Kicking off the second season of Mr. robots with a bang was a smart home gone haywire:the fsociety They collectively hacked into the house of Susan Jacobs, General Cousel at Evil Corp. They randomly activated the lights, alarms, AV systems, and even adjusted the temperature of the water to try to scald her, eventually driving her out of town while waiting for the will repair.
Ignoring the fact that it was so easy to hack the Samsung Smart Fridge that I just received. How about the rest of your smart home? Samsung's smart fridge has just been launched. How about the rest of your smart home? A vulnerability with Samsung's smart refrigerator was discovered by UK-based information company Pen Test Parters. Samsung's SSL encryption implementation does not check the validity of certificates. Read More
In all likelihood, the system was installed by a high-end home automation dealer, and is more like Crestron or Control4, both of which are in the “If you have to ask how much it is, you can't afford it” level. . These are out of the budget for all but the super elite, but the beauty of the modern smart home is that everything we saw in the episode can also be achieved with off-the-shelf hardware and a little legwork. So what do we have?
The sequence begins when Mrs. Jacobs comes home from a run to find her generic fitness tracking service “My Fitness” is offline, so she is unable to record her run. It's unclear whether or not this ties into the smart home system, but she can use a health tracker like Fitbit to trigger IFTTT actions and automate her home. Her home and her life It may surprise you to learn that Fitbit is one of the most convenient devices to use as her first step toward building what many people would consider a "smart home." Read More
When Susan walks into her house, the alarm goes off and she fumbles to turn it off manually, maybe because she was so used to having a geofence on her phone or the smartwatch automatically turns off the alarm when she got close to the house..
This is easily accomplished with a presence sensor and Samsung SmartThings, and I even showed you how to set up a DIY solution using a Raspberry Pi searching for a Bluetooth device. Making an Auto-Locking Office Door With a Smartphone Proximity Sensor Making an Auto-Locking Office Door With a Smartphone Proximity Sensor out of range, and we connect a relay to the action to lock the door. Read more.
Approximate cost:Free, with IFTTT and your existing smartphone.
Then the home theater kicks into high gear with an anti-capitalist news show, and she pulls out a tablet (deliberately disguised in an oversized white case to hide the branding) to disable the errant projector and screen.
Almost every current generation of smart home systems has a smartphone or tablet app, so this isn't anything unique. Apple's HomeKit is notably absent from this list, with a stock Home App promised for inclusion in the next major OS update this year.
You don't need to have a "Smart TV" just to integrate it into a smart home system:Harmony's line of remotes and all-in-one hubs can control a wide range of "dumb" AV devices via standard infrared codes, just like the original remote that came with them (see my review of Harmony Ultimate Logitech Harmony Ultimate Review and Giveaway Logitech Harmony Ultimate Review and Giveaway Your living room is a mess, admit it. wondering which remotes for which device. What with the TV, the amp, the TiVO, the BluRay player, maybe even the lighting - switching activities turn into a long... Read More).
You can buy just the hub, but you'll probably want the Elite model, which also comes with a physical touchscreen remote.
Logitech Harmony Elite Remote Control, Hub and App, Works with Alexa Logitech Harmony Elite Remote Control, Hub and App, Works with Alexa Buy Now On Amazon $248.65
Approximate cost:$350 for each entertainment room.
Once you've got Harmony set up, you can integrate it with DIY solutions like OpenHAB or Samsung SmartThings, and more!
Automated projection screens are a bit harder to find, and there don't seem to be any smart home solutions out of the box. However, if your motorized screen has an RF remote, my DIY guide How to Control OpenHAB Cheap RF Power Outlets How to Control OpenHAB Cheap RF Power Outlets Do you have some cheap RF based power outlets? but found that there are no smart home hubs with those? You can link them to your DIY smart home system with only about $10 worth of parts. Read More or for a more beginner-friendly solution, the Hook hub offers Amazon Alexa and IFTTT RF bridging capabilities for $50. This is a steal:
Homegear 110” HD Motorized 16:9 Projector Screen with Remote Homegear 110” HD Motorized 16:9 Projector Screen with Remote Buy Now on Amazon $149.99
Classical music blasts loud as Susan emerges from her covered pool. There are plenty of whole-home audio systems out there, but my personal favorite is Sonos (our review of Sonos Play:1 Sonos PLAY:1 Review and Giveaway. Sonos PLAY:1 Review and Giveaway Read More) - which sounds impressive and has a robust remote control system.
It's quietly hackable too, but in a good way:I previously showed you how to use a Raspberry Pi and Sonos speaker to play custom voice notifications How to send voice notifications to Sonos speakers How to send voice notifications to Sonos speakers Today, I'm going to show you how to set up voice notifications on your Sonos system, using IFTTT recipes, OpenHAB integrations, and more. Read more.
If you want to start a Sonos system, perhaps with a speaker in your office or home theater, I'd suggest the Play:5 model, which is the only one with a standard line-in jack for connecting your PC or audio device. existing . The other devices in range are currently for streaming only.
Sonos Play:5 - The ultimate wireless smart speaker for streaming music. Work with Alexa. (Black) Sonos Play:5 - The ultimate wireless smart speaker for music streaming. Work with Alexa. (Black) Buy Now On Amazon $496.99
If $500 for a single speaker seems a bit steep, or if you already have speakers everywhere and just want the ability to stream music to them, Chromecast Audio is a $35 device that plugs into a standard 3.5mm stereo jack. You can convert to multiple devices at the same time, and there have even been some custom integrations for OpenHAB.
Approximate cost:$35 to $500 per room.
Taking a shower after swimming, the temperature of the shower gradually increases, trying to scald her. This is (hopefully, depending on how you look at it) a bit of TV magic. Digital shower controllers do exist; check out Kohler DTV and Moen ioDigital, but nothing on the market is currently connected to the web.
After being scalded, Susan discovers that the house is abnormally cold:someone has hacked the thermostat and it refuses to heat up.
We're big fans of the Nest thermostat and HVAC controller here, but it's not your only option. Want to buy a smart thermostat? 5 nest alternatives looking to buy a smart thermostat? 5 Nest Alternatives When it comes to controlling the temperature in your home, the Nest Smart Thermostat is king, but there are plenty of options out there. Here are 5 to consider if you're looking to buy. Read more . If you choose a Nest, we've got lots of tips 13 things you didn't know you could do with a Nest thermostat 13 things you didn't know you could do with a Nest thermostat You might be surprised how many tricks you can do with your new Nest thermostat! Read more and tips 7 Nest Automation Tricks to Cut Your Heating Bill in Half 7 Nest Automation Tricks to Cut Your Heating Bill in Half If there was a Nest Thermostat in every home, it would have the biggest impact on energy use of history; And it could save you more money than you can imagine. That is how. Read more for you.
Approximate cost:$250 for a Nest Generation 3.
The Dashboard is the hub of this smart home, providing a polymorphic interface that controls all aspects of the home. It's clear that all of this feeds into a single hub (Susan doesn't need to open several different apps for each smart device), so what is on the market that can offer such a neat interface?
Samsung SmartThings is one such hub that connects to a multitude of devices, supporting its own brand of sensors, as well as hundreds of existing ZWave devices. In terms of a neat interface, SmartTiles is a customizable panel with a variety of styles to choose from.
For DIY solutions, Dashing.io offers similar functionality. You'll need to either implement it on Heroku or understand how to run Ruby applications on your localhost.
Specifically for OpenHAB, which is my DIY personal smart home controller Getting started with OpenHAB Home Automation on Raspberry Pi Getting started with OpenHAB Home Automation on Raspberry Pi OpenHAB is a mature, open source home automation platform that runs on a variety of hardware and protocol. agnostic, meaning it can connect to almost any home automation hardware on the market today. Read More We all agree it looks awesome, but even cooler is that they've set up the Nexus to run Tasker Tasker for Android - a mobile app to suit your every whim Tasker for Android - a mobile app to suit your every whim quirks When it comes to device automation, there's only one 900-pound gorilla in the Android space, and that's Tasker. It's true that Llama is an impressive free automation app, but it doesn't point to the full power of Tasker. Tasker… Read More
HomeSeer is another alternative. Is a Home Automation Home Automation Controller Right for You? Is a HomeSeer Home Automation Controller Right for You? You can get a smart home hub to control your smart devices, or you can get a HomeSeer or "HomeTroller" Smart Controller. Let's look at some of the advantages of doing so. Read More
Approximate cost:$250 - $600 for a central hub or software controller , Assuming you already have one or more tablets to use as a control panel.
The lights go on and off in this climatic scene, when the music starts again, the phone rings, the burglar alarm can't be turned off, and the TV just won't turn off. Oh dear.
Connected bulbs are probably the easiest smart home kit to get started with, and there are a wide variety of options, but we'd recommend sticking with the big brands like Philips Hue and LiFX. Its price is similar:about $60 per color bulb or half that for dimmable white only. LiFX operates over your existing Wi-Fi network, while Hue requires the use of a Zigbee hub (included in the starter pack) to create your own mesh network. Both are widely compatible with IFTTT, Samsung SmartThings, OpenHAB and other smart home systems.
Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance 2nd Generation Smart Light Bulb Starter Kit (Old Model 3 A19 Bulbs and 1 Hub Compatible with Apple Amazon Alexa HomeKit and Google Assistant) 1 Hub Compatible with Amazon Alexa Apple HomeKit and Google Assistant) Purchase now on Amazon
Approximate cost:$30-60 per bulb. , Depending on whether you want RGB color bulbs or just white.
After a phone call to tech support (probably intercepted by society), poor Susan is forced to leave and stay in her second home.
Is this her dream smart home? As you can see, it's all perfectly achievable without breaking the bank. Or do you already have something similar? Tell us about the devices you use in the comments!
