Tag: Smart Home

You've got to hand it to the Sonos team. Despite the crush of competition for whole home audio from heavyweights such as Amazon (Echo), Google (Google Home), and others like Bose, Samsung (speakers plus SmartThings hub) and Heos (by AVR maker Denon) the Santa Barbara speaker company continues to innovate...

Philips to launch Hue 3.0, Hue Entertainment sync platform, and outdoor lights. Samsung, meanwhile, is doubling down on SmartThings and consolidating 40 apps in an effort to own the smart home.

With its recent addition of "Everywhere" mode, Amazon is pushing hard into the whole home audio market. Traditionally that's been the domains of the likes of custom installers, and, more recently, Sonos. In the Alexa app or in its companion browser interface, you can select songs, stations, playlists from various...

Delaying HomePod to 2018 means Apple will lose buyers to Amazon and Google this holiday season. It could be a very costly decision.

Amazon. Google. Microsoft. Sonos. And a raft of other up-and-comers. All are making so-called smart speakers. But why? According to TechCrunch a new report out of Juniper Research might just have the answer. The market for smart speakers is exploding... and fast. By 2022, merely five years from now, it's expected...

This is an interesting development. Well, at least for smart home and home automation enthusiasts it might be. SmartThings (now owned by Samsung) today announced a USB stick called the SmartThings Link that works with the NVIDIA Shield streaming box to create a smart home hub. It costs only $39.99, though...

"This is a big one!" Lutron today at the CEDIA Expo 2017 announced a "completely redesigned" version of its app for its Caséta wireless smart home lighting system. Available now for iOS and Android, version 5.0 features a new look to the UI (get ready for lots of blue and white), room-based...

Amazon jumped into the voice-enabled digital assistant (aka smart speaker) market early, and now it appears to be reaping major dividends. A new report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) says that in the U.S., the Amazon Echo has an install base of 15 million units. That represents about 76%...

It's called Multi-Room Music and the new feature enables several Echo smart speakers to stream music in sync across the home.

Stark Insider's buying guide for smart home dimmer switches. If you're on the hunt for dimmer switches for your current or planned smart home, there's a beguiling selection -- a quick check on Amazon reveals hundreds of products. What to buy? You may be tempted to grab a $35 Leviton Decora...