Smart Home

oops June 3, 2019

Some People Couldn’t Turn on Their A/C When Google Went Down over the WeekendGoogle Cloud outages across the world over the weekend meant some users couldn’t unlock their doors or turn on their air conditioners.

By Madison Malone Kircher

google Feb. 20, 2019

Google Sorry It Forgot to Mention Nest Security Systems Have Secret MicrophonesTurns out that piece of tech you bought under the guise of self-protection actually has the capability to spy on you.

By Madison Malone Kircher

q&a Feb. 12, 2019

How Four Ex-Amazoners Made a Crazy-Good Wireless Cam for $20One of the co-founders of Wyze Labs tells us how they made a camera that performs just as well as products ten times the price.

By Jake Swearingen

tech boot camp Oct. 19, 2018

How to Not Trap Your Partner in a Smart-Home Techno-Prison HellSmart homes are great. Unless your partner hates them.

By Max Read

tech boot camp Oct. 15, 2018

5 Smart-Home Products That Make Controlling Your House a SnapWhy crawl out from under the sheets on a cold winter morning when you can just ask your Alexa-paired unit to turn up the heat?

By Steven John

select all Aug. 31, 2018

This Smart Summer Cottage Has No Running WaterIn some ways, the spirit of hacking together a homemade IoT setup is remarkably similar to the spirit of surviving in the woods.

By Molly Schwartz

select all Aug. 20, 2018

The Fight to Secure Vulnerable Medical Devices From Hackers“The big problem is that hospitals don’t buy new devices, and they keep using really dangerous ones ad infinitum — until they just stop working.”

By Lindsay Gellman

select all Aug. 13, 2018

Inside the Decades-Long Fight to Protect Your Children’s Data From AdvertisersWhat’s stopping internet companies from using everything they can to target kids? Surprisingly little.

By Joseph Bien-Kahn

select all Aug. 10, 2018

Google Can’t Understand Me Unless I Speak Spanish in an American AccentJust as train conductors are taught to pronounce local destinations, voice assistants have a responsibility to understand a variety of accents.

By Ximena N. Larkin

select all Aug. 10, 2018

How Smart Lights Can Help You Sleep Better and Wake Up EasierMy smart lights got me to stop snoozing, helped my toddler stay asleep, and made my home feel safer.

By Amanda Derrick

select all Aug. 10, 2018

The Case for Setting Your GPS to Your Own VoiceIn their ability to predict and react to our needs, voice assistants are fundamentally extensions of ourselves. Should they also sound like us?

By Sarah Nechamkin

select all Aug. 9, 2018

My Smart TV Made Entertainment a ChoreOur smart TV seemed to amplify a sense of urgency. The simple, daily question, “What should we watch?” suddenly had stakes.

By Lauren Michele Jackson

select all Aug. 8, 2018

Smart-Home Robots Are Using Their Cuteness to Spy on You BetterIf self-driving cars need a good sense of physics, social robots need the tools of a confidence artist.

By Marc DaCosta

select all Aug. 2, 2018

Should You Spy on Your House With a Smart-Home Camera?We never thought we would need a camera in our home — our cat would be fine without us — but found the Yi Dome to be surprisingly comforting.

By Jamie Burke

select all July 31, 2018

Smart Homes Will Pollute the World, and Then We’ll DieAll the gadgets I love are falling apart and going to waste. And there’s no way to fix them.

By Rick Paulas

select all July 27, 2018

Review: Netflix’s Tau Is Not a Good Movie, But It Takes Place in a Nice HouseThere are a few moments when the horror gives way to almost hominess — when it’s a little less Saw and a little more Better Homes and Gardens.

By Luke Burns

select all July 20, 2018

Can Tech Help You Sleep Better?Plug in, drift off. The world of hyperconnected sleep monitors claims to make you snooze smarter. But most of the solutions don’t address the problem.

By Lauren L'Amie

select all July 18, 2018

The Messy Future of Connected BathroomsDo we really want tech everywhere with us? Even when we’re nude? Even when we’re taking a poo?

By Lexi Pandell

select all July 17, 2018

The Complete, No-Nonsense Guide to Smart LightingI just wanted to control the lights with my voice. Why is that so hard?

By Jake Swearingen

select all July 17, 2018

The Case for Buying a Doggy Spy Cam (If You Really Need One)The Amazon Cloud Cam is not strictly geared toward dog-based spying. It is just one of the many cute new options in home surveillance.

By Kelly Conaboy

select all July 16, 2018

This 60-inch 4K Ultra HD Smart TV Is the Best Prime Day DealPrime customers will save more than $500. You won’t find a better deal on a better TV.

By Graham Starr

select all July 16, 2018

I’m Buying This $9 Speaker Because I Know It’ll Get Wrecked at the BeachIt’s on sale for more than half off today.

By Madison Malone Kircher

select all July 16, 2018

A Simple Guide to Navigating Prime Day Smart-Home SalesA whole bunch of Echo models are on sale today.

By Madison Malone Kircher

select all July 16, 2018

Everything You Need to Build a Budget-Friendly Smart HomeAutomating your home can cost thousands of dollars. These budget picks can help you build one that’s “good enough.”

By Scott Bay

select all June 19, 2018

Amazon’s Alexa Is Your Next Hotel ConciergeFinally, you can get extra toilet paper by just screaming at your hotel room.

By Mack DeGeurin

select all May 21, 2018

How Smart Homes Make Living With ALS EasierTechnology has helped Josh Gentry maintain a level of independence that’s unusual for people who have lived with ALS as long as he has.

By Kaveh Waddell

select all May 14, 2018

I Tried to Build My Own DJ Roomba and It Nearly Broke MeParks and Rec fans be warned: Tom Haverford made it look easy.

By Devon Ivie

select all May 11, 2018

‘Our House Is Having a Nervous Breakdown!’: A Survey of Smart Homes in FilmIt can be thought-provoking and enlightening to examine how that technology is portrayed in works of fiction. It can also be silly and weird.

By Luke Burns

select all May 11, 2018

Should You Get a Robot Vacuum?A guide to Roombas and the not-quite cleaning revolution.

By Allie Volpe

select all May 10, 2018

What Does Smart-Home Tech Look Like in New York City?Trying to figure out what smart-home tech looks like in a very expensive, very weird housing market.

By Jake Swearingen

select all May 10, 2018

Making My Baby a Smart Baby Was a MistakeWearable smart baby sensors promise parents peace of mind, but for the cost and functionality they deliver, parents should feel more like preyed upon.

By Jake Swearingen

select all May 9, 2018

Meet the Home-Automation ObsessivesMost people have fewer than 15 devices in their homes. These people have hundreds.

By Andrew Zaleski

select all May 9, 2018

Does Alexa Know I’m Gay?Why does Amazon keep suggesting I buy gardening products and granola?

By Nicole Boyce

select all May 8, 2018

Google Assistant Is Going to Help You Never Talk to Anyone Ever AgainThe new Duplex AI can process complex speech patterns and make phone calls for users, the company says.

By Graham Starr

select all May 8, 2018

John Legend Will Now Voice Google AssistantImagine asking your Google Home to sing you “Happy Birthday” and having John Legend croon it back to you.

By Madison Malone Kircher

select all May 4, 2018

3 Smart-Home Obsessives Talk About Their Unbelievably Teched-Out Homes“Most people are just trying to turn on kitchen lights from their iPad. Yawn.”

By Kaveh Waddell

select all May 4, 2018

How Should We Talk to Alexa Around Our Kid?Two new parents try to figure out whether it’s okay to yell at Alexa in front of their child.

By Jake Swearingen

select all May 1, 2018

Amazon Now Offering Home Security Starter PacksFor less than $1,000, Amazon will set up a security system for you.

By Jake Swearingen

select all Apr. 30, 2018

I Had to Teach My Alexa That Eggplants Were FruitEgg-plant, egg-plahnt. Let’s call the whole thing off.

By Renée Reizman

select all Apr. 27, 2018

Are Smart-Home Products Actually a Good Investment?A veteran real-estate agent explains whether smart-home tech can boost your home’s value.

By Jake Swearingen

select all Apr. 26, 2018

I Was a Human SiriWho are virtual assistants for, and how do we relate to them?

By Emily Lever

select all Apr. 25, 2018

Amazon Debuts Echo Dot Kids Edition and Parental ControlsYour favorite always-on recording device just got an update meant for your children.

By Jake Swearingen

select all Apr. 24, 2018

Amazon Will Deliver Packages to Trunk of Your CarJeff Bezos wants to put it in your trunk.

By Jake Swearingen

select all Apr. 23, 2018

Tech Companies Want to Get in on the Ground Floor of Smart-Home ConstructionWhy sell someone a smart speaker when you can get them to buy a house with your smart speakers embedded in the walls?

By Jake Swearingen

select all Apr. 23, 2018

Report: Amazon Is Making a Robot to Follow You Around the HouseAlexa … with wheels.

By Brian Feldman

select all Apr. 20, 2018

How Does Siri Actually Know What I’m Saying?A simple guide to how voice assistants process speech, and how they know you’re talking to them.

By Joseph Frankel

select all Apr. 20, 2018

Gimlet’s New Show Is About the Human Side of AIKristen Wiig and Alia Shawkat star in a new fiction podcast that explores the humor and terror of voice assistants.

By Charley Locke

select all Apr. 18, 2018

Should You Hire a Pro to Smarten Your Home?Please don’t electrocute yourself. It’s so much easier than you’re making it. There are people trained to do these things.

By Jake Swearingen

select all Apr. 17, 2018

Why Do My Exes Hate My Echo So Much?All of my exes hated how I talked to my Echo Dot. An investigation into why.

By Madison Malone Kircher

select all Apr. 17, 2018

A Paranoid Guide to Smart-Speaker PrivacyThe demon boxes cater to your every need! How much should you trust them?

By Kaveh Waddell

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