Good Morning from Ireland and hope all is good wherever in the world you are living. I am a little late this morning due to Wi-Fi problems, so apologies for that. All relatively cool here this week and no major news, family back to full activities, work, etc…so busy times are back. And no shortage of traffic on our roads either. So here are some interesting smart home stories, I uncovered this week:
Hue Expands Again 💡
The Hue crew has been busy. In addition to adding Rock N’Roll to their smart lighting products; the company has announced a bunch of interesting products, namely:
- Play gradient light tube – this sounds really cool and helps to improve the ambiance around your TV. It’s literally a tube that sits underneath the TV and costs between $180 and $200.
- Ambiance light strip – This appears to be more of an upgrade of the Philips Hue Ambiance light strip but contains some cool new features.
- Floor and table lamp upgrades – These products get some new features including the gradient effect.
- Ceiling light – We have lots of ceiling lights in our kitchen; and the announcement that Hue will have solutions in this space is excellent news!
- Filament bulbs – Again, a refinement of the existing models that include new light tones such as stark white, blue-tinges.
- Upgraded white and color bulbs – Last but not least! Philips is expanding the variants of bulbs they now provide.
All in all a busy day for Philips and Signify! Some further reading here.
Improved Google Home Automation 🤖
Google is always improving its smart home automation capabilities. And in fairness, they do make regular updates. One that caught my attention recently was the rollout of a new trigger that can be used to trigger automation when an alarm is dismissed. To learn more about setting up this new feature, check out this article over on 9 to 5 Google.
This Weeks Blog Post
Apple Homekit is one of the most well-known home automation platforms in the smart home industry. This platform is made purposely for the Apple product owners who want to switch to smart homes. With Apple Homekit, you can control any Homekit-compatible smart devices from the lights, door locks, doorbells, thermostats, smart cameras to motion sensors and alarm systems.
>> Read the complete article on the blog
HOOBS 🖥️
For some reason, I really like deep tech solutions like HOOBS and Homebridge. And, when I came across this story, I decided to briefly mention it here. So from what I can read over at 9 to 5 Mac, the HOOBS platform has really optimized the Homebridge smart home software environment. The types of features they are embracing include performance improvements, user interface upgrades, encrypted backups and so much more. Check out this article to read some more on the subject.
Cheap Insurance 🔥
Although low-cost home insurance has been touted for years as a major benefit of smart homes, it never really went mainstream. Every so often, I come across an insurance company offering discounts for people who own smart home devices. The thinking behind the business model is around the assumption that people who install smart flood, security, smoke, and CO sensors reduce damage risk. The latest insurance company to join the fray is A UK company called Hiro. They are offering discounts for a range of smart devices, including Sonos or Amazon Echo speakers; smart security, including the Ring Alarm; and smart lighting, such as Philips Hue. To learn some more about the company, check out their website.
Weekly Smart Home Voice Command! 🎤
Hey Google, turn on the lights at 7 AM
This is it for today, See you next Sunday 😉. If you have colleagues, friends, or neighbors that would benefit from knowing about smart home devices, please consider sharing them.
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