Twist: smart security at the turn of a hand
The device makes operating smart homes even easier: By turning Twist, one can control the alarm system as well as other smart home devices. A visit to the Pedersen family reveals the benefits the remote control can have in daily life.
When Steffen Pedersen moved with his family to a suburb of Stuttgart a few years ago, he quickly felt at home. Only one thing slightly bothered him: the new apartment was on ground level. Previously he, his wife and their two six and two-year old children Luca and Lina had lived on the fourth floor. “One had always heard about break-ins when the burglars entered through terrace doors or windows. In our apartment everything was at ground level — it makes you think,” said Steffen. Before moving in, the Pedersens had a Bosch Smart Home alarm system that is integrated into their home network installed in their new abode to protect themselves.
Smart daily companion
To make using the system even more comfortable, the family added the Twist: A universal remote control that is about as big as a normal power socket. “Twist is especially practical when you’ve got your hands full,” explains Luisa Pedersen. When she arrives back home and has to switch off the alarm system, she doesn’t first have to look for her cellphone in her handbag and open the Smart Home app. A look at the Twist display immediately reveals whether the security system is activated. She can then easily and quickly deactivate the alarm system with a predefined hand movement pattern.
Twistable locking code
As a result, Twist ensures the alarm system cannot be accessed by strangers. What’s special is that the locking code is not made up of numbers but four to a maximum of ten twisting actions. “I can think up my own movement pattern to unlock it, for example, turn it twice to the left and then three times to the right,” says Luisa Pedersen. But what happens if you forget the combination? “Then you can still access Twist via your cellphone’s Smart Home App and set a new locking code.”
Twist: A Bosch remote control for the Smart Home
“I only had to scan Twist’s QR code with the Bosch Smart Home app in my smartphone and it was immediately connected with our Smart Home System.”
Smart Home in one hand
Not only can the alarm system be easily controlled via Twist, but the entire Smart Home. Up to 32 functions belonging to the Bosch Smart Home System, like for example the heating, the roller shutters or the lights, can be controlled individually or in so-called scenarios. Where one formerly had to go from room to room and switch everything on or off, with the Twist all that is now needed is a single command. If one for example activates the “leave home” function, the heating is turned down, the lights are switched off and the alarm system is activated. The Bosch Smart Home system comes with preinstalled basic scenarios but one can also define one’s own. “For example, I defined a scenario that lowers all the house’s roller shutters,” says Steffen Pedersen. Installing Twist is also simple and wireless: “I only had to scan Twist’s QR code with my smartphone and then connect it up to our Bosch Smart Home controller, the centerpiece of the Home System."
Operating Twist — child’s play
In the Pedersen household, Twist is usually attached to the supplied wall bracket. It means it can be operated by twisting motions. If it is taken off the wall, typing in the commands is just as intuitive via the four buttons that are arranged around the display. Luca Pedersen sometimes takes the Twist into his wigwam in his playroom when he wants to switch the light on or off while in the tent. “It’s really easy,” he says before adding, “Grandma can even do it.” Luisa Pedersen agrees: “When our parents happen to be in the apartment when we’re away, they can unlock the alarm system really easily using the Twist.” Such occasional users do not have to first install the app and then become acquainted with its functions, but they quickly get the hang — or Twist — of everything.
