AT&T and Telefonica announced today they are working together to bring the success of AT&T’s Digital Life in the United States to Europe. In just one year AT&T has brought Digital Life to 82 markets in the United States.
It was great to see the functionality at work in the live Connected Home demonstration here in Las Vegas. Monitoring for elderly family members in order to extend the time they are able to live on their own during the aging process was a key part of the demonstration. Motion sensors, water sensors, smart plugs and health monitoring peripherals were key. For the wider family there were security options, light, temperature, entertainment settings and refrigerator door monitors — who’s snacking in the middle of the night anyone? Everything can be set up and monitored via mobile, tablet and browser apps.
A family of wearables was also showcased. Key to note was the Ironman smartwatch integrated with one year of mobile service that does not require connectivity to the mobile network via a smartphone, decreasing the number of devices the user needs to carry.
Connected cars also made an appearance. The story here was about the car as an extension of the Connected House and the ability to control the house as the car is approaching to set up the internal environment for your return or being able to configure your car experience before leaving the house.
I had the opportunity to speak with Kevin Peterson, SVP of Digital Life, about the partnership with Telefonica. The goal of the partnership is to help bring the Digital Life experience to Europe. The solution is provided as a white label solution and the final branding will be determined by Telefonica. There is no intention to have the AT&T branding on the Europe offer.
It’s very exciting to see this offer coming to Europe via a trial to begin in the very near future and I’m looking forward to providing more details as this offer progresses.
