The race to the bottom in voice control smart speakers has officially begun. Alibaba, the Chinese version of Amazon, has unveiled its $73 Tianmao JinglingX1, or Alibaba Tmall Genie X1 for short. The device is only available in China for now and only speaks in Mandarin. According to CNBC, two other giant Asian firms have […]
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It’s become increasingly easy to find smart home products. Smart light switches, thermostats, complete automation systems, music systems like Sonos, and more are available at your local home improvement store, on line at places like Amazon.com, and at the showrooms of professional home systems integrators. This ease of acquisition, unfortunately, often breeds confusion. What brands […]
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Although some pundits might say Apple is late to the game in terms of home audio, the company debuted with much fanfare its new HomePod speaker featuring Siri voice control. The $349 speaker was the final product unveiled during the company’s World Wide Developers Conference. “We have such a great portable music experience, but what […]
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Where’s the speaker? That might be the question you might ask yourself when you see a new Sony TV that seems to require no speakers to produce audio. The new super-slim A1E Bravia OLED 4K TV features Acoustic Surface Technology in which the sound emanates directly from the entire screen itself rather than from traditional […]
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Target has put a bullseye on the Internet of Things (IoT), and it’s good news for consumers interested in adding technology to their homes. The giant retailer has just completed a major overhaul of its Target Open House store in San Francisco, which first opened in July 2015. For the past seven weeks, the store […]
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Count Bang & Olufsen as the latest company chasing Sonos in the wireless multiroom audio space. Via its B&O Play division established in 2012, the Danish company unveiled its $599 Beoplay M5 wireless standalone speakers with multiroom music playing capability. The speakers, which were unveiled at CES 2017, are designed by award-winning Danish industrial designer […]
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At CES 2017, Alarm.com (Nasdaq:ALRM) has announced plans to develop autonomous, video-enabled drone applications to extend the capabilities of smart home and business security systems. The drones will use Alarm.com’s new multi-sensor awareness and property intelligence, dubbed Insights Engine, together with the Qualcomm Snapdragon Flight drone platform, to investigate unexpected activity. The drones will be […]
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About a year ago, TiVo, which has become the premiere, paramount brand associated with “the recording of content,” introduced its Unified Entertainment System, the TiVo BOLT. The 4K-compatible device combines the latest TiVo technologies, along with a unique industrial design to give homeowners a state-of-the-art solution that forms the foundation of a whole-home entertainment system. […]
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Parents will no longer have to watch over their child’s shoulder while they practice their piano playing now that Yamaha Disklavier Enspire piano has been connected the company’s MusicCast wireless multiroom audio system. Yamaha is calling it “the world’s first multiroom musical instrument.” For the first time in its 316-year history, the venerable acoustic piano […]
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Chances are, there are some valuables in your home that you’d like to protect–original paintings done by Renaissance masters to multi-million dollar statues to special family heirloom vases or urns with ashes of your loved ones. But once thieves get into a home, what can you do to keep them from these valued items? Conventional […]
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