I recently installed ha-bridge to expose my custom switches and those from my Harmony and Vera systems to the Amazon Echo. One of the challenges I ran across was that the Linux (VM) system that I want to host the app on is Ubuntu, and the installation instructions didn’t cover that. Now, this isn’t a complex task, but there was […]
Read moreMesh Wi-Fi is a rapidly developing market, which something I’m glad to see. Being able to quickly add signal everywhere in your home without needing to worry about channels, SSID, etc. makes solving the problem much easier for everyone (even geeks :)). This round up doesn’t really get in to the technical bits much (or really at all), but that […]
Read moreA Look at How Smart Technology Brings the Future to Our Homes Many people can still remember the early days of computer technology when everything we have been doing was the stuff sci fi flicks were made of ‘back in the day.’ However, it goes beyond saying what would have been the reaction if someone would have told them that […]
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If you liked the original Arlo, you will love the updated “Pro” model. Which adds rechargable batteries and 2-way audio. Very slick. Created by the talented team that brought you the Red Dot award winning original Arlo wire-free camera, Arlo Pro is sleek, modern, and stylish. Small but powerful, Arlo Pro is the most ingenious wire-free security camera we have […]
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As a fan of “smart” technology and cooking, I was immediately interested in the Loki thermometer when I heard about it. From what I understand the orb senses when your food is going to be ready and let’s you know that it’s time to take it off. Making it much easier to get the perfect, bloody (or not) meat. For […]
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I love my sub, but sometimes I have to get up from the couch and turn it down a bit (after getting yelled at). Have to imagine this would only be made worse if I happened to have one of these massive 16″ (ported or sealed) subs just announced by SVS, so I quite like that their’s a little remote […]
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I’m not sure exactly why my wife came home with a cheap (£10-15) set of 433MHz remote controlled switches. While I gave her some grief initially, I’m glad she did. Because for a few £ more we now have four “smart” IP switches that can be controlled from a home automation controller (HAC). And since we have an Amazon Echo, […]
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I’m a big fan of these little IoT enabling kits, including the Arduino. Getting everything working with the various sensors can be a bit of a challenge (or a big one). This kit looks to help with that by providing standard interfaces to a pile of really useful sensors and a more user friendly IDE. ESLOV is a plug-and-play toolkit […]
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In the not-so-crowded collection of UHD Blu-ray players the XBox One S stands out because of its price and, um… well that’s it. The price difference is nothing to laugh at either, and if you are willing to live with the limitations it is an outstanding value. That said, the gaps are pretty harsh, at least for me. Especially when […]
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Hosting my own Plex server isn’t challenging for me, and I imagine most of our readers. But, that doesn’t mean there aren’t other issues like upstream bandwidth, caps, etc. that make putting your Plex server, and the associated content up in the Clouds. Storage is BYOC[loud storage provider], so that bit will need to be worked out (I also wonder […]
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