Smart Home

It’s a wrap! Here’s a handy recap of all the announcements Apple made at its Worldwide Developers Conference this year. Apple announced its latest version OS X Yosemite (OS X 10.10) which features the flat design first unveiled with iOS 7 last fall. Also new: a Dark Mode that changes the menu bar to a Continue Reading →

Apple’s move into the smart home isn’t actually the grand experience I had hoped for. Instead, it is a much simpler program that will basically certify a bunch of connected devices on the market or set to be launched as products that are certified under the Made for iPhone label. My sources, who spoke only Continue Reading →

Nest Labs is already well known by early tech adopters for its “smart,” energy-saving thermostats and smoke detectors. And it’s not only consumers that have taken notice: Internet giant Google acquired Nest Labs earlier this year for $3.2 billion dollars. But Nest, led by former Apple iPod executive Tony Fadell, says it is exploring a Continue Reading →

Too lazy to flick on a light switch? There’s a Kickstarter campaign you should check out. Homey isn’t the first crowdfunded home automation platform we’ve seen, but it is one of the most personable: the entire device is controlled by human speech. It’s designed to ape the computers on Star Trek, explained creator Emile Nijssen, Continue Reading →

Google is reportedly planning a move into home security through Nest, its recent $3.2 billion acquisition that has put a high-tech spin on thermostats and smoke alarms. The company has considered acquiring connected camera startup Dropcam, according to The Information, though it’s not clear what stage any talks are at, or if they are still Continue Reading →

Connected devices company Nest, now owned by Google, has been lauded — mostly, it must be said, by the tech press — for turning its attention to the utilitarian devices in your home. The ones no-one loves. The no-frills, (usually) beige plastic devices that squat on the wall or ceiling of your home doing one Continue Reading →

Apple plans to launch a new smart home platform at next month’s Worldwide Developer Conference that will allow iPhones and iPads to control a home’s lights, security system, and other connected appliances, according to a Financial Times report. The new “software platform,” which will be unveiled at WWDC on June 2, will be built into Continue Reading →

SmartThings, the company behind a connected home hub, is walking the fine line between creating an open ecosystem for connected devices and a user experience that doesn’t make users toss up their hands in frustration. That’s not to say it hasn’t veered off that line in the past, but on Wednesday it announced an exit Continue Reading →

On May 15, 2014, the FCC voted to move forward with considerations on a proposal for new rules known as "Open Internet" rules -- the new name for Net Neutrality. If you are a provider of Internet services, nothing has changed. You still get to do business exactly the way you have been. If you are a concerned citizen wondering how you can compete and prosper in a world where ISPs charge for the "fast lane," you still have time to make your case. Continue Reading →

Are you curious why everyone is talking about the Internet of everything? Cisco CEO John Chambers gives 19 trillion really good reasons. Chambers believes the Internet of everything, also known as the Internet of things, will create $19 trillion (yes, that’s with a “t”) in economic benefit and value over the next decade. The Internet Continue Reading →