Hero Electronix forays into consumer tech with new brand Qubo for smart devices
Hero Electronix foresees an investment of to the tune of Rs 150-200 crore over the next couple of years in the IoT business.
Hero Electronix, the electronics and technology venture of Hero Group has announced its foray into consumer products segments, starting with the new brand called Qubo, which will offer a range of AI connected smart devices. The main products launched on Tuesday under the Qubo portfolio are Smart Indoor Camera, priced at Rs 13,490.
The team at Hero Electronix believes that a massive revolution is coming, as smart devices is getting driven by technology trends like connectivity, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and low-cost sensors, the company said in a statement.
Taking advantage of these technologies, Hero Electronix plans to launch more than 10 smart products across home automation, automotive and entertainment domains in the next two years. "Each of these devices is being architected from ground up to solve specific needs of Indian consumers and to work in Indian environments and family set-ups," it said.
Hero Electronix Founder-Director Ujjwal Munjal said,
“Our vision with Qubo is to create a leading consumer technology brand and reach a million homes in next 3-5 years. As technology proliferates further into our lives, we are getting increasingly disconnected from what matters most. We see a great opportunity in to build products that meaningfully impact our lives. We have invested close to Rs 350 crore in Hero Electronix and we foresee an investment of about Rs 150 to 200 crore over the next couple of years."
Qubo Smart Indoor Camera can be used as a smart home hub to control and remotely manage various smart devices at home through Alexa. With its 1080p Full HD Camera, it helps a user to remotely monitor home and comes with features which includes, 140 degree field of view, night vision and two-way audio. It has AI features such as person detection, face recognition and baby crying alerts.
The company says that, the device houses a custom secure silicon chip by Qualcomm, with PKI based root-of-trust and claims the device to be tamper-proof and malware-protected. The device also comes with an in-built Alexa feature, that enables the device to be controlled by voice. The users can also access a wide range of services across news, music, weather, and reminders with simple voice commands.
The other products launched are smart sensors, namely Qubo Smart Gas Sensor, Smart Smoke Sensor, and the Smart Door and Window Sensor, all priced at Rs 3000, which works in sync with the indoor camera. The devices will be available for purchase on Qubo’s website, retail stores and across major e-commerce sites from 27th September.
Launched in 2015, Hero Electronix has been working in enterprise segment with brands including Tessolve, Mybox, and Zenatix.
Nikhil Rajpal, CEO, Hero Electronix said that there is a major revolution coming where AI-powered connected devices can solve major real world problems pertaining to security, connectivity, entertainment and healthcare.
"We have invested more than two years in research and development of products that harness leading edge technology like AI to solve for consumer needs. While we are addressing the home security and automation space with our range of products launched today, we are also exploring more products in home, automotive and kids categories too," he added.
(Edited by Suman Singh)
