News — SmartHome

The addition of a smart doorbell is an excellent way to boost your home's security. It's a small change with a large impact. Ring offers a wide selection of video doorbells that are affordable and easy to install. Naturally, Ring isn't the only company to offer smart doorbells, but the company's products are an excellent value for money. Here's what you need to know about Ring doorbells and how they work. What Is a Ring Doorbell? Ring's doorbell is a small rectangular device that has a camera, microphone, and motion sensors. It connects to your Wi-Fi and keeps track of...

I just went through this journey recently, where both my 20+ year old furnace and my 7 year old smart thermostat started to act up, and we had to go through a process to try to figure out which one it was. A new thermostat is a couple hundred dollars, but a new furnace is thousands. In this blog, I’m detailing the journey I just went on and some of the simple steps that you can take before you have to start taking drastic action. I’ll also take the time to talk about Smart Thermostats in general, and help you...

Douglas Gilman put a new designer kitchen in his Manhattan apartment last year with entertaining in mind. He placed the sleek marble-accented Dada kitchen, from Italy’s Molteni&C, at the center of the airy 2,800-square-foot home that he created from combining two adjacent units in a former West Village printing house. He figured it would give him easier access to his guests. But the arrival of Covid-19 restrictions has meant much more cooking, and next to no entertaining, and it’s his high-tech German appliances that have come to the rescue, including an induction cooktop that can sense where he places a...

CGMagazine Ring Video Doorbell (2020) Review Ring has been on the forefront of home security since 2015 when the first video doorbell launched. Now in 2020, the company, now owned by Amazon, unleashes a refresh of the base model video doorbell. Costing $124.99, this is a great starting point for any smart home setup, and has just enough features to keep even the most tech-minded people happy—even with Ring finding ways to upsell recording on such a competitive product. The 2020 Ring Video Doorbell  has all the major features you would want to see from a modern smart device, especially...

When I first started blogging about home automation 6 or 7 years ago, there was little to no connection between devices. My smart garage door opener was on one app. My thermostat was on another. My light switches had their own app, and so did my smart lock. All that’s changed, and many companies are playing much better together now. In those few years, the devices have become much more adaptable, and there are so many ways your home can be ‘smarter’ now. Let’s take a look at some examples. Starting with smart locks The smart lock—a gateway product for...