Category Archives for Smart Homes

I’ve been a Ring owner since late 2015, and I’m still a fan. Since then, the game has changed with new additions like Ring Pro, Stick Up Cam, Ring Beam, Floodlight Cam, Ring Elite, Ring Video Doorbell 2, Spotlight Cam, and Ring Alarm. And Ring is now owned by Amazon. (Ring Doorbell was gifted to […]

2016 was the year of the outdoor camera, with everyone from Nest to Canary to Ring to Oco announcing outdoor versions of their popular security cameras. Since then, things have continued to improve and evolve. For a long time, I used my indoor Nest Cam to film through my window. It was a makeshift outdoor […]

Konnected is a product that can convert your wired home security system to a self-monitored smart home security system. It was successfully launched on Kickstarter and is now available for purchase. Konnected’s Kickstarter success is not surprising as prior to launch the only way to “takeover” an existing wired alarm system was to set up […]

Kickstarter, like most crowdfunding sites, is teeming with product ideas. Some are clever, some are downright odd, and others, such as mui, lie somewhere in between clever and odd. What Is mui? mui is an internet-connected piece of wood. Odd, right? It’s “clever” in that it’s smart. If you run your finger across its surface, […]

Arlo is finally joining the ranks of Ring and Nest with the launch of a doorbell. But before you assume that it’s another video doorbell made by a camera company, let me make it clear that it’s not. In fact, it’s not a video doorbell at all, but an audio doorbell aptly named the Arlo […]

We all kind of knew it was only a matter of time before someone decided to shove a smart speaker into a Wi-Fi router, and I’m glad it’s Netgear that took the leap. Netgear’s Orbi is one of the best mesh router systems on the market, and with Orbi Voice, you can now fill your […]

If you are buying a home security camera, one of the top features you should consider is how it records. Some cameras record locally and some to the cloud. Some cameras record triggered events, and some cameras will record continuously. Today we’re going to focus on cameras that record continuously to the cloud. Cameras That […]

I’ve never been a fan of boring intros and this article is long enough. So let’s get right to it. We’re going to compare smart thermostats. Nest offers the Nest Learning Thermostat now on its 3rd iteration and the Nest Thermostat E. Honeywell offers the Lyric Round, T5, and T6 Pro. ecobee offers the ecobee3, […]

Home automation is a hot topic and Canary, Nest Cam, Nest Cam IQ, and Angee are five of the hottest products that fall somewhere between automation and self-monitored home security. Notice, I left Piper off of the list. When I originally wrote this article in 2014, Piper was strong. They lost momentum post acquisition in […]

You might have to throw away your router, smart home hub, and entertainment center pretty soon because a new device is getting ready to take over. Meet the Arc Home Management System by Matricom, the all-in-one smart home device that aims to make your smart home simpler. What’s the Arc Home Management System? The Arc […]