HomeTechTell

Home Automation with Crestron

Thomas Perkins — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 16:00:27 +0000

It seems as though Crestron wants to rule the Home Automation market. They are constantly coming out with new features and products to fully automate your home life. They want you to have “A Simpler Life At Every Time of Day” as they put it. This is not a paid advertisement, just a post about how I think they are making some cool strides in automation. With their full tool-set, you can control almost every aspect of your home with their integrated platform – from lights, to security, music and more.

You can have the perfect morning every morning when you…

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Amazon Echo soon to rule the home

Thomas Perkins — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 00:59:46 +0000

Amazon Echo For anyone who is not familiar with the Echo, it is the modern day assistant that is starting to outshine Siri, Cortana and all other electronic assistants and voice controlled smart boxes. Echo is fast becoming the “go to” voice assistant in the marketplace. There are still some issues with which device or more »

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Smart Home, let’s start in the kitchen with the Smart Fridge

Thomas Perkins — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 10:34:28 +0000

When we think of Smart Homes and appliances, the refrigerator is probably the first thing that should jump right out at us. It is the first thing we go to to satisfy our thirst and hunger. Instead of getting up and going to look in the fridge to see what ya got, just pull out your ‘ol smart phone on the couch and take a look.

What, you say? Use your phone? Yes, unless you are living under a rock somewhere, you wouldn’t know that the Smart Fridge has the ability to view…

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Rekindle couch & TV romances with Logitech’s latest K400 Plus keyboard

Stanley Goodner — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 13:24:02 +0000

Tablets make for some fantastic entertainment consumption devices with few limits for location. You can almost think of it as instant gratification, if you consider the widespread internet connectivity and plethora of media streaming sources available. But despite the fun and convenience, tablets can’t give you full immersion.

Maybe you have to hold it. Maybe the battery is running low. Maybe the screen isn’t bright enough, or…

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TechnologyTell Review: Voombox Ongo Portable Speaker

Steve Anderson — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 19:44:11 +0000

Voombox Ongo

Voombox has offered up plenty of interesting entries in the speaker category, and one more has come our way. Our friends at Voombox sent out a Voombox Ongo for us to review, and this little dynamo will pack quite a bit of performance in an unusually small package.

Design

The Voombox Ongo is designed to be a speaker on the go, as evidenced by the fact that it runs from a battery, and comes with a small clip that screws into the base of the unit. The clip can then be attached to a bicycle, and taken on the road from there. An included USB cable allows the device to be readily charged from a variety of sources, and a 3.5 mm jack with accompanying cable means that the speaker can be used with most anything…

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TechnologyTell Review: 808 NRGGLO Speaker

Steve Anderson — Tue, 23 Jun 2015 14:44:52 +0000

808 NRGGLO Speaker

There’s something to be said for being able to take a party where ever you go–particularly with summer coming on in earnest–and parties tend to need certain basic things. Music is one of these. A killer light show, meanwhile, is less useful but still welcome. 808 sent out an NRGGLO speaker for us to review, and though it’s a simple device, it will have a surprisingly large number of use cases to throw in.

Design

The 808 NRGGLO speaker possesses roughly the same dimensions as a can of Red Bull, with a speaker grate on top, and directly beneath that, a ring of blue lights. Near the bottom of the speaker is a power button–which also serves as a button to engage the Bluetooth…

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How comfortable would you be using a fingerprint-only smart lock?

Stanley Goodner — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 14:06:58 +0000

Anyone who has spent some time learning the skill of picking locks understands that a home’s locked doors are merely an illusion of security. Sufficient skills and/or the right tools is all it takes to gain entry through tumblers, sometimes in just mere minutes. I know I’ve been able to pick both locks on my front door in under 60 seconds.

Home security takes up a sizeable slice of the ‘smarthome pie’ with its array of sensors, motion detectors, monitoring cameras, and alarms. For the most part, these devices are…

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TechnologyTell Review: ARCHT One Wireless Audio System

Stanley Goodner — Fri, 05 Jun 2015 19:51:46 +0000

The ARCHT One speaker was a huge hit on Kickstarter, and they drew more attention at CES 2015 earlier this year. Units are shipping out to eager campaign backers, and the company has made this speaker openly available to order. Curious about this unique tower of sound and if it’s the right fit for you? Read on!

Design & Connectivity

Not much comes in the box with the ARCHT One wireless audio system. It’s just the speaker, a cloth bag, a power cable, and a booklet. There’s no included audio cable, so you’ll have to dig up one of your own if you’re interesting in connecting through that.

The ARCHT One looks like munition that could be dropped from an aircraft, stylized with a saucer up toward the top. Despite having lightweight plastic for an exterior, the ARCHT One has some heft to it. You can certainly feel the heavy speaker goodness on the inside. The tip of the speaker houses the full-range driver that fires down toward the touch-capacitive disc. And then the subwoofer is right underneath, firing up toward the bottom of that same disc. Rounding it all out is the passive bass radiator at the very bottom of the speaker, also firing down. The sizes for each of these parts are pretty respectable.

The shape is kind of nice, though the finish too shiny for my tastes.

Now that I’ve had the chance to sit and stare at the ARCHT One, I’m rather disappointed in the choice of glossy plastic for the body. This is a $600 speaker that looks half its worth all because of the way gloss successfully cheapens appearances. Don’t get me wrong – I completely understand that the bulk of the purchase cost goes toward the hardware and electronics.

But I think it’s a fair poke to the ribs, considering how the company touts the ARCHT One as “a premium audio system that revolutionizes how sound is seen and heard.” That’s quoted directly from the home page on their website. And it’s not like I’m demanding wood, leather, and brushed aluminum, although those are some pretty fine (premium) materials to use for potential future models (hint hint). But a satin finish would have gone further for appearances.

But points are given to ARCHT Audio for choosing thick, rubber feet to elevate the speaker provide it a stable base. You’ll have to deliver a serious elbow to the ARCHT One in order to topple it over. Keep it out of reach from kids; mine are curious and want to stick their fingers in the openings to touch the “guts”, which is just one ‘oops’ away from tipping a speaker over

Although the ARCHT One appears symmetrical, there is indeed a ‘front’ and ‘rear’. The ports and buttons are at the rear, as is the input select marking on the touch disc. LED indicators showing the current input are in front, at the bottom. The play/pause marking on the touch disc also faces front. If you’ve used practically any modern audio or mobile device, all of these buttons and ports should be self-explanatory. The rear buttons activate WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity (only when currently selected), and the ports are for input power (cable), USB to charge out (also audio for iOS devices), and auxiliary for a cabled audio connection. That’s four – FOUR! – ways to connect and play audio, which is very cool and useful.

Bottom rear packs buttons, ports.

I’m on the fence about how the touch-sensitive disc manages volume, track, and input control. I like the actual disc and the way it works to flow audio out. But it’s the touch-sensitive bit that loses me. You have to press each marking dead on to activate that ‘button’ (and doing it correctly also rewards with a beep). This is fantastic when there is ample light. Not so much in the dark or low-light conditions. And there’s nothing you can feel for either, no markings, and definitely nothing for blind people.

If the ARCHT One happens to lose power (e.g. accidentally unplugged, power outage, etc), you need to wait almost a minute for the touch controls to be responsive. Not a big deal for anyone connecting to this speaker via WiFi. It’s unclear if the whole speaker needs to initialize, or just the touch-sensitive disc. Either way, you’ll have to wait for Bluetooth or auxiliary connectivity, especially since the ARCHT One…

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Free software upgrades Harmony products with smart home control

Stanley Goodner — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 17:50:31 +0000

Free? Upgrade? You heard correctly, but only Logitech Harmony owners will gain this benefit. The company has just announced that a few of its most popular hub-compatible products are getting a boost with smart home control capabilities.

It’s a smart move that will surely benefit consumers as well as Logitech. With the vast and growing number of…

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Smart home no longer a choice between ultra-expensive and cheap DIY (Post sponsored by URC)

Joe Paone — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 13:12:42 +0000

Great news: It’s more affordable than ever to automate your home, while taking all the guesswork and annoyance out of setting it up.

It wasn’t always this way. For most of its existence, home automation has been the domain of both the ultra-wealthy and the DIY enthusiast. The ultra-wealthy regularly have, for decades, paid five figures or more to have professionals program and install automation systems in their upscale homes. For those with that kind of disposable income, the professional custom integrator has and will continue to be like a personal technology concierge. But the cost of entry to access such life-changing services had been too high for the average person.

Meanwhile, many people joining the less expensive DIY class could use a professional’s assistance to get the most out of their cobbled-together systems. DIY home automation products have a spotty record at best. And emerging home automation services from service providers like Comcast and others lack the functionality or performance you’d like to see out of a true home automation system.

But now you can get a professionally installed “DIFM” (Do it For Me) home automation system for under $999. It’s an exciting trend in the home automation space: professionally installed systems from brands that have been working at automation…

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