Smart Home Technology and the ‘Internet of Things’ have become a key focus of the tech industry over the past few years and are now penetrating almost every area of the home. We’re here to give you a breakdown of the best items available to make your home ‘smarter’.
Lighting
Early starters from heavy-hitters like the Philips Hue have now given way to a wide selection of competitors both small and large. The lighting sector in particular has been subject to a flood of new products. Whatever your mood, there is now a ‘smart-light’ to suit you and brighten up your home. Whether it’s the Misfit Bolt Smart Bulb or the one of the many offerings from MiPow it’s up to you to set the tone.
MiPow’s ‘Playbulb’ range is one of the more popular in the sector ranging from the Candle to the Color Smart Bulb and Rainbow Smart Bulb (with a built in bluetooth speaker!). All are controllable via an app on your smartphone (currently Android and iOS only).
Now that winter has well and truly arrived, you’ll be more likely to be spending your evenings inside, however MiPow also offer the Playbulb Garden – a range of solar powered garden lights that use LEDs to create a huge variety of colours to suit your mood and can be controlled with the accompanying app at the tap of a finger.
The Kitchen
It’s not just lighting that’s getting the Smart Home treatment, the Kitchen has also started to draw attention from makers of smart home systems. In good time for the finale of Great British Bake Off, Perfect Company released both the Perfect Bake and Perfect Drink App-controlled Smart products. These products connect to your smartphone or tablet to allow you to measure and make the perfect cake or cocktail!
In addition to this, you can also get the iKettle Wi-Fi Kettle for iOS and Android which allows you to remotely boil the kettle from the comfort of your living-room, bedroom or even the bathroom via your smartphone or tablet.
Home Security
When it comes to your home, the number #1 thing you want is to keep it safe and luckily there are now a few smart home devices to help with that. Belkin offer their NetCam Wi-Fi Camera with built-in Night Vision – great for keeping track of any night time intruders. Flir offer their FX Wireless HD Camera which as well as including night vision also records in crystal clear 1080p and features smart zone alerts for targeted movement detection. Both cameras connect to your Wi-fi network so can be easily placed anywhere around the home for widespread surveillance and protection.
Smartplugs
With all these gadgets draining your power it can be tricky keeping tabs on your electric usage – this is where smart plugs come in.
Energenie offer the ‘MiHome Starter Pack’ which will allow you to take control of your lighting, heating and appliances using the free companion smartphone app or a web browser interface from anywhere around the world. The MiHome Starter Pack even allows for integration with IFTTT, a service which allows you to hook together multiple services together for example turning on a plug when you enter the house.
Everyone likes to be Eco-Friendly and app controlled smart plugs help you to keep your electric use to a minimum so make use of the D-Link smart plug which lets you turn electronic devices on or off from anywhere inside or outside your home. The smart mains adapter controls your devices through an internet connection to provide wireless control for your TVs, heaters and much more.
Health and Fitness
With the recent boom in wearable fitness devices such as the Fitbit, Jawbone or Mi Band, it makes sense that Smart Home Technology would move into the health and fitness arena. To this end Xiaomi have released the Mi Smart Scale for Android and iOS Devices. Accurately measure and compare your weight, set goals and track your progress – automatic synchronisation of your results lets you share this data with your Bluetooth enabled device via the Mi Fit app.
The Smart Home technology sector is set to grow even further heading into 2016 with more and more household items being subject to new features and uses, particularly with the continued development of the HomeKit and Brillo frameworks from Apple and Google respectively allowing designers and creators to more easily get involved with the Internet of Things. We’ll continue to stock the latest and greatest so keep your eyes on our blog and regular newsletters!
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