Automated Home

The new Echo is a 9 inch high tube shaped Bluetooth and Wi-Fi speaker coupled to Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant, their version of Apple’s Siri or Google Now. Amazon Echo is designed around your voice. It’s always on—just ask for information, music, news, weather, and more. Echo begins working as soon as it detects the […]

Smart home specialists Loxone have augmented their Multi-room Audio range with a new Wall Speaker. The 8 Ohm 50 watt passive speaker includes 2 woofers and 1 tweeter and has a frequency response of 20 – 20,000 Hz and connects directly to the their 12 channel amp. Loxone say the 440 x 180 x 80mm speaker is perfect for retrofitters, […]

Automated Home reader David Horn has just released a free Windows Phone app for the Honeywell evohome heating control system. This app allows European Honeywell Evohome users to remotely control their heating and hot water system from their phone over the internet. David tells us his app is completely free (no ads either) and was written […]

Umbrela Smart Inc is a Canadian startup with a vision to create simpler smart home setup. Their new home automation system uses 7 inch high definition touch screens that are easily retro fitted in place of your existing wall switches. They use HomePlug Powerline technology so there’s no rewiring required. Several differnet configurations of these ‘Smart […]

Last year Johannes Jensson reviewed the Heat Genius system for us on Automated home. Now he’s controlling his heating from his telly with the addition of a few accessories… I decided to do an experiment and try to find out if I could access and control my Heat Genius Intelligent Heating Controller through my TV. In theory this should be […]

In the works since 2013, Oomi is now ready to reveal itself to the world as it launches at CES and on Indiegogo a few hours ago. The Oomi team describe their creation as the first complete home automation system that’s focussed on learning instead of programming and claim it’s also the first to have accessories designed specifically to make it easy to […]

I’ve been searching for a replacement for the VLC app which has has been out of the UK iOS App store again since last year. A Plex setup is a great way to sync your media to your mobile devices. But if you’re not a Plex user or you just want a quick way to get […]

Sometimes the tech world can seem like a private mens club. Thankfully that’s changing with each year that passes and our latest ‘My Automated Home’ feature comes from our forum member Mavis. Read on for a female perspective on the smart home, the good and the bad, and even an admission that it’s not just men that sneak those […]

Here’s a collecting of 14 videos we’ve pulled together featuring some of the home tech highlights from last weeks CES 2015. It was a show that will definitely be remembered for a vast array of IoT and home automation product announcements. The first video is courtesy of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) themselves and shows all the Smart Home Highlights from CES […]

If you were an early adopter in the 90’s you will probably remember the Pronto line of universal remote controls with fondness. After suffering a sudden demise in 2010 the Pronto brand is back from the dead and has been re-launch at last weeks international CES in Las Vegas. This isn’t your Father’s Pronto. Rather a new […]