Automated Home

Elbee is based in Brussels, Belgium and their team of engineers are creating connected devices and wearables. Konrad Holubek, co-founder and CEO, said it all started while he was washing the dishes. “Back in April 2014, I was in my kitchen when my smartphone started vibrating in the living room. Unfortunately, I could not interact with my phone because my […]

We’ve all seen the movies where the machines take over. Terminator, The Matrix, 2001, there’s even the 1998 B movie classic ‘Dream House‘ where a smart home goes rogue with (unintentionally) hilarious consequences. But of course we all know that AI is really here to help humanity. As our twenty-first century machine learning systems munch away […]

A recent PC built for a special project (more on that coming soon) brought with it a requirement for a convenient all-in-one wireless keyboard and mouse. The Logitech K400 Wireless Touch Keyboard was just what we were looking for and its compact size (approximately 36 cms x 14 cms) still manages to incorporate a decent sized touchpad. […]

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 […]