Articles about Smart Home

It seems that every day there are new ways to make us more lazy...ahh...automate our homes. Controlling devices by a smartphone or tablet has become old school. Now options exist that allow for voice commands. Harmony, which is a top choice in universal remotes, is getting in on the act with new partnerships.

Logitech, which controls the Harmony brand, is announcing deals with both Ivee and Ubi. Both allow you to speak the commands and they, hopefully, happen. As Harmony points out it's simply "OK Ubi, watch Netflix".

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In 2014 the Internet of Things became both a fascinating and scary thing, thanks to interesting products and a few hacks. Nest, while remaining the darling of this new industry, had its own set of problems with the potential issues found in its smoke detectors. But last year is all behind us, and hopefully 2015 holds more promise than problem.

Now the Google-owned company is announcing new functionality for its popular thermostat and perhaps scary smoke detector. The tiny wall and ceiling devices are getting a boatload of new functionality, involving that whole Internet of Things.

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When people think of smart homes, they usually think of smart lighting, heat and air-conditioning. While people may think of fans as old-school, I still use them, despite having central air. Why? It can save energy, as sometimes it doesn't make financial sense to cool an entire house.

As a fan of fans (pun intended), I had one installed directly over my bed. This way, I can open some windows, get a nice breeze going, and turn on the ceiling fan to cool myself while sleeping. Unfortunately, my ceiling fan is not of the smart variety, so I sometimes wake up shivering, as the fan is making me too cold. Today, Big Ass Fans announces a partnership with Jawbone, to put an end to waking up cold from a fan, while also improving your quality of sleep.

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Home automation and the "Internet of Things" are the next frontiers for the technology world. Now that Wi-Fi is ubiquitous, the landscape is set for smart homes more than ever before. What used to seem like science fiction has become a reality. You can now turn on lights with products like Belkin's WeMo switch or monitor your pets with a Dropcam Pro camera. Heck, with products like the Nest thermometer, your home can actually learn from your behaviors.

Today, Betabound by Centercode is offering BetaNews readers an exclusive opportunity to apply for a beta test of an exciting new smart home system. Will you be selected?

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At the moment, when you want to charge your smartphone or tablet you have to either plug it in, or (if it supports the technology) place it on a wireless charging mat. That's all set to change though, as soon you’ll be able to charge your electrical equipment simply by being near a fridge or washing machine.

It sounds like crazy science fiction, but it’s just very clever science. Energous today announces a partnership with Haier Wireless, the world's largest appliance manufacturer, that will see its WattUp wire-free charging transmitters embedded in a wide range of home appliances including refrigerators, washing machines, dryers, microwaves, stoves and more.

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If This Then That, better know as IFTTT, is a system for customizing what happens with various devices. Pretty much anything you can dream up can be programmed in, and the service has moved now into the home automation field.

The company is announcing integration with Honeywell's new thermostat. The evohome systems now have a custom channel, bringing even more to the growing Internet of Things offerings from IFTTT. This brings the total products up by one more.

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Earlier this year a Kickstarter project I found fascinating came around. Living in an area that experiences severe thunderstorms in summer and the occasional blizzard in winter, I'm no stranger to losing power at times, which can be annoying for anyone.

With this in mind, I bit the bullet and backed the SmartCharge product. I'm not accustomed to paying $35 for a single lightbulb, but the idea was ingenious. Essentially the bulb has a battery inside which keeps itself charged whenever the power is on. When that source no longer exists the bulb switches to battery backup and continues to operate when the switch is turned on.

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Home automation and the Internet of Things have become popular topics today. Users either love it or fear it, the latter thanks to very real security problems which have been discovered. Nest is no stranger to problems, thanks to its Protect issue from not long ago, but that hasn't stopped the company from moving forward, adding further integration.

The latest move is to partner with more home automation products in an effort to make everything play nicely together. The company, known for its smart thermostat, has joined forces with Whirlpool, Jawbone and LIFX under a program it calls "Works with Nest". It has also been working with home automation makers to get better integration.

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In a strange twist, lightbulbs have become a part of today's technology world. It's all part of the Internet of Things -- home devices that aren't computers, but still utilize the home network for control. We've seen this being a bad thing, but mostly it seems to be good. After all who doesn't want to turn on the lights when getting close to home.

The latest is a Kickstarter project, the Nanoleaf Bloom, which is now ten days away from closing. The goal has been reached, but there is still time for buyers to secure one of the early models.

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Air conditioning is one of the greatest inventions of all mankind. As a fat guy, I love keeping my house like an igloo. However, as great as being cool is, conditioned air takes some of the fun out of summer. As someone who grew up without air conditioning, I learned to appreciate having an open window and enjoying the sounds and smells of the season. Crickets chirping, thunder in the distance, and the smell of fresh-cut grass are lost when you shut the windows and turn on the artificial cool air.

While I am too far gone to ever return to life without an air conditioner, I am still quite conscious of the extremely high electric bill that it causes. Today, Big Ass Fans, a fan manufacturer, announces that one of its fans, the Haiku with SenseME, can now work with the Nest thermostat to lower bills. If this fan can give me big ass savings, I'm all for it!

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Still procrastinating about installing a whole house audio system? The choices continue to grow, and one of the best known is Libratone, a Scandinavian company that brings a unique design to its networked speakers.

Now the manufacturer has paired with music streaming service Spotify, bringing the Connect functionality to the platform. This service provides customers with streaming options to speakers all around your home -- provided they are connected to your Wi-Fi network.

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Logitech, which owns the Harmony brand of universal remotes, has recently been updating the line. We finally saw new remotes, along with a keyboard that can control all of your home theater equipment. Most recently the company even added support for Amazon's Fire TV and the Hue lights.

Now Harmony becomes even more friendly to home automation, with the company announcing it is now compatible with Google's latest toy -- the Nest thermostat. "Now, there’s no more pausing the movie to grab a blanket or turn on the AC. With this free update, you can view and adjust your Nest Thermostat settings directly from the color touch-screen on your remote. Large arrows on the touch screen allow a quick and simple temperature adjustment, and even support multiple thermostats in different areas of your house", the company announces.

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I have a confession -- I like Google's services a lot. Gmail is my primary email, I watch YouTube videos everyday and Google+ is my favorite social media network. With that said, it can be scary for one company to have so much control of the internet and to know so much about me. While I trust Google, I can understand people's hesitation to put blind-faith into the search-giant.

When Google bought Nest, many people were up in arms over the deal. After all, if you don't trust the company with your email, you certainly won't trust it controlling your home. Luckily, if you want a smart thermostat, but don't want Google, you can go in a different direction -- Honeywell. Yes, today, that iconic company announces a Nest competitor called Lyric which is downright sexy and best of all for some people -- Google-free.

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Google acquired smart hardware company Nest Labs at the beginning of the year as part of its move into the home. The Internet of Things is set to be big in the coming years, and Google inevitably wants a slice of that pie.

A new site, Google Nest, has been launched that showcases a number of new Google products created off the back of that purchase, and which are "for living life on the web with ease and comfort" while at the same time restoring "confidence in the opportunities the internet offers". The new products are Google Trust, Google Hug, Google Bee and Google Bye. It all looks very convincing, but it’s actually a parody site set up to take a well-aimed shot at Google’s sometimes questionable policies and practices.

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There are all sorts of home electronic devices that you can connect to the internet and control with an app -- including smart lights, intelligent thermostats and smoke detectors. But what if you don’t want to spend a fortune replacing your old devices?

D-Link’s new Wi-Fi Smart Plug (DSP-W215) solves that problem. You plug it into a spare socket in your home, connect any electrical device to it, and then use the free mydlink app for iOS and Android to monitor and control the item. Devices can be turned on and off remotely, you can set power on/off schedules, and monitor your home energy usage. The Wi-Fi Smart Plug also comes with a built-in thermal sensor that will detect when a connected device gets too hot, and automatically turn it off.

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