Smart Home Reviews

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How To Make Your Sweet Home a Smart Home

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A Smart Home does not have to mean spending a lot of money and investing a lot of time on expensive home devices. If you are clear with your wants and needs, just replacing your existing gadgets and appliances with connected and automated versions of similar things would be sufficient. 

In this article, I will explain to you how to make a smart home and what is a smart home device.

What is a Smart Home Device?

A smart home device is an internet-connected device that enables you to monitor remotely and manage the appliances such as lighting, heating, and security.

A smart home device provides you with security, comfort, convenience and energy efficiency by allowing the device to control from your smartphone or voice-enabled devices like Google Home and Alexa.

Smart home devices also reduce the amount of time that you spend on tasks on a daily basis. For example, having to go back home to see if you have turned off any appliance can be easily taken care of by smart home gadgets, which in turn saves your vital time.

The smart meter in the smart home devices enables you to understand your smart home device better. This way, you know which devices are drawing more power and thereby you can easily turn it off when not required and in turn save your money. 

Smart meters also make it easier to educate you and your family members on better ways to stay energy efficient. Thereby turning off energy-inefficient devices helps you to save money and leave a positive impact on the environment. This way, smart home devices can go a long way in keeping you more productive through time and money savings. 

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Google Home vs Alexa: The Ultimate Face-Off

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Alexa and Google Home are loaded with sets of features: Alexa supports more smart home devices, while Google Home lets you upload your audio file to its cloud. There are many other features that one device support which other devices do not. 

In this article, I will walk you through the features of Alexa and Google Home based on the following parameters

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Best Smart Coffee Makers for 2019 (Review & Buying Guide)

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The greatest luxury which a smart coffee maker brings is the convenience of brewing coffee through a click on the app. You can make favorite cappuccinos precisely with rich flavor as per your liking, that too remotely. 

The best part is that you can get your coffee ready in a few minutes. Plus the smart coffee maker saves you from the hassle of cleaning and using extra utensils for milk and filter.  

Things You Should Consider While Buying a Smart Coffee Maker

1. Compatibility
The smart coffee maker uses different technology like Wifi and Bluetooth to connect with apps and devices. 

Integration with devices like Alexa and Google Home gives you the advantage to control your coffee maker over voice command.

Select the coffee maker with Bluetooth connectivity option if you are in close proximity to your smart coffee maker as it has a lower range. Wifi connectivity has a wider range and is best if you live on the upper floors where the distance is more.

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What Everyone Should Know About IoT Smart Home

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Internet of things (IoT) is one of the disruptive technology, positively impacting industries by helping them monitor and optimize overall business processes and enhance customer’s experiences. 

In layman terms, IoT is a complex network of low-cost but advanced sensors & actuators for data collection, monitoring, decision making, and process optimization. Where except for data collection, all the other processes can happen either locally at the device level or on the cloud with or without user interference.  

As per the McKinsey Global Institute, insights on disruptive technology, by 2025, IoT has an estimated potential economic impact of $ 6.2 trillion annually from sized applications.

Disruptive Technologies - IOT Smart home
Disruptive Technologies
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Best Smart Home Security Camera Systems | Buying Guide and Review

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You cannot change the location of an ordinary security camera. Additionally, the installation and the cabling of these cameras are a difficult task and you can only monitor the activities via a dedicated screen. 

The smart camera system is an excellent investment since you can plug and play the smart camera wherever you want. You can also monitor the activities from your smartphone if it is configured. Additionally, you can even have two-way communication using the smart camera.

While making a decision on which smart security camera is right for you, there are three main areas to think about.

Things to consider while buying the best smart home security camera systems

Will work as a baby or pet monitor:

Other than safeguarding your property, you also want to monitor your baby and pets. For that, you need to have a security camera with the following features

  • Night Vision: Clear images in low light especially in case the camera is used as a baby monitor.
  • Two-way communication: to listen in and talk to the people you are monitoring. 
  • Field of view: most security cameras are designed with a wide-angle lens, while baby/pet monitors are more of narrow range to focus on your baby/pet.
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Top 3 Smart Home Switches

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You can command a smart home switch to turn itself ON or OFF using your voice control by configuring your smart switch with virtual voice assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Home. 

The smart switch can also control itself with the help of the motion sensor by sensing temperature and humidity. The communication between you and the switch is either through radio transmission or power lines like X10.  

You can control your TV, washing machine, smart bulbs and ceiling fans with the help of a smart switch. However, not all smart home devices are compatible with the technology you are using. You need to keep certain parameters in mind while buying a smart home switch.

Things to consider while buying the best smart home switches

#1. Which technology are you familiar with

Your smart home switch should be compatible with the technology gadgets which you are using. Whether it is iPad, Android device, Alexa or Google Assistants, your smart switch should work with these technologies. In short, whatever technology is already part of your daily life should work with the smart home switches. 

If you do not know what platform your switches work with, you will want to find out which communication protocols to use. In that case, you need to purchase smart home bridge to communicate with your smart switch using your smartphone. 

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