We’re gradually learning that smart home devices can be quite valuable for police. Following a recent case in which Amazon handed over data from its Echo device to police investigating a murder, a smart device called the police when a couple was allegedly involved in a violent domestic dispute. [See correction below]
I have issues with smart home technology. The promise of a Jetsons-style, automated living environment has never been closer, but the experience basically sucks right now. After spending a few weeks with a programmable button by Logitech, however, I feel suddenly hopeful.
Years after announcing HomeKit, Apple finally announced an all-in-one smarthome solution. It’s an app called Home, and it sounds… fine.
It feels like it’s 2001. Tons of companies had released tons of MP3 players, and they all sucked. The iPod was just months away.
If you own a Nest smart thermostat, you may be experiencing problems with the battery. Big problems with the battery. As in, the battery keeps draining and leaving you in the literal freezing cold.
Unless you’re super rich, you’ve probably never heard of Savant. The home automation company brags about catering to “the one percent of the one percent.” But now that the internet of things is all the rage, Savant is offering a slick smart home system for the everyman.
A bad year just got worse for Quirky. The crowdsourced design company just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Quirky will also sell assets related to Wink, its home automation hub, to a company called Flextronics. This is a bummer.
Smart lighting systems like Philips Hue are futuristic and awesome and, typically, expensive. But IKEA wants to offer this type of technology to the masses. The Swedish flatpack furniture empire is developing an entire smart home system, and it looks futuristic and awesome and, you guessed it, cheap.
A smart home is supposed to make your life easier. Doors open when you’re near, lights turn on when you walk by, TVs rise up on command and everything can be powered by a phone. This goofy ad by Dutch insurance company Central Beheer pokes fun of the convenience of smart homes by showing how it makes things stupid…
I recently took my first vacation in two years. It was fun! But I was excited to get home, raise my shades and relax in the finicky but sort of useful smart home I’d spent the past few months building. When I walked in the door, all of the automation was gone. The light on my Wink hub was yellow. This was not fun.
The business of tracking your health with smartwatches or fitness trackers is oppressively hardware-heavy—all those wires, charging docks, and batteries. But that’s poised to change. Soon, it might be the space around you that do the monitoring.
Four months ago, we called the August Smart Lock superb. I knew that sooner or later, I'd invite one into my home. I got my chance a few weeks ago with the August Connect dongle, a $50 add-on that gives the lock internet access so you can control it from anywhere in the world. Sadly, it also revealed the lock's…
A few weeks ago, a couple friends and I were about to watch a surprisingly bad scifi movie in my crowded apartment. One of them asked if we could dim the lights, and started to head to the switch. "No, no, I've got it," I said, reaching into my pocket. "He's reaching for his phone!" said the friend. This was the…
Piper is many things in a tiny package. The pint-sized home security device—it's literally the size of a pint glass—watches over your house, automates your connected devices, and helps you keep in touch with friends. And now, with night vision too.
Cree's always impressed us with good-looking LED lightbulbs at wonderfully affordable prices. Now, the North Carolina company is raising the stakes with a new connected bulb that's not only dimmable and programmable; it also lasts for 25,000 hours, just like its less-smart sibling. The best part? It's still a bargain.
The number of connected home devices has skyrocketed in the past dozen months, and your loved ones might feel a little left out if they're not controlling appliances with a phone. Let's fix that, shall we?
The smart home market has exploded in the past year. This fairly futuristic development means that you can pretty easily program your house to do your bidding, but you're also somewhat restricted by which hub and standard you buy. The littleBits Smart Home Kit promises to change that.
When it introduced its ultra affordable hub a few months ago, Wink signaled that it wanted to win the smart home wars. Now, with the release of a touchscreen display and control pad called Relay, it's clear that the Quirky off-shoot is in a hurry, too. It's not like the home of the future is going to build itself!
I grew up in an old house without an air conditioner—in Tennessee. During the summer, it would get so hot and humid that the doors would swell, and you couldn't close them. So when it was finally time for me to buy my very own AC unit, it felt like a luxury. And I treated it as such.
It seems like everybody is racing to build the platform that will transform all of our homes into smart homes. But the blunt truth is that nobody's really in the lead, and a few contenders are still on the sideline. Logitech, however, is gunning for the victory with its new Harmony Living Home system.
