While we focus mainly on the inside of smart homes, our IoT Podcast Hotline got a call this week about the outside. Jeff left us a message explaining that his parents want to start a garden and he's looking for a smart product that tells them when to … [Read more...]
What’s a good sensor for motion, humidity, temperature and light for the smart home?
There are plenty of single or dual-purpose sensors available for smart homes, but what if you want to know just about everything that's going on inside a room and even automate your home based on that information? That's the latest question we … [Read more...]
Four clever ways to use a door/window sensor for home automation
Ah, the lowly door/window sensor. It just sits next to an entry point in the home waiting to add security benefits and it doesn’t really cost that much. Instead of treating spare sensors like the Rodney Dangerfield of IoT devices, why not give that … [Read more...]
Why an Amazon Alexa-powered home robot makes sense
Earlier this week, news broke that Amazon is reportedly building a domestic robot. The robot’s codename of “Vesta” is the Roman god for hearth, house and family. Ironically, it was earlier this month on the IoT Podcast that we debated robots as a … [Read more...]
Fibaro HomeKit sensors for doors, windows and motion: Smart and sleek
Now that I’ve finally moved my smart home devices from the Wink Hub 2 to the Samsung SmartThings Link, it’s time to test some new HomeKit devices. First on the menu are two items from Fibaro, which sent us a $60 Door/Window sensor and a $70 Motion … [Read more...]