Report: AT&T acquires smart home automation firm Xanboo

A week after Motorola said it would acquire 4Home for its smart home automation tech, U.S. telecom carrier AT&T reportedly announced that it would acquire firm Xanboo for the same thing.

With the scoop, Julie Jacobson at CEPro writes:

AT&T probably hopes to hold onto its TV, Internet and mobile phone subscribers by offering new services for their existing products -- and charge some extra fees to boot.

Xanboo technology enables users to remotely monitor and manage their home's security, lighting, thermostats and other devices via the Internet, cellphone and other communications devices. Like iControl, uControl and 4Home, Xanboo has developed its own products in the past, but always intended to market its platform to third-party service providers.

The companies have partnered in the past to offer such services, but now that home control has finally begun to gain traction in the market, AT&T sees a winner.

The deal makes sense for Xanboo, too. Like its rivals, Xanboo has faced difficulty getting consumers to adopt its technology, which requires a monthly fee.

As Jacobson writes: "In our 16 years of covering the home automation industry, we have never encountered any success stories of remote home management systems that require a monthly fee -- unless that fee is an add-on to a security service a la ADT Pulse."

Perhaps AT&T's corporate coffers could give Xanboo the jolt it needs to reach customers.

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com