NEW: KEVIN®.3

Mitipi launches KEVIN®.3, the most effective burglary prevention system in the world.

KEVIN®.3. is the newest version of Mitipi’s successful home security devices. Building on the success of its previous models, KEVIN®.3 is fully designed to bring even more security and comfort to its users. The device can be personalized not only via a new sound recording feature. Following a sustainability approach with a lower energy consumption of just 9W, KEVIN®.3 is also the world’s first electronic device that can change its color within a second. This answers customers’ need to get also a design icon that can adapt its color to the furniture at home or in the office.

New technology features

KEVIN®.3 uses the world’s most advanced technology to simulate human behavior. This makes it difficult for burglars to distinguish between empty and occupied homes and offices. The new product is the result of years of research and development. It comes with patented features, including the ability to customize light and shadow effects, authentic pre-recorded sounds, and the possibility to record and simulate sounds such as dog barking, homework, discussions among occupants, watching TV, and others. KEVIN® also connects to the Mitipi-Kevin app that provides full control of one or multiple devices from anywhere, allowing users to schedule the simulation or to use the automatic simulation feature, based on GPS. KEVIN®.3 enables four weeks of simulation without any repetition.

The world’s first patents on the simulation of humans

Mitipi’s revolutionary innovation doesn’t stop at KEVIN®.3: The company has just been granted two United States patents covering the “method, device and system for the simulation of the presence of humans” and the “device and method for simulating shadows and/or noises of a person”. This achievement further cements Mitipi’s position as the world’s innovation leader in home security solutions.

«We believe in making people feel safe in their homes and businesses. With KEVIN®.3, we have created a product that makes it easy for anyone to do just that», says Patrick Cotting, CEO of Mitipi. «Following the multifunctional tradition of other Swiss products such as the Swiss Army Knife, we have created a product that is not only doing its service while people are not at home. It can also be used as a great Bluetooth speaker and lamp while being at home. We look forward to continuing to innovate and create new solutions to make the world a safer place».

Targeting the US market

Mitipi is excited to bring KEVIN®.3 to the United States. It has been field-tested in three key markets, the San Francisco Bay Area, Boston and Washington, DC. MBA students from the Management School of Fribourg, from Suffolk University, as well as from UoC Berkeley were conducting a market study testing KEVIN®.3. They interviewed consumers, businesses, and law enforcement agencies. One of the learnings: Alarm systems are less and less effective. Hence the need to simulate the presence of people.

The previous models of KEVIN® have been successfully implemented already in thousands of households with a 0% break-in ratio since implementing the first device in 2019. More than 9 out of 10 customers would recommend the device to a friend.

To learn more about KEVIN®.3 and Mitipi’s commitment to making homes and businesses safe, visit https://mitipi.com.

About Mitipi and KEVIN®

Mitipi is an innovative tech company that wants everybody to feel safe. Besides having developed KEVIN®.3, the world’s easiest and most effective burglary prevention device, Mitipi is the first company in the world to hold a patent for simulating the presence of humans.

KEVIN® is the protected trademark of the device that simulates the presence of people at home. Its name is inspired by the classic movie “Home alone” where the small boy Kevin simulates the presence of his family at home.

Quote from Patrick Cotting

“We wanted to make a product that is not only preventing burglaries, but that adapts to the behavior of the consumer: Own sounds, own colors, automatically going ON when the consumer leaves the home, with the least energy consumption and the highest possible quality”.

Kevin is now trademarked by Swiss Security Tech company Mitipi

Kevin is now Swiss

The major Swiss cheese manufacturers have neglected to protect their trademarks in the United States. As a result, the names Gruyère and Emmental are used worldwide for cheeses that have nothing to do with their regions of origin in Switzerland. As was recently pointed out, Gruyère is considered a cheese variety and not a name.
Today, a Swiss start-up from Fribourg has achieved the opposite, namely to protect the name “Kevin” – known worldwide for the Christmas movie “Home alone” – as its trademark in the United States.

The Home Alone movies as an inspiration

Most people know the name Kevin because of one movie: “Kevin, home alone”. The film revolves around the adventures surrounding a little boy who finds himself alone during the holiday season and who is faced with the challenge of defending the family’s house from invading burglars and criminals. In one sequence Kevin is simulating a whole party with dancing, music and talks, with the effect that the burglars do not try to invade the house that night.

Inspired by this Hollywood movie and this film sequence, the Swiss start-up Mitipi wanted to make sure that every person can have a boy like Kevin, just by applying smart technology. Mitipi has therefore launched a smart security speaker that is doing exactly what the boy Kevin did in the movie: simulating the presence of people. 

What is special about Mitipi’s Kevin

Called Kevin, the innovative smart security speaker uses light, audio and shadow simulations to prevent burglars from entering an apartment, house or office. Depending on the time of day, different sounds are played by Kevin to make the simulation as close to everyday life and as realistic as possible. What the little boy Kevin does in the movie – namely scare away the evil burglars – has been recreated by the Mitipi team using modern, smart technology. With the Mitipi-Kevin APP, users can also record their own sounds, which can then be played back – depending on the time of day – together with other pre-installed sound effects.

Just like in the movie, burglars are thus misled by the combination of sounds, motion simulation and light.

How Mitipi could protect the name Kevin in the US

The dilemma – or at least that’s what the inventors of the smart speaker thought – is that the name “Kevin” may have been trademarked in the United States by the film’s producers, first by Hughes Entertainment, 20th Century Fox and later by Columbia Pictures or Disney:

“For us, it made sense at first, because Columbia Pictures is also a subsidiary of Sony. We are used to multinational technology companies like Sony protecting all names. Even for the launch of new technical products,” said Patrick Cotting, CEO of Mitipi.

It was all the more surprising when it turned out that this was not the case. The start-up recently received the news from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) that the KEVIN brand name now belongs to Mitipi. For Cotting, this is the key to the start-up’s ability to conquer the North American market. At the moment the Mitipi team therefore prepares the entry into the US market by participating in a USA Launching Pad which participation costs are financed by a Swiss foundation.

 

 

Einbruchsprävention, Sicherheitstechnik, Einbruchsschutz, Heimsicherheit, Sicherheitstechnik, Haussicherheit

A lot of publicity for Mitipi

Now Mitipi has fully arrived in the media. The new collaboration with FriUp gives Mitipi a boost in the media.

20-Minuten

One of the biggest print and online newspapers of Switzerland has written about us. Our CEO, Patrick Cotting, was invited to 20-Minuten to talk about our vision to make the households of Switzerland safer. They especially like the name “Kevin” and the reference to the movie “Home Alone”. You can read more here: 20-Minuten.

Freiburger Nachrichten

Although somewhat smaller than 20-Minuten, the Freiburger Nachrichten is more important. As a company of Fribourg, we are proud that the Freiburger Nachrichten published an article about us. We hope that many residents of Fribourg will take notice of us and that we can make our city a little safer. You can find the whole article here: Freiburger Nachrichten

La télé

Not only in the print media, but also on television we were allowed to present ourselves. Together with Markus Ith from FriUp we can be seen in a report from the French television La Télé. You can see the contribution here: La Télé

RadioFr/Frapp

Also the Radio Freiburg wanted to report about Kevin. Patrick Cotting also told here about the visions and goals of Mitipi. We thank Radio Freiburg for allowing us to present our product. You can find the podcast and an article about it on the online magazine Frapp: Frapp

Einbruchsprävention, Sicherheitstechnik, Einbruchsschutz, Heimsicherheit, Sicherheitstechnik, Haussicherheit

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Mitipi on tour

To continue its mission of keeping you safe during the holidays, Mitipi has doubled its energy. The goal is to secure as many households as possible before the burglars resume their activities.

In fact, Kevin simulates your presence when you are not at home!

RadioFr

Thanks to the invitation from FriUp, we talked about Kevin on RadioFR: Why is this Swiss innovation a must-have for you this summer? And how do we collaborate with other smart home players on the blueFACTORY website? Listen to our podcast again.

Innovation et action

Combining an innovation event and a quarter-final match on the same evening? It is possible.

“Yann Sommer protects the goals of the Swiss team, while Mitipi protects your home”.

Patrick, CEO Mitipi. Credits: Innovation et Action Courgevaux

Mitipi was given the honour to be invited as an innovative start-up to the hybrid event “Innovation et action” of the Energy City of Courgevaux. We were able to exchange ideas with many players from the Fribourg business and technology scene (and also with football fans).

Mitipi stand and the Switzerland-Spain Match. Credits: Innovation et Action Corgevaux

Radio Lac Genève

The lake region also had the right to Kevin’s visit. Fabien, the morning show host, even confessed:

“I had forgotten that I had activated Kevin. When I came back, I really thought someone was in my house.”

Many thanks to Radio Lac for having me. You can listen to the podcast again here (part one) and here (part two). To mark the occasion, we have set up a promotional code that can be used in our shop: lac100

Kevin and Qui, COO Mitipi at Radio Lac

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Mitipi moves to blueFACTORY

Mitipi and its employees have moved to the blueFACTORY site in Freiburg. The innovation site is an important hub for research and industry in the habitat of the future. It counts on the presence of the Smart Living Lab, a research development center of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), the University of Fribourg (Unifr) and the School of Engineering and Architecture of Fribourg (Heiafr).

We will be able to develop important synergies with academic and economic actors to develop our mission: KEEPING YOU SAFE!

Support of Fri Up and welcome in Fribourg

Kevin has found a new temporary home in the future wood-id building, an experimental wooden building that will house several other start-ups and Fri Up, the Fribourg incubator that welcomed us with great pomp!

Its director, Gregory Grin, invited the COO Qui Cung on RadioFR, whose entire episode can be heard here.

Kevin and Qui on RadioFR

To celebrate our arrival, we discreetly slipped a promo code into the interview… We give it to you here: fribourg100 to be used on our store.

Article in La Liberté

La Liberté, 28.06.2021

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burglary prevention, security technology, burglary protection, home security, security technology, home security

Home security: Kevin is no longer home alone

So Kevin is no longer alone at home, because together with the home security device Livy now gives the home all-round security. As Lockdown has shown, there is little better protection for any home than presence. Most burglars avoid apartments or houses where someone is present. They prefer to make easy prey in an abandoned home. As a result, the number of burglaries has dropped noticeably during the lockdown. In addition, fires are also detected more quickly by a person who is present, or are not even started in the first place.

This task is now taken over by Kevin and Livy when you are not at home. 14 superpowers unite the smart and smartphone-supported devices. From virtual roommates and Bluetooth speakers to fire protection and motion detectors with alarm text messages to friends, neighbors and family, everything is included. Kevin simulates presence and Livy reports any unusual occurrences. Together, they ensure safety so that you can enjoy the spring outside without worries.

Home Security

Thanks to the distribution partnership of the two start-ups Mitipi from Switzerland and HUM Systems from Germany, the two smart home devices “Kevin” and “Livy Protect” can be grabbed together. This now at a special introductory price on mitipi.com. When buying the two home security devices as a duo, you currently save 25 percent.

Kevin is like YOU

Home Security

“Kevin” has already chased away burglars in the movie “Kevin, home alone”. And it was precisely on this basis that the Swiss tech company Mitipi first developed the “Kevin” smarthome device. Since the launch of Kevin 2.0 in October 2020, users have been able to personalize Kevin the way they want. “Kevin” converts this into a simulation that is almost indistinguishable from a real presence. The great thing is that Kevin simulates residents performing their daily tasks not only during the night, but also during the day. The device makes shadow and light effects and emits certain sounds. There are a wide variety of possibilities, such as family conversations during meals, someone playing the piano or talking loudly on the phone.

Thanks to the Mitipi app, Kevin can be controlled from anywhere. With just one swipe, you can make sure Kevin simulates presence as soon as you leave home. At the same time, Kevin serves as a Bluetooth speaker to play music from your phone. In addition, the home security device can be used as a lamp and does not disappoint those who value design. Finally, Mitipi has not only created a nice gadget for tech-savvy people with Kevin, but a virtual roommate that has one main task to fulfill: Preventing burglaries, not only in the evening, but also during the day when you’re out working or enjoying the sun in the park.

More home security: Livy reports motion and fire hazards

Home Security

Livy Protect from HUM Systems is a smart multi-sensor. The latest model Livy Protect G3 includes smoke detector, motion alarm and measurement of air quality (VOC), temperature and humidity as well as modern sensors for carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2) and air pressure. Through the app, you can check these values at any time and from anywhere. Livy emits a warning signal as soon as something is wrong in your home. In addition to the warning to yourself, the device sends an SMS to everyone who has been given access permission on your smartphone. For example, you can warn other residents, neighbors, relatives or friends.

Since its launch, Kevin has already protected more than 2000 households in Switzerland alone. In combination with Livy, Kevin now offers all-round protection for every home.

 

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