People Power Brings New Smart Home Service to Australian Consumers With Innovative Energy Retailer, Origin Energy

PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwired - Nov 20, 2017) - Internet of Things (IoT) software company providing bot-enabled artificial intelligence (AI) for energy, security and care solutions, People Power announces today commercial availability of Home HQ from Origin Energy (ASX: ORG), a smart home service for Australian consumers made possible with People Power's suite of IoT services.

Offered by Origin Energy initially to residents of the state of Victoria, which has a population of nearly 6 million, Home HQ is a simple and affordable connected home solution that allows customers to remotely monitor and control appliances with a mobile app and a range of smart sensors and plugs connected within their homes. Priced at AU$199, the Home HQ Starter Kit includes a gateway, temperature and humidity sensor, smart plug, smart light bulb, a motion sensor and two entry sensors.

Preliminary trials of Home HQ succeeded in providing users peace of mind and control of their homes, encouraging broader market deployment. Home HQ was developed in partnership with People Power and Origin's recently launched O hub, a Melbourne-based innovation center dedicated to rapid prototyping, trialling and commercialization of new solutions for Origin's more than 4 million customers. Origin will announce details of product availability in other states and territories in 2018.

"Delivering smart home solutions with a truly innovative partner like Origin -- who shares our commitment to develop new services that deliver comfort and control in the home -- is inspiring," said Gene Wang, CEO and co-founder of People Power. "Home HQ combines the attractiveness of a low cost, easy to install and use smart home service paired with a well-positioned consumer brand to bring peace of mind to the people of Australia."

In May 2017, Origin announced a US$1.2 million investment in People Power that strengthens the partnership between the two companies. People Power was recently named a Cool Vendor in Gartner's annual "Cool Vendors in Connected Home, 2017" report. People Power's platform introduces machine learning and true intelligence into the connected home, enabling service providers to offer unique micro services to consumers while shifting revenue models from hardware device sales to recurring service revenues.

"Origin is actively planning for a cleaner and smarter energy future where customers are more empowered and have greater transparency and control over their energy use. Our investment in People Power is part of our strategy to develop digital led solutions for our customers that are simple, personalized and effortless," said Tony Lucas, Executive General Manager, Future Energy & Business Development, Origin. "This collaboration with People Power has been critical in allowing us to rapidly prototype and trial a connected smart home solution and apply what we learnt into the product we are now launching for sale."

Home HQ's geo-location technology allows users to set rules for their connected appliances based on whether or not they are home, and sets their smart lights to come on if they are not home by a certain time. The smart plugs allow customers to remotely control electrical appliances via their mobile phone and do things like check if they left an appliance on, or schedule a fan to switch on if it's a hot day. Entry sensors and motion detectors can be used to monitor when kids get home from school, or can be set up in an elderly relative's home to provide an alert if no motion is detected by a set time in a nominated room.

About People Power
Founded in 2009, People Power Company is an award-winning software company focused on delivering white-label IoT solutions to consumers around the world. With patented industry-leading Artificial Intelligence technology, the company helps drive recurring revenues in security, energy and care services. The People Power IoT Suite enables rapid IoT device and program connection, engagement, delivery and management, from concept through commercial release. More information at www.peoplepowerco.com.

About Origin
Origin is an Australian integrated energy solutions provider with leading positions across energy retailing, power generation and natural gas production. Origin is scaling up its capabilities in digital, data and analytics to create more innovative and differentiated energy solutions for its millions of customers. More information at www.originenergy.com.au.