Sigma Designs Makes Secure Interoperability Easy with Z-Wave SmartStart

FREMONT, Calif., Sept. 27, 2017 -- Sigma Designs® (NASDAQ:SIGM), a leading provider of intelligent system-on-chip (SoC) solutions for smart TV and Internet of Things (IoT) for smart home, today announces the availability of Z-Wave SmartStart, comprising the new Z-Wave protocol and Z-Wave gateway software layers, which together greatly improve installation and enable uniform out-of-the-box set-up of Z-Wave smart home devices. Z-Wave SmartStart pre-configures devices to the network before they reach the home, dramatically reducing installation time, and thereby costs, to maximize return on investment (ROI) for installers and remove difficulty of DIY installations for homeowners.

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SmartStart simplifies installation of Z-Wave devices and solves the industry’s barriers to adoption including user error, integration complexity, and product returns due to faulty install. For service providers, SmartStart reduces the time technicians spend in each home, which is critical to maximizing ROI and reaching more customers. Smart home installations typically require a technician to spend several hours validating component functionality, integrating products, and configuring scenes, rules, and scripts prior to setting up devices. With Z-Wave SmartStart, pre-configuration can enable the following benefits:

• Shorter installations: In the home the installer only needs to physically mount the devices and power on to automatically create the network.
• Uniform setup of devices across brand, application and product type.
• Instant success with no installation error, every time.

“Studies have shown the primary reason that consumers return a smart home device is due to setup difficulty. We’re removing that barrier to adoption with Z-Wave SmartStart, so that any combination of devices and brands from the Z-Wave ecosystem for an experience of consistent installation quality, using pre-configuration for instant, uniform integration, whether they’re doing it themselves or relying on the expertise of their service provider,” said Raoul Wijgergangs, vice president Z-Wave Business Unit for Sigma Designs.

Z-Wave SmartStart utilizes Z-Wave’s best-in-class Security 2 (S2) framework, which provides the most advanced security for smart home devices, controllers, gateways, and hubs. S2 allows service providers to offer the most secure smart home packages available in the market today to bring consumers the peace of mind that their smart home is secure. Z-Wave’s S2 framework was developed with cybersecurity experts to equip Z-Wave devices with new levels of impenetrability. By securing communication both locally for home-based devices, and in the hub or gateway for cloud functions, S2 completely removes the risk of devices being hacked while they are included in the network. Since it is built into the protocol, manufacturers can integrate StartStart and S2 in products in an interoperable way, without needing to collaborate with other device manufacturers.

“No other smart home technology can claim this level of ease and speed of installation, paired with the robust security that S2 promises, and an ecosystem of interoperable products across brands. The combination is a game changer, both for the DIY market as it accelerates smart home in retail, and for the service provider channel by giving installers a unique value proposition that increases productivity and decreases costs,” said Wijgergangs. “We’re making it a no-brainer for manufacturers to implement SmartStart and S2, thus expediting adoption and creating a broad selection of devices in the ecosystem – giving consumers and service providers choice of devices without having to worry if they will work together or how secure the network is.”

For more information, please visit: www.sigmadesigns.com. 

About Z-Wave

Z-Wave^® technology is an open internationally recognized ITU standard (G.9959). It is the leading wireless home control technology in the market today, with over 1700 certified interoperable products worldwide.  Represented by the Z-Wave Alliance, and supported by more than 450 companies around the world, the standard is a key enabler of smart living solutions for home safety and security, energy, hospitality, office and light commercial applications.

Z-Wave^® is a registered trademark of Sigma Designs (NASDAQ SIGM) and its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

About Sigma Designs

Sigma Designs, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGM) is a world leader in enabling smart home convergence. The company designs and builds the essential semiconductor technologies that serve as the foundation for the world’s leading Connected Smart TV platforms and Internet of Things (IoT) for smart home devices. For more information about Sigma Designs, please visit www.sigmadesigns.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements about the benefits of the use of Z-Wave in product offerings, including the benefits of certain enhanced features of Z-Wave devices. Actual results may vary materially due to a number of factors including, but not limited to, consumer and customer acceptance of the new and enhanced technology updated to Z-Wave technology, the ability of the Z-Wave technology to compete with other technologies or related products in the market, if any, and the relative success of Z-Wave technology updates, as well as other risks that are detailed from time to time in our reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission, including reports made on Form 10-Q. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward- looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to publicly release or otherwise disclose the result of any revision to these forward-looking statements that may be made as a result of events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Media Contacts:

Mary Miller
Sigma Designs
+1-510-897-1069
[email protected]                               

Alexandra Crabb
Caster Communications
+1-401-792-7080
[email protected]