Smart home automation What is a smart home? What is a smart home? We recently launched a Smart Home category on MakeUseOf, but what is a smart home? Read More has really caught fire in the last couple of years and manufacturers are jumping on the bandwagon while they still can. Smart thermostats, door locks, light bulbs and much more - you name it, it's probably being developed.
Here comes the smart home revolution. Worried it might be expensive? Smart homes are cheaper than you think How much does a smart home really cost? How much does a smart home really cost? A smart home could change your life, freeing up time in your day and regulating your routine so you don't have to remember what needs to be done. But how expensive is it, really? Read more . In fact, there are a lot of amazing products you can afford right now 6 Types of Home Automation You Can Really Afford 6 Types of Home Automation You Can Really Afford Are you ready to join the smart home revolution but worried you're beyond your budget? Smart homes aren't that expensive, and there are plenty of components the average homeowner can afford. Read more . Don't let the price stop you.
According to ABI Research, 1.5 million smart home systems were installed in 2012. In 2017, estimates predict that 8 million systems will be installed. How's that for a quick adoption? And the great thing about smart home automation is that the possibilities are endless.
But not all of those possibilities will be winners. There are a lot of products that sound great but just not feasible or have taken so long to develop that they are not interesting anymore . Here are a few that you probably shouldn't waste your time waiting for.
Just under a year ago, I recommended a few smart home appliances worth buying 5 smart home appliances you should buy 5 smart home appliances you should buy The concept of "smart home" is taking off and you should keep up, otherwise you'll end up losing the future. Read more and includes the SONTE Smart Shade as one of those products. While I stand by my other recommendations, I'm sorry to mention this one, simply because I jumped the gun.
On the surface, the SONTE Smart Shade sounds revolutionary. It's a shade that sits on your window and automatically adjusts between transparent and opaque, depending on the amount of light passing through. The goal is to block out excess light to regulate the temperature of your home.
So what is the problem? To begin with, the marketing of this product began in 2012. It has been shown every year at the Consumer Electronics Show and even had a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2013. But the product still not ready!
At this point, it seems that SONTE is not living up to expectations. Is it even real? How many competing products will come out before this one? After all, there are plenty of smart home products that save energy Save energy and money with these smart home devices Save energy and money with these smart home devices One of the biggest benefits of a smart home is energy saving technology of available energy. In addition to saving money, you'll also be pushing toward a more sustainable and convenient living situation. Read more already on the market.
I wouldn't wait on this one. Who knows how long it will be before they actually release anything to the public? Also, is a smart shadow necessary already? I'm leaning towards no.
CastleHUB , which is one of the newest contenders in the smart home arena, claims to be “The first voice control system for everyone.”. In short, it is a system that aims to support. all available smart home devices and protocols , Effective replacement for all other smart home hubs on the market Which smart home automation hub is best for you? Which Smart Hub for Home Automation is Best for You? For a while, people thought the idea was nothing more than a gimmick, but recent product launches have shown that smart home automation is starting to deliver on its promises. Read more.
It is a difficult task to do and many, like me, are skeptical about whether CastleHUB can really deliver what it promises to do. In fact, if you read the Kickstarter details, it's the same promises repeated over and over again in different ways.
The truth is that several big-name smart home hubs already support multiple protocols like Z-Wave, Zigbee, etc. For example, the SmartThings hub is already very mixed. As home automation matures, bridging this gap between protocols will become less and less of a concern, and that means CastleHUB will lose much of its value.
One of the other draws of CastleHUB is that it is voice controlled. But it's really necessary when the beefier Amazon Echo is moving towards intelligent voice control. How the Amazon Echo can make your home a smart home. How the Amazon Echo can make your home a smart home. An Amazon product called "Echo" can help bring it into the mainstream. Read more ? CastleHUB promises integration with Amazon Echo, but what happens when the other hubs also integrate? Why trust a middleman when you don't need to?
I'm not saying you should completely cancel CastleHUB, but don't rush into it. Wait and see if they can deliver. As it stands now, the odds are stacked against them.
Last year, we wrote about several Kickstarter Smart Start Campaigns 6 Kickstarter Smart Start Campaigns You Should Totally 6 Kickstarter Smart Start Campaigns You Should Be Back Next. home. Read More One in particular, the Kepler gas detector , It sounded promising at the time but has lost much of its uniqueness since then.
The Kepler is a “Smart Gas and Carbon Monoxide Detector.” with various smart functions such as monitoring, alarms and notifications. If a leak is detected, an alarm goes off and alerts arrive on your smartphone.
Their crowdfunding efforts were successful in August 2014, leading to the start of mass production in January 2015. Unfortunately, there hasn't been much news since then and the product is not yet available to the public. But here's the real question:is it worth the wait?
I honestly don't think so. The market already has the Nest Protect, which is a smoke and carbon monoxide detector that comes in battery and hardwired models, and Nest is a stronger smart home brand than Kepler's company Orvibo. I wouldn't expect too much for this one.
At first, the concept of the Roost Smart Battery It actually sounds pretty useful. Instead of buying a bunch of smart devices to replace what you already have, why not upgrade your current devices by inserting a smart battery? Running Roost, however, is where things unravel.
The biggest misconception is that it is marketed specifically as a battery for smoke detectors. Based on that, you would probably assume that only Works on smoke alarms. Not only that, you'll probably assume that it offers some nifty features that enhance the smoke alarm you already have. Neither of these is true.
Roost will alert your smartphone when your smoke alarm goes off, but the real selling point, at least according to the website, is that it will notify you when the battery is running low so you don't have to deal with the endless screeching of a dying smoke alarm.
Is that Really Enough concern to justify the purchase of a specialized battery? As someone who was lazy enough to suffer through three months of smoke alarm, even I don't think there's much value in the Roost. Worst of all, it's not yet available to buy. should you wait? Certainly not.
Like every market, the smart home automation market is full of products that are useful, useless, and anyway. Before you spend money pre-ordering something that sounds Great, you should consider if the product is really worth supporting.
That said, if you want to get involved with smart home automation, here are a few categories worth looking into:smart home security. Sound and safe:4 smart home security devices and safe:4 smart home security devices. smart home lighting Philips Hue alternatives that are really worth it Philips Hue alternatives that are really worth it The Philips Hue system is leading the charge when it comes to smart lighting, but there are some worthwhile alternatives out there. We have chosen three that offer the same basic feature set and hackability. Read More
Have you ever bought a smart device that wasn't worth it? Are you waiting for some smart product that is taking a long time to launch? Share your experiences with us in the comments!
