All-New August Smart Lock, Partner Products and Services Unveiled

The Smart Keypad is a small numbered keyboard that gives you code access into your home. “With August Access, our partnerships with top home service providers, and a new line of products, we’re solving the problem of bringing trusted services into the home in a secure and convenient way”, said Jason Johnson, co-founder and CEO of August.

First off there’s a HomeKit upgrade for the August Smart Lock, along with a few aesthetic and usability tweaks. Today’s announcements represent “the next major step in our mission to deliver a complete system to manage, monitor, and control home access from anywhere”, he added.

August also allows customers to control its devices through Google’s Android app, although the company hasn’t yet announced any integration with Google’s smart-home technology, OnHub, or its GoogleNow digital assistant.

The company announced 12 initial launch partners today including Sears, Postmates, Pro.com, Handy, Fetch, Shyp, BloomNation, Envoy, Rinse, HelloAlfred, Wag!, Pillow, and Doorman.

“Our Sears technicians visit more than 14 million homes each year to install, maintain, and fix homes and appliances”, Ryan Ciovacco, president of consumer electronics and connected solutions at Sears, said in a statement.

Unveiled in 2013 and launched previous year, San Francisco-based August’s smart lock worked from the idea that although users wanted to be able to control their locks from their phones via Bluetooth, for security reasons they did not want the locks accessible via the Internet. Users can then schedule services such as deliveries, housecleaning or pet care and set up their smart locks so that the responding service people can get one-time or regular access to their homes. The device is slim and discreet so it can be easily placed near the entryway or hidden away. August says its battery-powered and can be installed in about 10 minutes.

The August Doorbell Cam also works with the August Smart Lock, letting users see and speak with visitors at their door from anywhere. It can even detect motion and capture images of people at the door when they don’t ring the bell.

That video feed is sent to the August app, and there’s support for two-way audio too.

Rather neatly, and as we’ve come to expect from a company which – with designer Yves Béhar in charge of the aesthetic – places as much emphasis on looks as on functionality, the Doorbell Cam and the Smart Keypad are identical in height and depth. Siri can also tell you the status of August Smart Lock in case you worry you forgot to lock the door or left it unlocked for someone.

In addition to the upgraded August Smart Lock with HomeKit support, August is expanding its lineup with a new August Smart Keypad and August Doorbell Cam.

The final new hardware product is August Doorbell Cam, which as the name suggests is both a doorbell and a streaming video camera.

It’s a busy day for startup August, maker of the $250 Bluetooth-enabled August Smart Lock and $50 Wi-Fi-enabled Connect accessory. Assuming there’s an August Smart Lock installed, and that the visitor is trusted, they can be buzzed in as well.