Amazon may have flopped with the Fire Phone, but don’t count it out of the telephony game just yet. Alongside Amazon unveiling its newest Echo device earlier today — the Echo Show with a seven-inch video screen — the company also announced Alexa Calling, free voice calls and messaging services that you use through all Echo devices (not just the Show), as well as for users of the Alexa app for smartphones.
Following rumors of Apple working on a Siri-based speaker from last week, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says in his latest note that there is an “over 50 percent chance” of Apple debuting the speaker at WWDC 2017.
According to TechCrunch, iRobot CEO Colin Angle has been repeating for some time now that the next step in the evolution of the company’s hit Roomba vacuum is becoming a connective tissue for the smart home. This morning’s announcement from the company takes it a couple of steps closer to that dream, introducing Alexa voice integration and advances to the robotic vacuum’s mapping system that lay the groundwork for future smart home upgrades.
Apple is touting the home automation capabilities of iOS and Apple TV on a newly updated website for its HomeKit software and its related Home app. The page now includes a new 45-second video that demonstrates the Home app for iOS 10 in action, showing a woman operating a range of devices from her phone, including the Honeywell Lyric Round thermostat, Kwikset smart lock, and iHome smart plug.
When it comes to protecting your family, pets and possessions, reliability and a reputable name stand out as critical features. There are several smart home products in this category that look impressive and can even speak to you with a friendly voice, but for a capability this important, we favored devices that were trouble-free and inexpensive enough to allow purchasing several for your home.
Google Home is a tough contender for the Amazon Echo, but it launched with much less third-party support. Now, the company’s added Belkin WeMo and Honeywell to the list of supported devices.
Security companies, of course, for years, have provided remote monitoring of our homes to those willing to pay for it. Many companies like ADT, FrontPoint or AT&T Digital Life are expanding into at leastoffering some home automation gadgetry.
With the advent of affordable home automation, people are looking for more than just “security.” We want to be able to monitor and adjust their smart homes, themselves, even when remote. Want to look in to see how the puppy is doing, from work? Turn on the lights before you get home… You get the idea. That means that WE need the ability to do our own monitoring, even if we are paying a company for security monitoring. And we want to be able to make sure we locked the door when we left, or closed the garage. Or turned down the thermostat.
Proper lighting is essential for any home. It is important to maintain balance between personality and the functionality of the room when it comes to lighting the living room. One can transform the entire atmosphere of their living room within the proper use of lighting. One should remember that lighting not only has aesthetic and mood enhancing values, but play an important functional role in illuminating important task areas in the living room.
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