Today we have released External Power Sensor Ambient Light (ALS). Building on the solid foundation of the Wireless Tag Pro ALS, the sensor supports all existing integration including IFTTT, KumoApps, Alexa, etc, while providing larger and non-volatile local memory for more reliable offline logging, as well as option for different types of batteries or wall plug.

Because the sensor is not intended to be carried around like tags, unlike Wireless Tag Pro ALS, it does not have beep to locate feature, or motion notification based on sudden change of light (i.e. you can beep it and beep will stop if you pick it up). The lower price point reflects this. 

Compared with current stock of regular External Power Sensor, hardware revision allows reading the voltage of the connected external battery up to 4.096V instead of reading only 3.3V or lower, for monitoring of wider range of batteries when there is still much life left. 

We are in the final stage of internal beta testing of External Power Sensor Indoor Air Quality (VOC). Integrated MOX (metal-oxide) based volatile organic compound (VOC, or any kind of smell) sensors are relatively new technology that allows indoor air quality to be measured with a much smaller physical size and cost than possible before. Inside the sensor there is a tiny metal-oxide element that is periodically heated to several hundreds of degrees Celsius by micro-heater, which allows its electrical resistance to vary with VOC, or smell in the air. Cooking, cigarette smoking, or human activity in general in a closed environment increases VOC while fresh outdoor air lowers it. 

Compared with temperature, humidity or ambient light sensing, because of the requirement to keep the MOX element at high temperature, the power consumption is larger as the sensor must be turned on at a fixed interval (every 6 second in our case). External Power Sensor is therefore an ideal vehicle for these sensors. Plugging into wall is the ideal way to use it, but since we are using a latest generation VOC sensor IC with industry leading low power consumption, one can expect to get several months of battery life with the available 1000mAh battery. 

We are excited of the kind of new application this new product might enable. Imagine installing the sensor in your rental properties or hotel room to monitor if tenant is smoking cigarette. Or cooking something when not supposed to. Combine with IFTTT to turn on a wemo switch that turns on your attic fan only when needed to keep air in your house always fresh. 

We expect to release it around the end of the year. Stay tuned!