If anyone can benefit from technology, it’s your mom. She’s a multitasking fiend who could use a hand or just some honest-to-goodness relaxation that many smart home technologies can offer. Something that’s simple to use and easy to appreciate are great solutions for the tech-geek mom. Here are a few of our favorite finds:
1. Blissful Backyard Speakers that Plant into the Ground
Origin Acoustics, maker of higher-end architectural and outdoor speakers, is rolling out a more affordable line of outdoor audio under the new AcoustaScape brand. AcoustaScape is “an efficient entry-level system designed to give medium-sized outdoor environments wide dispersion sound coverage,” says Origin CEO Jeremy Burkhardt.
Burkhardt explains that AcoustaScape’s “building-block approach” to outside music is “unique to Origin.”AcoustaScape is anchored by the 8-Ohm AS41 Hi-Fi Landscape Audio System, comprising four 4-inch enclosed satellite speakers and an 8-inch in-ground subwoofer that all blend into the landscape. The entire system supports up to eight speakers (AS4SAT extension speakers are sold in pairs) for coverage of up to 2,500 square feet. The AcoustaScape System (A41SYS), including four satellites and one subwoofer, sells for $1700. Each additional pair of satellites is $400, so an 8.1 system would retail for $2,500.
2. Smart Light Bulb Plays Music
The Sound Shine from Ion Audio is a product that combines a smart bulb with a wireless speaker. That means you can tweak lighting levels, but also rock out—all while using the same product.
Ion Audio has made Sound Shine LED light bulbs insanely easy to install. All you need to do is screw the bulb into any standard light socket. Then, connect your smartphone, tablet or computer to the bulb using the Sound Shine’s built-in Bluetooth support.
That wireless link will allow you to stream digital music you have stored on your portable, as well as streaming services such as Spotify and Pandora. You can even stream games and Netflix selections!
Sound Shine LED light bulbs retail for $69.99 each or $129.99 per pair.
3. Robotic Vacuum Squeezes into Tight Spots
The Ecovacs Robotics Deebot D35 makes even your dirtiest chores seem simple. That’s because the D35 robot vacuum can keep a lot of the floors in your house nice and clean, all at the touch of a button.
Forget the broom and dust pan; the D35 can suck up dirt, pet hair and other mess. It uses something called “Direct Suction vacuuming,” which means that the D35 doesn’t need a main agitator brush. That also means that you won’t have this giant wad of hair tangled around the brush—and keeping the floor from getting its cleanest.
Designed to get into those hard-to-reach spots, the D35 has dual sweeper side brushes to clean along the baseboards and room perimeters from either side of the robot. And because the D35 is only 2.25 inches high, it can slide under sofas, cupboards and other furniture, in order to clean all of the spots you’ve been neglecting.
Made for hard floors and short pile carpets, the D35 has sensors that can detect objects and even drop-offs, so it won’t fall down the stairs. It even has an on-board particulate filter, which can draw in airborne items, such as dirt, dust, pollen, dust mites, pet dander, mold spores, and much more. Also worth mentioning is that whenever the battery gets low, the D35 knows it’s time for a little power and automatically returns to its charging station.
Ecovacs Robotics is selling the Deebot D35 robot vacuum now, priced at $199.99.
4. Aromatic Alarm Clock Dispenses Good Smells
The Sensorwake can wake up your Mom—please let her sleep in on Mother’s Day—with a timed release of an aroma of her choice rather than a ringtone. She chooses her preferred scent by inserting a recyclable, 30-use capsule into the clock. When the alarm goes off, Sensorwake opens a hatch and gradually releases the fragrance. Some of the scents available include espresso, mown grass, chocolate, and freshly baked croissant. You can pre-order it from Sensorwake for $99.
5. Garden Sensor Guarantees a Green Thumb
The Edyn garden sensor is solar-powered and plants into the soil of your favorite plants. Once planted it and connected to a companion app, it monitors the environmental conditions of the garden, including light, humidity, temperature, soil nutrition, and moisture. It then sends to your Wi-Fi-connected smartphone tailored tips and notifications based on those conditions and the weather forecast. The Edyn helps discover which plants best match the makeup of your garden and climate, pulling from a database of over 5,000 varieties of plants. The probe sells for $99.97 at Home Depot.
6. Wireless Egg-Shaped Speakers are Pretty and Powerful
The EGG speaker from KEF allows you to choose how you want to listen to music. It features Bluetooth 4.0 aptX technology so you can stream music from a smartphone, tablet, or computer, but also has the option to play all sorts of high-resolution audio content (via USB).
Oh, it also has a compact, cool, egg-like design. Despite that small size, the EGG system has built-in amplification and a DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter), so no add-ons are needed. Just stream the music wirelessly from your favorite portable or connect the system to your TV or another music source.
The EGG features KEF’s Uni-Q driver array, a unique tangerine waveguide, Z-flex cone surround guides, and an aluminum midrange cone. These speakers also include a 96kHz/24-bit Mini USB input and a subwoofer output.
Available in black, white, and “frosted blue,” it’s priced at $499.99 per pair.
7. Smart Vanity Mirror Perfects Selfies
The $400 mirror from Simplehuman can be controlled via an app, which lets users adjust its integrated lighting LED lighting, as well as create a custom light mode based on a user’s selfie. Say you’re wondering what kind of makeup looks best at your office. You can snap a selfie at your desk, send it to the mirror, and the mirror will replicate the lighting so your eyeliner can be completely on point the next time you waltz into the office. And if you’re taking too long to doll up, an integrated alarm feature—which you set via the app—can flash the lights to warn you that it’s time to go.
8. Indoor Camera Enables Two-Way Talk
When Vivint Smart Home released itsDoorbell Camera last year, something quite unexpected happened. Matt Eyring, chief strategy and innovation officer at Vivint Smart Home explains, “Younger children, specifically those without cellphones, were ringing our doorbell to talk to their parents.” This observation led to the development of Vivint Ping—the first indoor camera that enables two-way talk with the ability to both call in and call out so families can easily connect and communicate.
“The idea behind the product is connection rather than surveillance,” says a Vivint spokesperson. For example, a child could ping a parent to ask for help finding soccer cleats before practice, or an elderly parent could press a button on the unit to talk to a family member or caregiver. The Ping can also send an alert to your smartphone when it detects that someone has walked into the room, and 45-days’-worth of video footage can be stored in and retrieved from the cloud via Vivint’s Smart Clips service. There may very well be more in store for the Ping, as well as other devices (thermostats, smart door locks, smart light switches, security system, and more) in Vivint’s product portfolio. The company announced that it is working with Amazon to connect its products with Amazon Echo, a technology that enables Vivint users to control devices via voice commands.
9. Doorbell Camera Follows the Rules
SkyBell’s HD door camera has IFTTT (“If This Then That”) support, which means that with the launch of SkyBell’s smart doorbell channel on IFTTT, users of the SkyBell HD can actually connect these doorbell home security cameras to other smart devices in the home.
Having IFTTT support allows users to create triggers and actions. For instance, you can create a rule that says if a button on the SkyBell HD is pressed, the system will react by recording 60 seconds of video. The newly announced IFTTT support will even tie these doorbell home security cameras into other smart systems around the house. More specifically, the SkyBell HD will work with the Amazon Echo, Nest Protect, Philips Hue, SmartThings, Scout Alarm, Life360, and more.
This new integration means that you can set the SkyBell HD to blink lights when someone triggers the motion sensor or maybe even ask the Amazon Echo’s Alexacloud-based voice service to turn the doorbell on quiet mode. There are so many possibilities!
The SkyBell HD connects to your home’s WiFi, so you can answer the front door from iOS devices almost anywhere. Other features include 1080p video, a 5x zoom, digital door chime options, a wide-angle camera, a motion sensor, and IFTTT (“If This Then That”) support.
The SkyBell HD sells for $199.
10. Wireless Lighting Controlled by Echo
Hello: This is the first word you soon might be commonly repeating to use Amazon Echo’s Alexa to activate and control your home’s lights as Lutron Electronics announces the integration of its affordably-priced Caséta Wireless system with Amazon Alexa using an Echo, Echo Dot, Amazon Tap, or Amazon Fire TV.
Lutron foresees the integration between Caséta Wireless and Alexa occurring primarily in areas where people spend the majority of their time, like the family room and kitchen.
The lighting control commands to which Alexa can respond are simple “turn on/off the lights” “dim the lights” or “brighten the lights,” according to Neil Orchowski, product development manager for strategic alliances at Lutron. The Echo does not support scene control but only individual lights or groups of lights. It also does not control the Caséta Wireless shades, only lights.
Setup of the system is simple: Go to the Alexa app and add a Lutron account. The app auto-discovers the lights. Lutron has packaged a $99 Caséta Wireless that includes a Pico remote, smart bridge and dimmer. The Caséta Wireless smart bridge must be connected to the home’s Wi-Fi router to work with Alexa.
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