Kristopher,
Good morning, thank you for your inquiry and for your support of ELK Products. I will to attempt to address your question in the most transparent manner and I would like to include some insight.
When we did our evaluation of the market a few years ago, it was determined that we needed to create a product that could be more competitive with mid-size app-controlled systems with some smart home/business automation. As I am sure you have seen, most companies are targeting this market with a self-contained all-in-one system, we gave that some thought but we also wanted this product to gracefully accommodate a retrofit application. After some deliberation, we decided to move forward with traditionally based hybrid control with direct app integration as well as smart device control. The E-27 Alarm Engine is a traditional hybrid control with features that users were drawn to in the self-contained type control market that is not intended to replace or compete for a market share of the M1 Gold.
The new Alarm Engine is more than just a new E27 control, it’s a new platform. In order to support the needs of the market, the Alarm Engine platform was created. To provide the seamless app support and remote connectivity that our installers are requesting, cloud integration was created as part of the platform. Cloud utilization will make this product simpler for the masses, but it is not a requirement if remote connectivity is not needed.
I will note that when we set out to create the M1 Gold we never intended it for the enthusiast market, but we are aware that there are some people out there like yourself that have installed in their personal homes and enjoyed it. That said, we design and market our products to industry professionals.