TUNED INTO TECH – With “Smart Home” technology dominating wish lists this holiday season, not everyone can afford a several hundred-dollar set-up; so one tech start-up is making technology accessible to all.
Springfield and St.Louis-based start-up SmashToast Inc., headed by Barnabas Helmy, began working on its flagship product Puck back in January of 2014.
Puck, which is manufactured locally in Jacksonville, is described by a release from SmashToast as the “smallest Bluetooth Low Energy to infrared bridge on the market today.” It is designed to control multiple infrared devices in the home from a smartphone’s touchscreen. From televisions to curtains, the Puck enables a phone to control them all.
“If you’ve got a remote for it, most likely Puck will work,” Helmy explains.
Helmy admits he is constantly working on his creation and that in the past, and even now, he wears many hats.
With an initial education in the fine arts, as well as training in computer science, Helmy has quite the colorful background. He is a data-driven marketer, web designer, self-proclaimed avid soccer fan, painter, father, but most importantly, he has always been an entrepreneur. This plethora of hats also helped him stumble upon the idea for Puck.
After his 3-year-old daughter chewed and broke a second Apple TV remote, Helmy decided he needed a solution to the issue of having too many, often flimsy, remotes. He realized he wanted something where he would not have to rely on line-of-sight like a remote, and he wanted to be able to control his devices from his phone. Price also played a factor.
“There are a lot of smart devices coming into the market, but they all start at such a high price point. For instance, a light bulb can cost you $50 dollars, and you have to buy a $100-dollar hub,” Helmy adds.
So, Helmy settled on creating a low-cost device that would work with just about any infrared device and could be controlled by his iPhone. The price, after revisions to hardware and lots of beta testing, came to $29.95.
Helmy wants technology to be accessible to anyone because he says the future depends on people being able to keep up with it.
“In one way, I see Puck being a bridge to this new technology, this ‘smart home.’ If folks are able to integrate their current devices and use their phone to control them,” Helmy says.
It’s one step closer to the home of the future.
Helmy explains the journey has been a long one, but it’s been easier with help from the start-up community and Innovate Springfield, the Capital City’s start-up incubator.
“It’s such a lonely road otherwise, you know, that if you have other entrepreneurs to share it with, and other start-up folks, they kind of feed off each other,” Helmy adds.
Innovate Springfield has been especially helpful to Helmy because he says they have been there to guide him through the steps to becoming a start-up, answering any of his questions, offering legal advice and even giving him a sort-of headquarters.
Helmy’s next big step is showcasing his product at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January 2017. It is there he hopes to get plenty of exposure and make more connections within the industry.
Puck went live for sales officially in mid-November.
Since then, Helmy says he has made many sales in Springfield, but he has even made some sales as far as Chicago and Silicon Valley.
While the Puck companion app is currently only available on iOS, Helmy says he hopes to have an Android version up and running potentially by late January.
More details and ordering information can be found on Puck’s website.
