There are lots of reasons why adding smart-home features to your living space can be a great idea, since there are so many options that help you save energy, feel safe, increase convenience and enjoy life. But getting all these features to work together the way you want them to can be hard. Configuring and controlling the different devices, so your smart home works the way you want it to, can be time-consuming, complicated and frustrating.
That’s why Xiaomi developed PonPon Tile 2.0, a new, NFC-based tag that lets you pair and configure smart home devices with just one tap of your Xiaomi smartphone. With PonPon Tile 2.0, you don’t have to be a technical expert to enjoy advanced smart-home features. No more struggling to find the right settings in an app or wasting time with extra steps and repeated actions.
With just one tap, you can define custom settings and configure your home to work the way you want it to. That means easy, quick configuration of all kinds of Xiaomi devices, with instant control of lighting, music, TV screens, alarms, door locks and more. You can orchestrate a multitude of smart-home devices to build a comprehensive set of combined tasks, specifying what you want to happen at specific times, such as when you leave home or when you’re getting ready for a good night’s sleep.
Lots of Possibilities
You configure tasks using the PonPon Tile 2.0 stickers and your Xiaomi smartphone using the Mijia application. Then, after posting the stickers in convenient locations throughout your home, you have one-tap access to your own custom set of tasks. The following seven examples give an idea of the possibilities:
- Personalize your morning wake-up routine
It’s time to get up but you’re still feeling drowsy. One tap initiates your personal wake-up mode. The curtains slowly open while your Xiao Ai smart speaker automatically begins playing the morning news.
- Quick music relay
You can write the information from your Xiaomi XiaoAi smart speaker into a PonPonTile. Then, with a single tap, the speaker will relay the music it’s playing onto your phone. One more tap and the music gets relayed back to the speaker.
- Set up an “Away” mode
Before you leave home, one tap starts the “away” mode, which saves energy and keeps you protected. The lights go dark and the air conditioning or heater shuts off. The gateway goes into “guard” mode and your security cameras turn on. You can even add your sweeping robot to the mix, so your home is cleaner when you return.
- Connect to Wi-Fi without entering a password
Your friend comes over to play your favorite game, The Valley of Kings. You quickly add their smartphone to your Wi-Fi, without keying in a password, so you can start playing without wasting time or dropping the connection.
- Set up a “welcome home” mode
When you return home, one tap will start the “welcome home” mode, which turns on the lights, uses the thermostat to turn on the air conditioning or heater and gets the air purifier running. You can already feel the stress melting away.
- Enhance your multimedia experience
You started watching the latest blockbuster action movie on your smartphone, but you’d rather get the full multimedia experience of watching it on your high-definition Xiaomi TV screen. Tap your smartphone’s screen and the movie seamlessly shifts to the big screen.
- Use “Good Night” mode
Before you go to bed, a tap will start “Good Night” mode so you can create the right environment for some quality rest. The air conditioning (or heater) sets your room to the right temperature, the humidifier turns on and all the lights shut down automatically.
A Simple Setup
The PonPon Tile 2.0 stickers make the Xiaomi smart-home environment that much more convenient and productive. The setup involves the stickers, a Xiaomi mobile phone running the Mijia (My Home) application and the Xiaomi IoT platform.
- NTAG-powered PonPon Tile 2.0 stickers
The one-tap functionality of the PonPon Tile 2.0 sticker is powered by NXP’s NTAG 216, which is used for on-chip storage of NDEF-formatted data. The design supports quick configuration of single or multiple tasks and easy Wi-Fi and Bluetooth pairing for smart nodes. The stickers come with pre-configured tag functionality that is interpreted when tapped by the phone. Simply tap the Xiaomi phone to configure the tags so as to trigger, configure and change the various actions you choose around your home.
- Xiaomi mobile phones running Mijia
The mobile phone reads out, interprets and writes NDEF commands and data using the Mijia application. The app is a user-friendly, easy-to-navigate interface for creating and saving smart-home commands. It offers a multitude of configurations and device categories, making it easy to store new configurations onto the PonPon Tile 2.0 stickers.
- Xiaomi IoT platform
The platform is used to interpret commands, run checks and manage access rights of different phones and transfer instructions to the home devices involved in the setup.
Why NTAG?
Xiaomi chose NXP’s NTAG solution for the PonPon Tile 2.0 for several reasons. To begin with, NXP’s NTAG series is an innovative solution in consumer, industrial and IoT applications. Xiaomi was attracted by the combination of flexibility and security, since these powerful NFC tags can provide different levels of protection and function to satisfy a wide range of applications and requirements. The passive power supply means there’s no need for a battery in the PonPon Tile 2.0 sticker. Xiaomi also has the option to add advanced cryptography by upgrading to the NTAG DNA series. Taken as a whole, the NTAG product line gives Xiaomi more ways to support dynamic customization, and as a result, deliver brand-new user experiences.
A Longstanding Partnership
The introduction of PonPon Tiles 2.0 coincided with Xiaomi’s tenth anniversary. Throughout those ten years, NXP has been by Xiaomi’s side, collaborating on mobile payments, intelligent audio, fast charging solutions in wired and wireless formats, secure IoT and more. The two companies look forward to continuing to work on new ideas that brighten everyday lives.
To learn more about the NTAG and how it can enable better smart-home configurations, visit NTAG for Tags and Labels.
