates, and no plan to hand over control to users. Just a shutdown notice and lots more raw material for devices don't have a serious flaw; they haven't failed, but they are about to cease to function for their intended purpose because Belkin simply no longer wants to support the infrastructure they depend on. It's a business decision that will affect millions of users*And that's the flaw at the heart of the Internet of Things (IoT) dream that brands bought into in the early 2010s – the moment a company decides your connected product is no longer worth their time or money, it simply becomes when manufacturers like Belkin turned 'dumb' products into smart solutions, they took on a responsibility – maintaining a connected infrastructure. Now, instead of owning the problem, they're walking away from it. And in their case, they've done this for a second was never supposed to be like in those heady smart-home days of 2013/14, and in many previous waves before that, we were promised a smarter world: intelligent homes, effortless automation and seamless integration. But it's now clear that many companies treated the opportunities presented by IoT like any other consumer electronics trend – a sales opportunity to exploit rather than true innovation and a long-term commitment to previous waves of devices that promised smarthome utopia, this time the dropping of support permanently renders the devices TRS-80 from 1977 had a 'Plug'n Power" add-on. It provides the same functionality as the Wemo, but 48 years later functions exactly as well as it did the day it was new.I also have a 1996-era 'Home Director' system from IBM. Running Windows 95, it's not a practical solution to control my home30 years later, but it still works exactly as difference? The 21st Century era devices are all 'Cloud Tethered' - taking us all a step closer to Technofeudalism and the antithesis of utopian automation that is the dream of enthusiasts of this is aware that severing the Cloud Tethering is 'change [that] may disrupt your routines'. As someone who owns 41 Wemo smart plugs, I'm painfully preparing for this disruption. I've invested a huge amount of time and money installing and configuring their system. They work in perfect harmony and have done so flawlessly for over a decade. But now I must spend an entire weekend or more of transferring to their Zigbee/ Zwave equivalents. My 'digital housework' workload is about to become a major challenge. It's the digital equivalent of the roof falling in. Except I've got 6-months to prepare, but no-one except me who can fix it (and no insurance to come to my rescue)! Close-up photograph of a white, "Wemo" brand plug, used to control home electronics remotely, San ... More Ramon, California, USA, November 3, 2018 There is some 'good' news. Belkin has learnt lessons from the NetCam debacle by providing more time to switch. But I believe there's a better way of doing things:Belkin clearly knows this announcement won't land well either — the email includes three separate apologies. But instead of hiding behind vague corporate language, they'd have done better to be honest. Imagine if they had written:'Back in 2011, we saw a market opportunity and launched Wemo. In hindsight, we underestimated the complexity of supporting a smart home ecosystem. We now realise we can't sustain the Wemo platform long-term. That's why we're giving you three years to transition to a new system. We're truly sorry to let you down – reliability and trust are core to our brand, and we know we've fallen short.'And imagine if they went further: 'And as part of our end-of-life programme for these smart devices, we're releasing one final firmware update which will open the protocols used to connect to the Wemo device and allow you to control it via third-party applications. We'll be updating the Wemo app also to make it easier for your transition to another system, and hope that these devices continue to function for years, or even decades to come. With a vibrant open-source smarthome community such as those provided by Domoticz and other groups - we're confident that your investment in these product and our brand will not have been wasted.'Or further still?'Oh, and we're releasing the Wemo source code on GitHub so the opensource community can build and improve on the foundations we've laid. And we're providing full schematics and technical documentation to iFixit so that the repair community can keep our excellently designed and crafted Wemo devices in service for the long term. After all, our organization is made up of people who want to leave the planet a better place for our children and future generations. We remain forever and authentically passionate about renewing our commitment to a circular economy and carbon neutrality and continuing our pledge to support the Paris Agreement.'Well, the last sentence is actually a genuine quote from their CEO, Steve Malony a few years back. His commitments are perhaps not as authentic or long-lasting as they might have been decision to brick more of its devices is just the latest example of a broader industry blind spot. It's a failure to respect the long-term obligations of smart infrastructure. It also flies in the face of the environmental promises many tech companies like to make. I'm now soon to be left with a pile of perfectly usable devices destined for landfill, purely because of lazy software engineering, and poor business decision to retire these Wemo products will certainly create a huge amount of e-waste, but I dread to think the impact that a decision by Amazon or Philips will have when they bring to an end their own smart home products like Alexa and Hue simple business decision has major environmental impact and leave millions of customers with the task of 'upgrading' to a new system. In the case of Amazon - they have somewhere towards 100-200x more smartdevices in the market than Belkin did with the Wemo. Let's hope they act more responsibly when the time we want a sustainable, trustworthy, and truly 'smart' future for our homes, this isn't it. I just hope we get there before the IoT dream is shattered for all time. Trust in Belkin might be shot, but there is still opportunity for others to get this right. * Google Play store confirms the Wemo happ has been downloaded 1M+ times. Based on the 56.9k reviews (mostly negative), and a 1:50 download to review ratio: this leave us with an estimated number of 2.8M users globally. Assuming Google Play devices have a market share of 70%, we can therefore extrapolate there to be approximately 4M Wemo users globally. ** I of course approached Belkin for comment on this story before publishing, but at time of writing there are still *crickets* from their press team. If they squeak, I'll be sure to update.
Forbes
6 days ago
- Forbes
Belkin Kills Wemo Smart Home Support
A Belkin Wemo Insight Switch smart plug (Photo by Olly Curtis/T3 Magazine/Future via Getty Images) Belkin is officially pulling the plug on most of its Wemo smart home lineup, with support ending for the majority of devices at the end of January next year. After that date, anything still relying on the Wemo cloud will go dumb. So that means any devices paired to and using the Wemo app will no longer have smart features and the likes of remote access, and even Google Home or Alexa voice control, routines and automations will stop working. The workaround is to get your Wemo gear running locally via Apple HomeKit; but only 8 of the 27 non-Thread Wemo devices are HomeKit compatible, and it obviously means you'd need a Home hub like an Apple TV or HomePod in place, alongside an iOS device to configure the Wemo device. If you're not using HomeKit already, you won't be able to migrate it after the deadline. Devices must be configured with Apple Home before the 31 January 2026 to keep working. Belkin has stated that its Wemo Thread-based devices - WLS0503, WSC010, WSP100, WDC010 - will continue to work without any new configurations they can be locally synced with HomeKit… but the WDC010 is actually a video doorbell that uses dual-band Wi-Fi, not Thread - so the messaging isn't all that clear. The El Segundo, California-based brand quietly shared the news via a customer email and support page update at the end of last week, calling it a 'difficult decision' but one that allows it to 'focus resources' elsewhere within the Belkin business. For anyone left with non-HomeKit-compatible Wemo hardware, Belkin says it will offer partial refunds for devices still under warranty after support ends. Any refunds won't be available until after the cut-off date, so there's no process to initiate just yet. If your devices are out of warranty and can't be reconfigured to HomeKit then Belkin's advice is simple but not ideal… recycle them responsibly at an e-waste facility. In Belkin's defence, there's only one Wemo device that has been available in the last 3 years that isn't HomeKit-compatible - the F7C030 light switch - so most products will be safely out of their warranty period anyway. It's still a kick in the teeth though and yet another example of smart device effectively becoming paperweights once the smart functionality is switched off. This isn't a total surprise though as Belkin had already pressed pause on Wemo's future in 2023, announcing it was 'taking a big step back' from Matter development and smart home expansion in general.
Scottish Sun
12-07-2025
- Business
- Scottish Sun
Baby monitor and dozens more household items stop working as major tech brand shuts down devices – how to claim a refund
See which products will be affected SWITCH OFF Baby monitor and dozens more household items stop working as major tech brand shuts down devices – how to claim a refund Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A MAJOR tech brand is pulling the plug on its devices, with baby monitors and dozens of other household items to stop working. Any products and features that rely on cloud connectivity will be affected, as the brand's app and customer support will cease operation. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 They are known for a number of smart home products which enable remote control of devices Credit: Getty Wemo products from Belkin are expected to shut down as early as 2026. This follows an announcement made in an email from Belkin which was sent to customers, where they said: "After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to end technical support for older Wemo products, effective January 31, 2026. "After this date, several Wemo products will no longer be controllable through the Wemo app." Remote access and voice assistant integrations in their smart home products are included in the shutdown. As a result, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, which rely on cloud services to manage smart home devices, will no longer be able to be used with Wi-Fi based Wemo products. It involves products that were still for sale as recently as 2023. However there are a number of devices that will continue to function as normal through HomeKit over Thread. This includes devices like the Smart Light Swith 3-Way, Stage Smart Scene Controller, Smart Plug with Thread and the Smart Video Doorbell Camera. Wemo products configured for use with Apple HomeKit will also continue to function via HomeKit, but with the absence of the Wemo cloud services and app. Devices still supported under warranty will be able to claim a "partial refund" from January 31 next year, according to Belkin. Doomed gadgets to STOP working properly in 2025 closures – phones, laptops & even home thermostats to go wrong in weeks This includes the Mini Smart Plug, Outdoor Plug, Mini Plugin Switch, Smart Light Swtich, Wi-Fi Smart Light Switch w/ Dimmer and Mini Smart Plug. There are a number of products that will not be able to be available for a refund. It is recommended by Belkin to dispose of any Wemo products that are out of warranty, at an authorised e-waste recycling centre. Here is the full list of products affected by the shutdown:
The Sun
12-07-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Baby monitor and dozens more household items stop working as major tech brand shuts down devices – how to claim a refund
A MAJOR tech brand is pulling the plug on its devices, with baby monitors and dozens of other household items to stop working. Any products and features that rely on cloud connectivity will be affected, as the brand's app and customer support will cease operation. Wemo products from Belkin are expected to shut down as early as 2026. This follows an announcement made in an email from Belkin which was sent to customers, where they said: "After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to end technical support for older Wemo products, effective January 31, 2026. "After this date, several Wemo products will no longer be controllable through the Wemo app." Remote access and voice assistant integrations in their smart home products are included in the shutdown. As a result, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, which rely on cloud services to manage smart home devices, will no longer be able to be used with Wi-Fi based Wemo products. It involves products that were still for sale as recently as 2023. However there are a number of devices that will continue to function as normal through HomeKit over Thread. This includes devices like the Smart Light Swith 3-Way, Stage Smart Scene Controller, Smart Plug with Thread and the Smart Video Doorbell Camera. Wemo products configured for use with Apple HomeKit will also continue to function via HomeKit, but with the absence of the Wemo cloud services and app. Devices still supported under warranty will be able to claim a "partial refund" from January 31 next year, according to Belkin. Doomed gadgets to STOP working properly in 2025 closures – phones, laptops & even home thermostats to go wrong in weeks This includes the Mini Smart Plug, Outdoor Plug, Mini Plugin Switch, Smart Light Swtich, Wi-Fi Smart Light Switch w/ Dimmer and Mini Smart Plug. There are a number of products that will not be able to be available for a refund. It is recommended by Belkin to dispose of any Wemo products that are out of warranty, at an authorised e-waste recycling centre. Here is the full list of products affected by the shutdown: Wemo Link (last sold August 2015, 2-year warranty) Wemo Humidifier (last sold December 2015, 3-Year warranty) Wemo CrockPot (last sold April 2016, 3-Year warranty) Wemo Heater B (last sold June 2016, 3-Year warranty) Wemo Air Purifier (last sold July 2016, 3-Year warranty) Wemo Heater A (last sold September 2016, 1-Year warranty) Wemo Coffee Maker (Mr. Coffee) (last sold December 2016, 1-Year warranty) Wi-Fi Baby Monitor (last sold June 2017, 1-Year warranty) Wemo LED Lighting Bundle (last sold September 2017, 2-Year warranty) Wemo Motion Sensor (last sold September 2017, 2-Year warranty) Wemo Switch + Motion Sensor (last sold October 2017, 2-Year warranty) Wemo Maker Module (last sold November 2017, 2-Year warranty) Wemo Zigbee Bulb, E27 (last sold March 2018, 2-year warranty) Wemo Insight v2 (last sold July 2018, 1-Year warranty) Wemo Switch (last sold January 2019, 2-Year warranty) Wemo Light Switch v2 (last sold November 2019, 1-Year warranty) Wemo Insight (last sold June 2020, 2-Year warranty) Wemo Smart Light Switch 3-Way (last sold September 2021, 3-Year warranty) Wemo Mini Smart Plug (last sold July 2022, 3-Year warranty) Wemo Wi-Fi Smart Light Switch w/ Dimmer (last sold September 2022, 3-Year warranty) Wemo Smart Light Switch (last sold September 2022, 3-Year warranty) Wemo HomeKit (last sold September 2022, 3-Year warranty) Wemo Dimmer Light Switch (last sold November 2022, 1-Year warranty) Wemi Mini Plugin Switch (last sold December 2022, 3-Year warranty) Wemo Light Switch (last sold December 2022, 2-Year warranty) Wemo Outdoor Plug (last sold May 2023, 3-Year warranty) Wemo Mini Smart Plug (last sold November 2023, 3-Year warranty)
The Irish Sun
12-07-2025
- The Irish Sun
Baby monitor and dozens more household items stop working as major tech brand shuts down devices – how to claim a refund
A MAJOR tech brand is pulling the plug on its devices, with baby monitors and dozens of other household items to stop working. Any products and features that rely on cloud connectivity will be affected, as the brand's app and customer support will cease operation. Advertisement 1 They are known for a number of smart home products which enable remote control of devices Credit: Getty Wemo products from This follows an announcement made in an email from Belkin which was sent to customers, where they said: "After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to end technical support for older Wemo products, effective January 31, 2026. "After this date, several Wemo products will no longer be controllable through the Wemo app." Remote access and voice assistant integrations in their smart home products are included in the shutdown. Advertisement Read More Tech News As a result, It involves products that were still for sale as recently as 2023. However there are a number of devices that will continue to function as normal through HomeKit over Thread. This includes devices like the Smart Light Swith 3-Way, Stage Smart Scene Controller, Smart Plug with Thread and the Smart Video Doorbell Camera. Advertisement Most read in Tech Wemo products configured for use with Apple HomeKit will also continue to function via HomeKit, but with the absence of the Wemo cloud services and app. Devices still supported under warranty will be able to claim a "partial refund" from January 31 next year, according to Belkin. Doomed gadgets to STOP working properly in 2025 closures – phones, laptops & even home thermostats to go wrong in weeks This includes the Mini Smart Plug, Outdoor Plug, Mini Plugin Switch, Smart Light Swtich, Wi-Fi Smart Light Switch w/ Dimmer and Mini Smart Plug. There are a number of products that will not be able to be available for a refund. Advertisement It is recommended by Belkin to dispose of any Wemo products that are out of warranty, at an authorised e-waste recycling centre. Here is the full list of products affected by the shutdown: Wemo Link (last sold August 2015, 2-year warranty) Wemo Humidifier (last sold December 2015, 3-Year warranty) Wemo CrockPot (last sold April 2016, 3-Year warranty) Wemo Heater B (last sold June 2016, 3-Year warranty) Wemo Air Purifier (last sold July 2016, 3-Year warranty) Wemo Heater A (last sold September 2016, 1-Year warranty) Wemo Coffee Maker (Mr. Coffee) (last sold December 2016, 1-Year warranty) Wi-Fi Baby Monitor (last sold June 2017, 1-Year warranty) Wemo LED Lighting Bundle (last sold September 2017, 2-Year warranty) Wemo Motion Sensor (last sold September 2017, 2-Year warranty) Wemo Switch + Motion Sensor (last sold October 2017, 2-Year warranty) Wemo Maker Module (last sold November 2017, 2-Year warranty) Wemo Zigbee Bulb, E27 (last sold March 2018, 2-year warranty) Wemo Insight v2 (last sold July 2018, 1-Year warranty) Wemo Switch (last sold January 2019, 2-Year warranty) Wemo Light Switch v2 (last sold November 2019, 1-Year warranty) Wemo Insight (last sold June 2020, 2-Year warranty) Wemo Smart Light Switch 3-Way (last sold September 2021, 3-Year warranty) Wemo Mini Smart Plug (last sold July 2022, 3-Year warranty) Wemo Wi-Fi Smart Light Switch w/ Dimmer (last sold September 2022, 3-Year warranty) Wemo Smart Light Switch (last sold September 2022, 3-Year warranty) Wemo HomeKit (last sold September 2022, 3-Year warranty) Wemo Dimmer Light Switch (last sold November 2022, 1-Year warranty) Wemi Mini Plugin Switch (last sold December 2022, 3-Year warranty) Wemo Light Switch (last sold December 2022, 2-Year warranty) Wemo Outdoor Plug (last sold May 2023, 3-Year warranty) Wemo Mini Smart Plug (last sold November 2023, 3-Year warranty)
