Our homes are getting so smart, soon we’ll be paying their tuition fees! Here are some genius products graduating out of the next decade.
Smart Home Hub
Here’s a round-up of the new Smart Home Hub feature which contained some pretty impressive voice-controlled tech.
SyncWise Smart Building Solutions
The smart home of the future!
“We had a customer who has a beautiful house overlooking a canal and thousands of dollars of ‘smart technology’, and they couldn’t turn their lights off! In fact, for six months, they hadn’t been able to turn the lights off in the living room because it was too complicated for the owner to use. That’s not a smart home.” Said Seth from SyncWise.
In reality, it should take anywhere between 5 – 10 mins to learn how to use your smart home. A smart home should be simple, accessible and reliable. Any provider that overcomplicates the process with technical jargon should meet the curb along with your old Walkman CD player and Blu-ray player.
KNX is the new smart home standard up there with USB, WIFI and Bluetooth in universal up-take. Absolutely every speaker, modem, camera and app with the KNX standard is guaranteed to communicate with each other. This will prevent a complete overhaul of your smart home every 5 – 10 years, protecting your investment well into the future. For this reason alone, there has never been a better time to smarten up your home.
SyncWise Smart Stages of installation
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Stage 1 |
Decide what you want |
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Stage 2 |
Cables in (KNX, security, WIFI, data, tv) |
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Stage 3 |
Plaster on, cut-out (mounts, brackets) |
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Stage 4 |
Fit-out, gadgets in |
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Stage 5 |
Programming your home smart |
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Stage 6 |
Hand-over, learning |
Digital Residence and Control4
David from Control4 runs us through his home set-up, “At my house, a camera is mounted in the top corner in the alcove. So, when someone rings the doorbell and takes two steps back, I can still see them. When somebody rings my doorbell, the TV in my office turns on automatically and shows the patio camera.”
The average number of devices connected to home WIFI is 15. In the coming decade, this number will rise to 22. Problem is, our standard issue routers from Optus or Telstra are only equipped to handle 8 devices. Anything over this number and they, to use a technical term, ‘crap out’.
So we know a robust network is imperative to a smart home, but what else? WIFI access points need to be scattered inside and outside the house, from the kitchen to the decking. Security monitoring is essential, ironically to protect your expensive new smart gear. We’re aware of smart lighting or programmable ‘scenes’ that play out, or intelligent doorbells. Yet, what’s been refined is the app that controls everything. Instead of mucking about with multiple controllers, service providers like Digital Residence and Control4 have developed an app capable of doing anything in your home at the tap of a screen.
Yale Home Automation
Yale Secure Connect Alarm Kit
For 150 years, Yale has traditionally been known for lock and key systems. Now, they’re proving locks can open with the times. Yale brings three new ideas to the table: connected alarms, remote power points and digital locks.
Steve sounded alarmed, “the new Yale Secure Connect Alarm Kit is also your home automation system. What we have here is your standard kit which is made up of a strobe and alarm.” There are also door and window connecters.
Steve powered up, “this particular alarm kit comes with a PowerPoint. So, you can control anything that you plug in at home to turn on and off from a remote position.”
“The other thing with this particular smart home kit is you can control your locks. The locks can be opened remotely from anywhere in the world providing you’ve got an internet connection.”
It takes just three seconds upon pressing the unlock button on your phone for the door to unlock. There’s also a touch screen PIN pad on the lock itself, so if you have guests or an Airbnb, then you can give timed access via a temporary code.
Ring home security
Smart doorbells
Smart doorbells are increasingly packed with tech, they are quickly becoming the most intelligent part of the home. ‘Ding dong’ used to be the first and last job of a doorbell. This smart doorbell from Ring sends an alert to the owner’s phone and pops-up their image on your screen.
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Packed inside |
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• Two-way talk |
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• One-way video |
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• Night vision |
Mark Fletcher from Ring said, “It gives you the ability to have the perception of always being at home. You can answer that door anywhere, any place in the world.”
Lera Smart Homes
Whether you are team Siri, team Alexa, or team Google; modern smart home systems don’t discriminate. As Benny from Lera Smart Homes demonstrates, you can give a command to any of the three speakers to generate the same outcome.
Benny commanded, “‘hey Siri, goodnight.’ So, what’s happening now, is we’re setting the scene. You got blinds going down, downloads going off, curtains closing.”
Interestingly, there is a wireless module which attaches to the back of a light switch. This wireless module connects to your wireless network and phone application. Suddenly, you have the power to control any light, wind down any blinds or control pool equipment with this clever little node.
West Coast HiFi
HEOS wireless audio
If you’re an audiophile, you’ll know Denon is a revered household name. Producing some of the finest quality speakers at reasonable prices. Today, they are bringing something new to the table. The Home Entertainment Operating System or HEOS for short. HEOS connects all your speakers together like a symphony orchestra.
27 Wi-Fi speakers were featured at the Home Show of all shapes and sizes. From sound bars to amplifiers and smart speakers, every room is controlled through one app. The system is extremely versatile; it can play music from new mediums like high resolution audio as well as legacy systems like Bluetooth and USB.
Joe, brand manager for HEOS, delved deeper into the app, “Basically you can go in, and you can see various different rooms. You can go in and select music from TuneIn Radio, Deezer or even Spotify and many other music services. Even things from music from your phone or the TV. The beautiful thing that HEOS allows you to do is to share your TV sound, not only in one room but to any other zone.”
