Consumer technology is becoming smaller, sleeker and more sophisticated so it was only a matter of time before it made its way into our daily lives. An exciting new age is upon us… the age of the smart home. Ok… so what’s a smart home? You may be familiar with smart TV’s and smart phones but how exactly can your home be smart? By adding a selection of smart devices to your home, you can increase its connectivity, make certain tasks autonomous and be entertained and delighted in ways that were simply not possible before. To get started, see the range of smart home devices from Harvey Norman Australia.
There are a lot of options available but to dip your toes in, let’s talk about essentials. These are the mainstays of smart home technology. The pioneers of the smart home world would be the voice assistant – the most popular being the google home. These devices have an internal speaker that synchs up to your smart phone and can be given verbal commands. You can ask your assistant to check the weather, if you have any meetings or appointments and even ask it to play your favourite tunes.
Voice Assistance
A voice assistant is only the beginning. Your smart home can expanded by adding smart devices such fridges, air-conditioners and more. A popular and visually appealing addition would be a smart light globe. Units like the Philips hue colour globe can be controlled via the accompanying phone app. From this app you are able to change the colour, pulse and even a schedule for the lights to turn on or off.
Smart plugs are another building block for your smart home as the can be used in conjunction with your phone and voice assistant to autonomously turn off devices to save electricity or to switch on before you get home. Live your billionaire genius dream as your home lights up to greet you and plays your favourite song to welcome you in.
Are You Not Entertained?
You can see the convenience that a smart home offers but darn it – you want to be entertained! Luckily there is a multitude of options to bring your home entertainment to immersive new heights. Smart Home Entertainment options include TV, speakers, media players and more. Connecting your smart devices together means you can control all devices with one remote, it also means you can give your voice assistant commands and it will be able to communicate with your entertainment system. Impress your friends by telling your assistant to play a movie and watch in awe as your TV turns on, navigates to Netflix and plays your chosen film. We really do live in the future!
The Right Connections
Your smart home needs a solid connection in order to function flawlessly. Unfortunately, a lot of homes have signal dampening materials within their walls. A basic modem router set up may not be enough to carry a strong signal around even a moderate sized home. This can cause problems especially if the kids are browsing the web on one end of the house and you are using a media streaming service in another. There are many devices on the market designed to carry your signal to all corners of your space. A common and inexpensive way of doing so is a Wi-Fi range extender. These can be plugged into a power point and essentially relay your routers signal. A new way now exists to create a strong reliable connection. Mesh networking enables multiple access points to be placed around your space and unlike traditional range extenders, they do not relay (and weaken) a signal, rather, each unit is essentially its own router. Mesh networking is a very good way of wirelessly keeping your smart home connected.
Hopefully you are inspired and ready to join the smart home revolution. Start out with a voice assistant and revel in how far technology has come. The convenience and interconnectivity can be addictive.