• Plume launches smart home platform
• Offers subscription service for management of security, parental controls etc
• Has already notched up deals with Comcast, Bell Canada, Liberty Global, and Samsung

Last year we wrote about Plume, the company behind ‘Adaptive Wi-Fi’, described as “the world’s first self-optimizing Wi-Fi delivering reliable and  and consistent Internet experience to every corner of the home.”

In terms of its product offerings it’s probably more accurate to see Plume as it sees itself - as the purveyor of a ‘smart home platform’. Not just adaptive Wi-Fi but security, parental controls and other features which elevate its platform into a service and away from gadgetry.

This is the sort of approach some telcos are already offering (or planning to offer) their home broadband customers -  instead of just handing off broadband to a cheap Wi-Fi hub and wishing the customer luck, the idea is that the provider takes over (automatically, of course) the management of the service inside the home via the cloud, maybe adding the magic AI sticker on the resulting product as well.

Plume is moving fast to take a lead position on this trend by offering both the product through partnerships with telcos and as an independent product and service.

On the telco side it had already had an exclusive arrangement with the UK’s TalkTalk (just to test the waters), now it’s launching a direct-to-consumer debut in the UK with its PowerPod adaptive Wi-Fi technology along with what it describes as an advanced IoT security service.

The company points out that the UK consumer launch comes less than a year after the introduction in United States of the Plume membership, a subscription-based service that includes the Adaptive WiFi, HomePass and advanced parental controls with person profiles.

Through 2018 Plume notched up large scale deals with the likes of  Comcast, Bell Canada, Liberty Global, and Samsung, along with the canny open sourcing of Plume’s device software middle layer called OpenSync. It also forged partnerships with Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Switzerland, Malta, the Cayman Islands, the Netherlands, and now direct to consumers in the UK.

It’s also offering its US and UK members something called Advanced IoT Protection designed to protect home IoT devices - it detects anomalies in device behaviour, and can quarantine devices that have been compromised in order to prevent a breach from spreading.

Plume says its cloud constantly learns patterns of normal device behaviour across a large population of similar devices and can spot abnormalities in real time and immediately act to protect users.  Plume’s Advanced IoT Protection feature will be available and accessible through the Plume iOS and Android app on 15 April 2019 in the UK and US.

The UK launch includes Plume’s iconic tri-band SuperPod and the introduction of the new dual-band PowerPods available. Plume works with all Internet Service Providers, with membership priced at £99 per year and the starter pack of hardware starting at £99.