On our most recent IoT Podcast, Todd called in to our voicemail hotline with a question about a brand new smart home device. He heard about the recently announced Home Assistant Amber, wondering if we were familiar with it and if we'll be reviewing … [Read more...]
Can open-source smart home systems save your deprecated devices?
On our most recent IoT Podcast, Danny called in to our voicemail hotline with a very interesting question. He wants to know if platforms such as Home Assistant or OpenHAB could help support older smart devices that lose support from their … [Read more...]
The inexpensive age of DIY smart home image detection is here if you’re up for it
I’ve said many times in the past that every home ought to have a Raspberry Pi computer. And that is even truer for every smart home. Aside from being relatively inexpensive, these sub-$50 computers can accept analog signals from sensors, are easy … [Read more...]
DIY smart home hubs are going retail: Here’s why that’s a good thing
For years, there have been two kinds of hubs that run smart homes. One is the kind you buy from a retailer, such as the Amazon Echo Plus, Hubitat, Samsung SmartThings, or Wink hubs. And one is the DIY kind where you download and install software to a … [Read more...]
Just how secure is Home Assistant? (Hint: very)
On our most recent IoT Podcast, a listener with the same name as me called in asking about Home Assistant security. Specifically, he wanted to know how secure I thought it was and I'm super glad he asked. Why? Because as I've continued my DIY journey … [Read more...]