Category: Smart Home

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Smart Home

Presence home security system keeps the sensors, skips the fees

Everyone wants to keep their home safe. Not everyone wants to pay the sometimes steep monitoring fees associated with doing so. The result? Houses everywhere essentially are left unprotected.

The Presence home security system gives both renters and homeowners peace of mind without taking a piece of their wallet with it.  It uses the cameras and Wi-Fi connectivity of the spare smartphones and tablets most people already have, and puts them to use alongside a variety of sensors, like motion and temperature, to keep any household safe from intruders, flooding, and a variety of other problems.

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Smart Home

Keep your eyes on incoming peeps with the Peeple connected peephole

There was actually a time when the common peephole didn’t exist, forcing people to have to open their doors to see who was there. Thankfully, this isn’t the case anymore. However, in the age of the Internet of Things, its due for an obvious upgrade.

The ubiquity of the smartphone has made products like Peeple possible, a rechargeable attachment that connects to a peephole to provide caller ID for a home. It does this by sending notifications to an iOS or Android device whenever someone knocks or opens the door. At that point, a user can open the companion Peeple app to virtually look through the peephole to verify the arrival of a friend, mailman, or that cable guy that’s always late. $149 gets those intrigued a Peeple of their own by May 2016. The campaign is looking to raise $50,000 by June 26th, 2015.

While Peeple is a low-key, easy-to-install version of what could be confused with a connected doorbell, it lacks all of the features that make a connected door device worthwhile. Not being able to open the door remotely nor use video chatting capabilities to speak with those at the door are clear misses, even if there are a range of accessories in the pipeline to expand its functionality. Similar products that hit the mark are those like Chui as well as a a number of doorbells with integrated cameras.

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Input Smart Home

Nuimo dials up a gesture-sensing disc that can control anything in the smart home

editors-choiceWith the number of apps for it slowly increasing, the smartwatch has a shot at supplanting — or at least complementing — the smartphone as the control point for the connected world. But smartwatches aren’t really communal objects around the home and navigating them can often be laborious.

Nuimo seeks to address those issues. The simple control disc, available in a black or silver-white combination supports four main modes of interaction. Users can click them, rotate them, swipe their surface, or perform gestures above their surface. The last three gestures support multiple directions. The campaign video shows Nuimo responding to a music volume command by having the user raise her hand above the surface of the device.

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Imaging Smart Home

Remocam looks over a human family, controls its own device family

Once upon a time, the idea of a camera ready to capture anything in a home would have sounded like something out of 1984, But the past few years have seen no shortage of connected indoor security cameras that allow for surveillance of those unwelcome in a home or ways to check up on those who are welcome.

Remocam looks a bit like a levitating black golf ball. It includes night vision capabilities, takes a unique approach to the security cam market, going beyond watching to doing. Some of this is handled by the camera itself, which includes a speaker for, say, singing your baby to sleep remotely  But to take full advantage of the system, users will need to buy in to the company’s eclectic collection of smart home gadgets that include mainstream outlet adapters and bulbs, but also an automatic pet feeder called RemoPet. The latter is at least aggressively priced. The company seeks $50,000 in its Indiegogo Flexible Funding campaign. The basic Remocam is $199, a $50 discount off the expected retail price.

Remocam represents a middle ground between simple cameras and cameras loaded with home security sensors such as the Oomi Hub. That system also works with its own family of devices, but can also tap in to any Z-Wave device. Both systems have a great opportunity to take advantage of a larger family of devices in the connected home.

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Connected Objects Smart Home

GATE connected mailbox makes postal mail notifications just as annoying as e-mail notifications

Even though mailboxes have been around for at least a century, they haven’t changed all that much. They’re still physical boxes, they hold mail, and they don’t do much else. In a world where everything is digital and integrated with the Internet of Things, that simply isn’t enough when such important information is routinely mailed everyday.

GATE smartens up the humble mailbox by adding a Wi-Fi or zWave connected home unit and solar-powered mailbox sensor to the mix. With this done, a sensor-equipped mailbox can send an alert to the home unit whenever it is opened, notifying home owners with a blinking light at a range of 500ft. SMS, email, and Twitter notifications can also be sent out as well so that no matter where someone is, they can stay informed through their iOS or Android device. If mail theft is a big problem in the neighborhood, multiple GATEs can connect to share information about the occurrences. Each GATE goes for $249, with an expected ship date of December 2015. Its campaign is looking for $10,000, and ends June 20th, 2015.

GATE sits opposite the bare-bones Postifier, an Arduino-based mailbox solution that sports a low price but a lack of functionality. As such, there is no contest: GATE pushes the bar up on what a connected mailbox should be, truly bringing it into the 21st century — for a premium.

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Smart Home

Hook creates a smart home at a smart price by bridging RF and Wi-Fi

From standalone products such as Nest and the Philips Hue to a host of crowdfunded connected objects, the home automation dream has never been closer. But adding IP or even Bluetooth to products can be expensive and sometimes overkill.

Hack-a-Joe Labs has found a clever way to automate lights and other appliances without havng to drive up the price of everything in the house. Its device, Hook, smartens up low-cost RF outlets and bulb sockets already on the market that use basic remote controls. By using RF-to-WiFi technology, each connected appliance can be synced to a smartphone once to be controlled from anywhere in the world.

And it’s not just about turning things on and off via a phone. Users can take advantage of the product’s integration with the IFTTT simple rule system to set up custom events. An example would be flicking the lights when the bus is five minutes away. A package of one Hook with three RF sockets to control things like coffee brewers and space heaters goes for $58, and is expected on doorsteps by December 2015. The $25,000 campaign ends on May 27, 2015.

Hook is remarkable in its simplicity and price. Other options such as Webee and Linkio, are similarly priced and have similar functions but are completely proprietary. In tapping into a market that already exists, Hook can definitely make a splash if it can get the word out about the benefits of its unconventional approach.

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Smart Home

Oomi smart home system does it all with easy setup and simple control

The home automation space is filled with products that promise both straightforward setup and ease of use, using the smartphone as the brains behind it all. Some achieve this feat, but require accessories all over the place for the system to work. And if does work, many products wrongly assume the smartphone is the best piece of technology for total control — having to wait for an app to open just to turn on a bulb is inefficient to say the least.

Fantem thinks a smart home should be much easier to set-up, and its Oomi smart home system is the result of that. The system is primarily made up of an Oomi Cube and Oomi Touch. The former is the star of the show, a Wi-Fi and Z-Wave enabled device filled to the brim with all kinds sensors, cameras, and a motion detector all to learn the rhythms of a user’s daily life and react to anything unexpected. The latter is a 7-inch, edge-to-edge glass tablet with physical buttons that makes setting up any part of the connected home as easy as a tap and a touch.

The primary parts of the Oomi system don’t operate by themselves. A few accessories expand the capability of the system and truly make a home connected. A user can turn any outlet into a smart outlet with the Oomi Plug, while the Oomi Multi-Sensor adds the Oomi Cube’s wealth of sensors into any other part of the home. Ambiance is covered by the Oomi Bulb, while entertainment is handled by the Oomi Streamer. This accessory adds both browsing and streaming capabilities to any TV in the home, pushing home alerts to the screen alongside of them.

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Smart Home Television

We are all just living in smart homes with TVs ruled by mighty Paigo

The Internet of Things is really just a mess of standards trying to operate with each other at this point, leaving the door wide open for in-home solutions to the problem.

The Paigo smart home system is a challenger in this regard, serving as the digital brain to someone’s connected life. The smart home system is a comprehensive solution to connected quandaries. For one, it offers users home automation capabilities with anything in the home that is Z-Wave enabled, along with anything that uses electricity — even if the campaign itself is slightly vague on how exactly it does that.

Home security is another key focus for Paigo, as the system connects itself to equipment such as motion sensors and IP cameras to keep the home safe. For times when the main goal is to relax, the Paigo set-top box can connect to a TV and be used as a media center, browser, or Skype tool. Users can use Paigo’s companion “air mouse” capable remote to facilitate all these actions from afar.

All of Paigo’s capabilities culminate in a product with which users can check in on their home at anytime with a smartphone, tablet, or PC no matter where they are. Scenes can be set to automate devices all at one, either automatically or with a tap of a button. The Paigo Smart Home system will be awarded to backers for $584, and the $107,752 campaign goal is promising the product in December of this year.

The Paigo’s scope is incredibly impressive, but only if its owner has all the necessary equipment to have it truly perform at its most optimal — a huge financial investment if not already set-up. All in all, the campaign is slightly misleading in what it offers, and even vague, at points. In comparison, products like RoomBox and xRemote are clear about the extent to which they can and cannot do things — something backers surely appreciate.

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Smart Home

iSensor HD Patio outdoor security camera senses trouble in rain or shine

While there are many outdoor security cameras on the market, many are not specifically designed for outdoor use. What’s more, many of them provide mediocre images at best, in part because they are stationary and lack the ability to pan.

The iSensor HD Patio outdoor security camera stands out in this regard. The product was specifically designed for use outside the home and is housed in a clear, weather resistant casing. It can be controlled remotely by users via both Android and iOS apps. The camera comes standard with 4 GB of onboard memory and can remotely pan 170 degrees via a user’s mobile device. Further, the camera has a motion sensor and a 240 degree range of view without distortion, according to its Indiegogo campaign. If suspicious activity is detected, the camera will instantly inform users via notifications, snapshots, and HD-quality video that is automatically uploaded to the user’s Google Drive; all for no extra charge. It comes in a choice of black or white at $199 and will ship in May. Its maker is looking to raise $1,000 by April 5.

ISensor HD Patio holds great promise, offering clear advantages over many rival products.

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Lighting Smart Home

Want to add smarts to light switches without replacing? Switchmate has them covered

editors-choiceControlling home lighting via a smartphone app can come in handy. But all too often setting up such systems can be overly complicated.

Switchmate does away with all of that complexity. It consists of a white cover that easily snaps over a standard light switch using magnets. It gets paired via Bluetooth with an Android or iOS app and the user can then easily take control of the switch via their smartphone. In a nice touch, the app can control multiple Switchmates. Notably, users can see the status of their lights within a Bluetooth range of about 150 feet. Each Switchmate will cost $60 and is scheduled to begin shipping in December. Its maker set an Indiegogo campaign goal of raising $50,000 by April 1.

Switchmate holds a great deal of promise if truly is compatible with any standard light switch and if the setup process is as easy as the campaign advertises. The device takes the ease of Emberlight one step further insofar as it attaches to a light switch instead of a light fixture itself, thereby eliminating the need to have a ladder or really tall person nearby.