Must Have Tech - Part 1 - Turn your Home into a Smart One!

Technology as come along way from the all in one breakfast machines of the 60's, but today, smart homes are not as common as you think. Only a small percentage of home owners use a voice activated hub like the amazon echo.
If you have seen any Iron Man movie you will know that Tony's hose is a full on smart home. Or what about the Mcfly house in back to the future 2, or Nathans Hill side mansion/lab in Ex Mechina. They all depict houses that have a combination of voice command and phone command utilities/computers to do the work for them.
In essence, smart homes, used and done correctly can benefit our lives, and here is some tech you can buy today to start turning your home into a smart home.

1 – Samsung F8000 UHD Smart TV;- More than likely, you have lost the remote for the TV at some point in your life, always falling down the cushions, under the chair or left in another room. Well this TV will get your Smart Home started. Aside from being Ultra HD, full software upgrade ability for future proofing, powerful hardware comparable to high end laptops and full streaming and app services. It is also comes without a remote. (it does but you don't need it) you can power the TV on or off, change channel, watch catch up, Skype, Video call, surf the web, play games and more all by telling it what to do or by movement suggestion/using hand gestures.
At £1000 give or take, its a lot of TV for a good price.

2 – Vocca Light;- ever come home from a night out drinking or back off a holiday in the night, walked in your home, trip over and couldn't find the light switch? Vocca is a simple attachment for any light bulb, it is voice activated to turn on or off and has a mobile app to do the same and to schedule when the lights go out after you leave or to deter would be thieves.
£35 ish each, it could save you on bulbs and electricity. And they come with a life time guarantee.

3 – Samsung PowerBot VR7000 Vacuum;- Vacuum cleaners haven't really changed in the last century. Still bulky, most tied to a wall socket and involve a lot of manual labour to operate. But this new vacuum is fully autonomous, aside from you telling it what to do, it can be programmed to operate at a certain time of day. Completely wireless and when its full or battery is low, it will return to its docking station to recharge. All you have to do is empty it once in a while.
£690 seems a little steep but now your home will remain clean when you forget to pull the vacuum out.

4 - Cybertecture Mirror;- Mirror mirror on the wall which blog is the most awesome of them all? Well I can wish can't I. Yet this mirror could probably show you. It is like a smart phone for your wall. Its reflective mirror can display everything you want from messages, to weather, to social media to see if your channel is the best. Watch TV and change the channel with voice or hand commands.
This being the most pricey device on this list at a minimum of £3'200, but consider it is fully water proof life time guarantee and MASSIVE. Its cost could be justified.

5 – Homey;- This is designed to be a true smart home hub for not a lot of money. It can connect all the network enabled devices in your home. Take voice control over things like alarms, what music the alarm should play, turn off or on lights, control home smart meters and thermostats, open and close blinds/curtains. Turn on your smart coffee machine. Sends alerts to your mobile if someone is at your front door, activate your home alarm system, even update your social media statuses and so much more.
At a tad under £280, it is by far the best option to truly turn your home into a smart one.

There is much more available to turn your home into a smart one, but this list will definitely get you started.

Thanks for reading.

Stu @TechMojo

Image source – Samsung TV
Image source - Vocca Light
Image source – Samsung Vacuum
Image source - Cybertecture Mirror
Image source - Homey