The advert for the Hive service from British Gas tells viewers: "You could be making origami from a slice pastrami or having a kick about with a team of giant trout, while Hive is busy controlling your heating at home."
A rather extravagant picture to paint to illustrate how a smart thermostat works, but the catchy tune has been stuck in my head all week.
The advert probably struck a chord with others too, as British Gas has revealed that over 50,000 Brits are now using its apps to control their heating.
The app is supported by software from Tech City-based AlertMe and is a significant step towards larger UK firms embracing the technology of the Internet of Things as the app learns its user’s habits to automatically adjust the home’s thermostat.
Despite British Gas’s foray into smart heating launching last September, the initiative has been somewhat overshadowed by Google who have jumped on the bandwagon with the $3.2bn acquisition of Nest Labs last week.
Nina Bhatia, managing director of British Gas’ Connected Homes division, said the interest of these tech giants was a good thing. She said: "More competitors in this space will do better for consumers. The advantage we have is we are in UK homes. We’ve got 50,000 engineers walking into UK homes every day."
This is where Hive may have the upper hand over Nest in the UK: the reliability of having the human reassurance on the other side of the technology.
The tech is all very well and good, but it needs installing and maintaining to survive.
