Smart Homes

[DrLeftover]

But there is very much a next big thing coming. That smartphone or tablet is no longer merely a portable window on the web, it’s increasingly the gateway to an internet of things, whereby your coffee machine, washing machine, heating, even your garden, are all connected to the internet.

What may sound like a futuristic set-up is approaching faster than anyone anticipated. Sky’s Now TV box offers almost all the television available from a satellite dish over the internet. Sonos’s music players give you all the world’s music at your fingertips. Nest offers a web connection for your smoke alarm so you can see where the fire is (and turn the alarm off from your phone when you realise it’s only the toast that you’ve burnt). And your yucca can even inform you, via an app, when it needs watering.

Some of these new ideas may feel gimmicky. Philips’ Hue light bulbs, for example, can be any colour you want, instantly controlled from your phone again. But the question is not who needs red light bulbs in their home, it’s what does the house of the future look like when it has one single remote control for light, heat, television and security?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/10542550/Everything-connected-the-smart-home-in-2014.html

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Hmm, what if the power goes out?