Casa Jasmina: A Future Home?

This post was originally published at huffingtonpost.co.uk

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of being one of the first guests of the Arduino open source home project Casa Jasmina. The project describes itself as:

“a two-year pilot project in the business space of domestic electronic networking, or, “the Internet of Things in the Home.” Our goal is to integrate traditional Italian skills in furniture and interior design with emergent skills in Italian open-source electronics.”

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Author : Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino

Coldwell Banker Real Estate and CNET Survey Finds Americans Ready for the Smart Home

This post was originally published at prnewswire.com

MADISON, N.J., Aug. 11, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — The smart home is here to stay. A survey of U.S. adults by Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC, the original Silicon Valley real estate start-up founded in 1906, and CNET, the world’s largest and most trusted online source of consumer technology news and reviews, found that Americans are already embracing the smart home with 28 percent owning at least one smart home product and almost half of Millennials (ages 18 to 34) adopting the technology.

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Author : prnewswire.com

New smart home hub for Windows 10 arrives

This post was originally published at siliconangle.com

This week’s Smart Living roundup features the first Windows 10 smart home hub, why Quirky, Inc. CEO Ben Kaufman stepped down, and how an app update allows your Apple Watch to control your smart lock.

CastleOS announces first Windows 10 home automation hub

CastleOS Software, LLC announced that its upcoming smart home hub, called the CastleHUB, will be among the first Windows 10 smart home hubs (see all of Microsoft’s compatible home automation products here).

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Author : Mellisa Tolentino

Smart home technology is evolving quickly and dropping in cost

This post was originally published at inman.com

Enjoy the Connect experience from your computer, laptop or tablet! Watch Connect now. Takeaways: Ownership of a smart home system: How does access transfer at sale? Agents will be able to monitor buyers’ biological reactions to listings. Zero-interface systems: No-contact, behavioral sensors to control home access will emerge in next five years. SAN FRANCISCO — While we don’t yet have to worry about computer mainframes sending robotic assassins back in time, the machines are indeed advancing quickly.

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Author : Craig Rowe

August smart lock turns the Apple Watch into a set of house keys

This post was originally published at macworld.com

An Apple Watch can already control your connected light bulbs and thermostat, and now it can let you through the front door as well.

Smart door lock maker August has just added Apple Watch support to its iOS app. Users can view door unlock status through the Watch’s Glances menu, and receive notifications when someone opens the door. The app also lets users lock or unlock the door, and view a log of recent activity.

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Author : Jared Newman

Goodbye, QWERTY: Touchscreens Dominate Smart Home’s User Interface

This post was originally published at mouser.com

It wasn’t that long ago those “fear-factor” pundits were predicting that there would be an “epidemic” of carpal tunnel syndrome (yes, that was the word which was used!) due to our excessive, non-stop use of the venerable QWERTY keyboard. Oh, well, never mind: that hasn’t happened—and it’s not because there is less need for a human-machine interface (HMI).

Instead, there are alternatives, and the QWERTY keyboard’s role in consumer products is fading fast as other interfaces replace it.

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Author : Bill Schweber

The gates are open — the Edyn Garden Sensor hits online retailers

This post was originally published at cnet.com

Starting today, you can purchase the Edyn Garden Sensor online from Home Depot and Edyn’s site. Once it arrives, you place Edyn in the dirt near your plant. Then, the attractive sensor designed by Yves Behar’s Fuseproject studio can send you readings on soil nutrition, ambient light, and temperature over Wi-Fi so you can better care for your garden. You can buy it now for $100, and download the app for free to your iOS or Android device.

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Author : cnet.com

There’s actually a strong case for connecting everything in your home to the internet

This post was originally published at businessinsider.sg

Even with the biggest names of tech working on the so-called smart home, the odds aren’t in favor of smart devices taking over everything we do any time soon.

Companies like Google and Apple have made splashy announcements about their smart home plans, but 62% of potential consumers aren’t even aware such technology exists.

It’s one thing to get someone to buy a smartphone or smartwatch, but the benefits of a smart door lock, light bulb, or refrigerator are too vague to rally significant interest outside of geeks and hobbyists.

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Author : Steve Kovach

Data from your home could cut insurance costs

This post was originally published at bostonglobe.com

Insurance companies are tapping into the onboard computers of automobiles to monitor how customers drive and setting car insurance premiums based on that information. Now, they want to do the same thing in Internet-connected homes.

Boston-based Liberty Mutual and American Family Insurance Co. of Madison, Wis., last week began offering discounts in a handful of states to customers who install wireless smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and agree to share data from the devices with insurers.

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Author : Deirdre Fernandes

Smarter home: It’s an app world after all

This post was originally published at utsandiego.com

For home builders, it’s an app world after all.

From irrigation to air conditioning, lighting to TV, the smart home is increasingly tied to the Internet.

That was the message from many of the 332 exhibitors Wednesday at the Pacific Coast Builders Conference at the San Diego Convention Center.

A special section of the 100,000-square-foot exhibit hall was set aside for the first time as a “Smarter Home Showcase” where various products were available to see and touch.

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Author : Roger Showley