Automated Home

Here’ an interesting video showing a Samsung SmartThings setup in a US home. Peter Anania talks us through his journey from X10 to Z-Wave showing how he uses the Amazon Echo to add voice control to his apartment via Alexa. In addition he uses the Logitech Harmony remote from app on an Amazon Fire tablet. There’s motion activated lighting, a PTZ […]

London, September 2016 – Technology touches so many areas of our domestic lives. Homes are becoming automated, and increasingly filled to the brim with intelligent appliances. When we’re away, we monitor them with smart cameras, connected alarm systems and other sensors. We back up treasured photos, music collections and more with personal cloud devices. Yet […]

A group of 10 CEDIA members have formed a group to create a Smart Home Technician Apprenticeship standard. It’s hoped this will help to alleviate the current shortage of qualified engineers entering the smart home technology industry. CEDIA® is delighted to announce that The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) has approved the development of […]

Having watched the price of photovoltaic solar panels steadily fall over the last few years and seeing a drop in incentives looming on the horizon, we decided to pull the trigger on a system for the Automated Home. We had visits from 3 local companies to quote for a 4kW PV system. That’s the largest single […]

Last week UK mobile operator O2 launched their home automation service. O2 recon they’ve found a market based on findings like this… New research announced today reveals that despite a massive 73% of people interested in future proofing their homes with smart technology, only 5% are currently planning to install it in 2016. They will setup the system […]

Apple have just finished their most important keynote address of the year “See you on the 7th”. This annual Autumn announcement brings details of their latest iPhones. A pretty dull opening segment saw Tim Cook fluff his lines and the Nintendo rep seem to say “Thanks Steve” to him. They finally got to the hardware stuff, however, as […]

Welcome to the third instalment of our review of the Devolo Home Control range. So far we have the starter pack up running with some additional motion detection and switching capabilities. We have tested many aspects of the myDevolo app, adding devices, creating groups, rules and scenes. We will now look at the safety and security […]

Qubino’s smart home Weather Station has 4 sensors which can measure 10 different data points. The Wind Gauge is powered by a solar panel and measures wind direction, wind velocity, wind gust, wind chill and temperature. The Rain Gauge measures, you guessed it, rainfall and the 2 Thermo-Hygro sensors can measure indoor / outdoor temperature and indoor / outdoor humidity. RELATED: Popp Z-Wave […]

After several months with the Automower it’s time to look back and take stock. But first here are a couple of things we’ve not covered yet. Running Costs & Battery Replacement The manual quotes the Husqvarna 430X Automower power consumption at 30 W during cutting and also quotes a ‘mean energy consumption at maximum use’ of 20 kWh/month in a […]

Today, LinkDesk have released their new ‘Room Locator’ in the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain. Room Locator is a small battery powered wireless Bluetooth device for Apple iPhone and iPad that triggers smart home devices when a room is entered or left. Unlike previous indoor location systems such as Apple iBeacon or Google Eddystone, LinkDesk goes one […]