Tag: smart home

TESTED: Ecobee4 Brings Amazon Echo Alexa Voice Assistant to Thermostat

Unless you’ve been living under a rock you’re already aware of the rising popularity of voice assistants in our daily lives.  Our smart phones provide this via “OK Google” or “Hey, Siri” for Apple.  Additionally, Amazon has been pushing their Echo devices with “Alexa” quite heavily.  Recently I upgraded my thermostat to a new device that adds the latter, baked right in.  Here are my testing results.

Continue reading TESTED: Ecobee4 Brings Amazon Echo Alexa Voice Assistant to Thermostat

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UPDATE: Wink Hub 2 upgrades my Smart Home, works with HomeKit (sort of!)

Wink, purveyor of smart home hardware, recently debuted their Wink Hub 2 device.  This blog entry digs deeper into the features and benefits of this new system.  I’ll also talk about how having a splintered system (in this case HomeKit, and Wink) can actually work just great, even with your Amazon Alexa voice assistant.  Let’s see how it all comes together!

Continue reading UPDATE: Wink Hub 2 upgrades my Smart Home, works with HomeKit (sort of!)

UPGRADE: Ring Video Doorbell PRO

Not along ago the makers of the Ring Video Doorbell released their PRO unit.  Now that I’ve had a few months to test this unit, and compare to the standard offering, I’m finally ready to give you a quick review on the UPGRADE you’ll get with the Ring Video Doorbell PRO.  To find out how it compares, keep reading.

Continue reading UPGRADE: Ring Video Doorbell PRO

QUICK LOOK: Anova Culinary’s Sous Vide Immersion Circulator

Precise temperature control.  Uniformed cooking throughout your food.  And not being chained to your clock as you cook.  These are just a few of the advantages of Sous Vide cooking.  In this blog post I take a quick look at the Anova Culinary Sous Vide Immersion Circulator, which blends high-tech gadgetry with a must-have kitchen accessory.  Check it out!

Continue reading QUICK LOOK: Anova Culinary’s Sous Vide Immersion Circulator

REVIEW: iRobot Roomba 980 Vacuum Cleaning Robot

Not since Rosie the maid/housekeeper on the Jetsons has there been a cleaning robot that excites me, until now.  Earlier this year iRobot released their latest Robot Vacuum, and though their devices are not quite as charismatic as Rosie the XB-500 model in the Jetson family’s possession, they are the closest we’ll get to living in Orbit City right now. Let’s boot up the iRobot Roomba 980 Vacuum Cleaning Robot, and explore!

Continue reading REVIEW: iRobot Roomba 980 Vacuum Cleaning Robot