smart home – Page 2

The new Nest Temperature Sensor helps rid your home of hot and cold spots

My house is probably like most houses out there. There are some rooms that are hotter than I’d like and some that are colder than I’d like, no matter the season. Because of the location of the thermostat and the long shape of the condo, our bedrooms tend to be chilly in the winter and hot in the summer while our living and dining rooms are uncomfortably hot in the winter and cold in the summer. Because of the age of the building, the cement walls and ceilings, and the neighbors above and below us, there isn’t much we can do to remedy this situation by rerouting ductwork or moving the thermostat. The Nest Temperature Sensor will work with my Nest thermostat to help remedy that situation without having to install a new heating system.

The battery-powered sensors can be mounted in various locations in your house to send back information to the Nest thermostat about conditions in those locations. You can then use the app to tell the thermostats which locations need to be prioritized and when to make those rooms more comfortable. For example, we could prioritize the living and dining rooms in the early evening, so they’ll be comfortable while we have dinner and then watch some TV. Before bedtime, we could have the bedroom area prioritized for comfortable sleeping conditions.

The Temperature Sensors will work with the 3rd-generation Nest Learning Thermostat or the Nest Thermostat E. The thermostat and sensors communicate via Bluetooth LE; the sensors can be placed up to 50 feet away, though construction and interference can impact the range. You can pair up to six sensors with a thermostat, and you can have up to 3 thermostats with six sensors each in one house.

A single sensor is $39; a three-pack is $99. Pre-order now at the Nest website.

The post The new Nest Temperature Sensor helps rid your home of hot and cold spots appeared first on The Gadgeteer.

Filed in categories: News

Tagged: smart home

The new Nest Temperature Sensor helps rid your home of hot and cold spots originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 16, 2018 at 9:00 am.

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Sonoff S31 WiFi socket and Slampher RF bulb adapter review

Turning your home into a smart home is a whole lot easier if you add the home automation tech during the building phase instead of waiting years later to retrofit tech into an existing home. Although that’s great advice, it won’t help you if you want to get into the home automation game with an older home like mine. My home was built in the 1970’s and the smartest thing about it when I bought it was… ok there was nothing smart about my home when I bought it, but I’ve slowly been adding smart home gadgets over the years to raise its IQ.

Today I want to show you the Sonoff S31 WiFi Socket with Power Consumption Detection and the Slampher RF adapter. These devices provide an easy way to turn almost any plug-in device into a smart device and a light bulb adapter that turns dumb bulbs into smart ones that you can control with your smartphone. Let’s take a look.

What is it?

The Sonoff S31 is a WiFi enabled smart switch that you can control with your smartphone, Alexa enabled speakers, Google Home, and Google Assistant.

The Slampher RF adapter is a WiFi enabled adapter that will turn a regular light bulb into a smart light bulb that can be controlled by your phone, Alexa, Google Home, and Google Assistant.

What’s in the box?

Each of these adapters is sold separately and do not come with any special parts or accessories. The small keychain remote is also sold separately.

Design and features

Sonoff S31

The S31 is compact size 1 gang US standard wifi smart plug with energy monitoring that turns a “dumb” device into a “smart” device that can be controlled via WiFi with an iOS or Android device or voice assistant from Amazon and Google.

The adapter is made of white and black plastic with two status LEDs on the front.

On one side is a power button that you can use to manually toggle power to the outlet.

The Sonoff S31 WiFi Socket has a horizontal layout that keeps it from blocking the other outlet on a standard wall outlet.

I used the S31 adapter with an IR heater in my basement. With the S31’s socket powered on, the heater performed normally, but with the eWeLink app, I could control it in real time or with timers and schedules. The app also provides info on usage and power consumption. More on the app in a sec.

Sonoff Slampher RF

In addition to smart WiFi enabled socket adapters, Sonoff also sells adapters that will turn a regular light bulb into a smart light bulb that can be controlled by your mobile device. These adapters are bulky and might not fit in certain lamps because they add extra height to the bulb.

Sonoff even sells a wireless controller that can be used to toggle power to their N and W series RF switches and adapters like the Slampher RF. However, I was never able to get it to work because it didn’t come with any instructions and everything I tried (instructions with the Slampher RF light bulb adapter) did not work. The product page for the remote has quite a few comments from customers who also are unable to get it to work.

Let’s make our home smarter!

Setting up and configuring the Sonoff WiFi Socket and Slampher RF light bulb adapter is quick and easy using the eWeLink app for Android and iOS.

The app walks you through adding a new device and once added, it shows up on the main screen like you see above on the left. Power to the Slampher RF adapter can be toggled by tapping it on this screen. Controlling the S31 socket requires that you go into the detail view for that device and then tap the power toggle.

The detail view of the S31 shows a real-time reading of how much current and voltage it’s drawing if it’s powered on.

The app allows you to set a timer to record power consumption during a specific time frame. It also tracks historical usage whenever the switch is in use and keeps a log of the last 100 days with the ability to export it as a CSV file.

You can also customize the data by plugging in your electric company’s rates. Every power company is different and my company (Duke Energy) uses three different rates:

First 300 kWh $0.092945 per kWh
Next 700kWh $0.054178 per kWh
Over 1000 kWh $0.044464 per kWh

The eWeLink app can be used to schedule times when the switch will be powered on/off and info for overload protection.

One way you could use the schedule feature is for charging your phone during the night. Instead of having it trickle charging all night which can cause your battery to age prematurely, you can set the S31 to turn off after 3 hours.

If controlling your smart switches by your phone is too much trouble, you can also control them with your voice assistant. I set up the Sonoff switches with Alexa and it worked great. I could say “Alexa, turn off the heater” and bada boom bada bing, the switch would turn off.

What I like

Easy to use and install
Can track power consumption and cost

What needs to be improved

Slampher RF adapter didn’t want to work with CFL and LED light bulbs
Couldn’t get the wireless remote to work with the Slampher RF adapter
Slampher adapter is bulky and adds height to the bulb.

Final thoughts

Sonoff makes easy to use products that can help you turn your non-smart home into a better smarter version without a lot of hassle and expense. I liked the S31 WiFi socket quite a bit but wasn’t impressed with the Slampher RF adapter. I’d rather just buy an inexpensive WiFi enabled smart bulb.

Price:$18.90 for the S31 socket, $16.09 for the Slampher RF
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by ITEAD.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Home Automation, smart home

Sonoff S31 WiFi socket and Slampher RF bulb adapter review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 8, 2018 at 1:00 pm.

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Nucleus Wi-Fi intercom with Amazon Alexa review

I never get tired of trying out new smart-home devices. Whether they are security cameras, home automation devices, or smart assistants, I absolutely love playing with these new gadgets.

Imagine the joy I experienced when I heard about Nucleus, a tablet sized Wi-Fi intercom that can function as all of the above.

In the box

Nucleus
Wall mount
Power adapter
Power cord
Desktop stand
Adhesive cord clips
Anchors and screws
Level
Cable fasteners

Specifications

Dimensions – 8.08” x 6.85” x 0.95”
Screen size – 8 inches diagonally
Resolution – 1280 x 800
Wi-Fi – 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth Low Energy
Power – DC adapter or Power over Ethernet
Sensors – Temperature and Humidity
Stereo Speakers
Camera – 5 MP, 120 degree wide angle with night vision

Design

Nucleus looks somewhat like a square tablet with an over-sized camera at the top.

The front of the device has a 5 megapixel HD camera, a notification LED, stereo speakers, and a microphone.

The back of Nucleus is where you insert the desk or wall mount, and where the power port, mirco-USB port, and Ethernet port are located.

The top of the device contains the power button and a manual camera shutter for privacy.

There really isn’t much more to the design of Nucleus. It’s an uncomplicated design that should allow for ease of use.

Setup

Setting up Nucleus is very simple.

First, you have to choose whether to mount the device to a wall or place it on a desk/table.

If you’re going to mount it to a wall, it’s suggested you find a stud to mount it to. Wall mount installation is made simple by an included level and wall anchors.

Once you’ve mounted or placed Nucleus, you power it up and go through the setup wizard. You select your Wi-Fi network, create an account with Nucleus, and sign into your Amazon account.

After creating or signing into all relevant accounts, Nucleus will then ask you to name and take a picture of the room you’re placing the device in.

During the setup process, Nucleus will also check for updates and install any that are located.

After setting up the physical Nucleus device(s), you can also download the Nucleus app for Android or iOS.

The process for mobile setup is roughly the same as a standard setup.

You first enter a home code provided by the physical Nucleus device(s). You then select which permissions to grant the app. Finally, you take a photo to identify yourself to callers.

The Nucleus can also connect to Nucleus devices in other homes; unfortunately, I don’t know anyone else with a Nucleus so I was unable to test this feature.

As long as you know your Wi-Fi and Amazon account passwords, setup is very easy.

Home screen

Pictured below is the Nucleus home screen. This is where you will primarily interact with Nucleus.

From the home screen, you can access all your contacts, the settings menu, disable/enable Alexa, change your privacy settings, and broadcast.

You can choose from three different privacy settings:

Instant – all calls from a “Home” contact are automatically answered
Privacy – you can choose to accept or deny all calls
Do Not Disturb – no calls will come in

There are also several different settings to adjust.

Most of the settings are exactly what you’d expect; however, I was surprised to see there was a setting for the “Ring Video Doorbell”. The website doesn’t make any obvious mention of this feature and you’re not given the option to sign in during the setup wizard.

I own a Ring doorbell; this is a terrific feature that shouldn’t be buried in the settings.

Call Quality

Nucleus is capable of making several different types of calls:

Audio calls
Video calls
Check ins
Broadcasts

Audio and Video calls need no description.

To make an audio call press the phone button; to make a video call press the video camera button.

Depending on privacy settings, the location you are calling will have the option to decline or accept the call.

If the call is accepted, you will see live video from the Nucleus you called.

While in the call screen, you have the option to mute or end the call.

An audio call is roughly the same, with the obvious exception of live video footage.

A check in is basically baby monitor mode.

It allows you to see a live view from the Nucleus you’re connecting to; however, that Nucleus doesn’t receive any audio or video footage from you.

The Nucleus you’re checking in on notifies anyone in the room they are being watched and allows them to end the connection.

Broadcast mode is like a reverse check in mode. It allows you to send live video and audio footage to all of your available Nucleus devices, but you don’t receive any footage in return.

Making and receiving phone calls was extremely easy. It was something my kids picked up on immediately.

Video and audio quality were acceptable – not great, but good enough for video chat.

Alexa Integration

Perhaps one of Nucleus’s most intriguing features is its Alexa integration.

Like Amazon’s series of Echos, the Nucleus can be set to “always listen” and respond to the “Alexa” hotword. As far as I can tell, there are no limitations on the available Alexa functions.

While testing the Alexa integration, I did discover two issues.

First, the hotword recognition was too sensitive. Several times Alexa was activated even though no one actually said “Alexa”.

Second, when you do intend to use Alexa, the voice recognition doesn’t appear to be as good as an Echo’s voice recognition.

I can’t say for certain, but I’m guessing this is an issue with the Nucleus’s microphone; I assume the actual voice recognition is done via Amazon. If the microphone isn’t picking up high-quality audio, it may impair Amazon’s ability to recognize your voice.

Ring Integration

Another great feature is Ring’s integration with Nucleus.

Anytime someone rings your doorbell you get an alert on the Nucleus.

If you choose to answer the call, you get a pop-up window similar to what you see on the Ring phone app.

This is a really great feature and I’m not sure why Nucleus doesn’t bring it to the forefront.

Conclusion

I’m really thrilled I got to review Nucleus; it was incredibly easy to set up and use.

It’s a great Wi-FI intercom system with a variety of calling options.

Integration with Alexa is almost flawless. The hotword detection and voice recognition could use some work, but overall it works great.

Even though its integration with Ring isn’t as well advertised as its Alexa integration, it’s a wonderful feature.

As I said in the intro, Nucleus is several different smart devices wrapped in one; the best part, you can get all of this for only $99. That is almost half the price of an Echo and $130 less than the new Echo Show.

If you’re looking for a great Swiss Army gadget for your home, you won’t go wrong with Nucleus.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by Nucleus. Please visit their site for more information and check them on Amazon to order.

Product Information

Price:	$99.00
Manufacturer:	Nucleus
Retailer:	Amazon
Requirements:	Wi-Fi Amazon account to use Alexa
Pros:	Easy to use Easy to setup Good video quality
Cons:	"Alexa" hot-word detection too sensitive Voice recogniition not as good as Amazon Echo's Sound quality below average

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Alexa, smart home

Nucleus Wi-Fi intercom with Amazon Alexa review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 6, 2017 at 8:29 am.

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Deal: 20% off Samsung SmartThings ends today!

Samsung SmartThings is having a sale until the end of the day, Saturday, July 29. They are offering 20% off the entire inventory at their online store. Head over to https://shop.smartthings.com/sale to take advantage of this offer to enhance your home with ZigBee, Z-wave and Wi-fi automation. The sale items include the SmartThings Lighting Kit, SmartThings Home Monitoring Kit and the Convenience and Entertainment Starter Bundle, as well as individual sensors, lamps and controls available on their site. The kits include the SmartThnigs hub and a selection of sensors, lights and controls at bundle pricing and is a great way to break into home automation. The individual sensors include items by Samsung, Leviton, Sylvania, GE, Yale, and Aeotec.

Filed in categories: News

Tagged: deal, smart home

Deal: 20% off Samsung SmartThings ends today! originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 29, 2017 at 3:22 pm.

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Lenovo Smart Assistant releases this May with integrated Amazon Alexa

The Amazon Echo costs $179.99. Would you like the same functionality (and then some), but save $50? Of course! Introducing the Lenovo Smart Assistant, featuring Amazon Alexa. This will be released by Lenovo in May 2017, at a cost of $129.99. Don’t want a giant black tower in the middle of your room? The Lenovo Smart Assistant comes in Light Gray, Green, and Orange. It includes eight 360-degree far-field microphones with noise suppression and acoustic echo cancellation that can pick up speech from 16 feet away. The device has a 5 watt tweeter and a 10 watt woofer. Of course, you can use the Amazon Alexa app with the Lenovo device, and control the plethora of smart devices in your home with your voice.

The device gets smarter the more you use it, and is fully customizable just like the Echo, with access to Alexa’s Skills library. It works well with multiple users, too. I can see this becoming a great device for fans of Lenovo products. I’ve always liked Lenovo, because they make well-built machines. Their laptops are solid, amazing works of art. I haven’t had the pleasure of owning one of their desktop PC’s (I build my own custom PC’s), but their reputation on those is strong, too. They even have a Smart Storage unit with 6TB of storage, that can be used to store music, videos, and photos, and is designed with strong security at the forefront. But I digress. The Lenovo Smart Assistant also touts 2GB of internal DRAM, 8GB of storage, and an Intel Celeron N3060 Processor. I can’t wait to get my hands on one of these. Smart and IoT devices are expected to be a $1.7 TRILLION per year business by 2020, according to “Igniting Growth in Consumer Technology,” Accenture, 2016, and Lenovo aims to be at the forefront of that growth. Good things are coming, people! Hopefully, the security of those items will outpace the growth of them. But that’s another story.

The device also comes with the option of a special Infinity® edition for premium audio quality for music and home entertainment. The Infinity® consists of upgraded Harmon-Kardon speakers (specs unavailable for those, at this time). This upgrade prices out at $179.99, and will provide an extra 2″ sound cavity for a clearer tweeter and deeper bass. But, it’s only available in Black. *sigh* …back to the imposing tower of darkness.

Get ready for the release of the standard Lenovo Smart Assistant in May of this year, for $129.99. The upgraded version is expected to release in June, for $179.99.

You can find more information about this product at Lenovo.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV, News

Tagged: Amazon, smart home

Lenovo Smart Assistant releases this May with integrated Amazon Alexa originally appeared on on April 2, 2017 at 2:35 pm.

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