Building a smart home might sound like a daunting process to undertake, but since smart speakers from Amazon and Google came onto the scene, it doesn’t have to be. Sure, you can still buy a dedicated smart home hub from Samsung SmartThings, Wink, Insteon or Logitech, then buy smart lights, a connected irrigation system, motorized
Home automation is basically in its infancy. Right now, the technical development reminds me of early days of personal computing. Lots of companies had competing visions about what a PC should do. Handful of companies will realize that, for the home autiomation technology to achieve its destiny, something radial has to happen. Home automation has
Home security can be a do-it-yourself project, one of the systems is Arlo, a wireless solution for indoor or outdoor use. I like the Arlo because it doesn’t try too hard to upsell you on a service plan: For no extra money it saves seven days’ worth of video recordings online. Arlo has introduced a
A survey of smart speaker owners found that 6% are using it to control smart home devices like lighting and heating. Even for HomePod, playing music was only the third most common use. Answering a question and checking the news or weather led the way, with discovering and controlling music in third place. Controlling other smart
Flo Technologies announced HomeProtect, a home water damage reimbursement program, which will pay up to $2,500 for out-of-pocket homeowner’s insurance deductible expense. For monthly HomeProtect subscription fee, homeowners get access to greater-than-standard levels of support for problems, questions, and water use analysis. HomeProtect is available to customers who bought the Flo smart home water-monitoring and
With two neighborhood burglaries, it was time to consider a security system. One I investigated was offering a free Ring doorbell, had armed response from local security force and reasonable fees. I didn’t like the required three-year contract, but I figured that with free installation it was worth it. For another $30 a month, I
