smarthome – Page 2 – Review Geek

Soon You’ll Be Able to Tweak “Hey Google” Sensitivity on Your Assistant Gadgets

If you’ve ever had a nasty surprise when your phone or smart speaker chimes up with a “hey Google” reply after you said “my friend Kay is frugal,” you know how distracting and annoying it is. Google knows it too, and they’re doing something about it, according to this official blog post.

Michael Crider 4 months

IKEA’s Smart Blinds are Online Now for $129 and Up

IKEA’s mix of practical designs and relatively low prices have made it a lot of fans, and said fans have adopted its introductory forays into smarthome tech with enthusiasm. The company’s latest tech product is a set of powered blinds, compatible with both IKEA’s own smarthome system and by extension, Google, Apple, and Amazon’s. It’s on sale starting today.

Michael Crider 4 months

How to Tell Which Generation of Philips Hue Bridge You Have

Philips just announced that it’s ending all support for first-generation Hue Bridges. And while that usually means no more patches and features, this goes a bit further—no more internet. You’ll still have local control of your lights, but if you want remote control, you’ll need to upgrade to generation two. How can you tell which version you have? It’s easy, just look at the shape. If it’s a circle, you’re in trouble.

Josh Hendrickson 5 months

Nexx Won’t Open Your Garage Door for You Anymore Unless You Agree It’s a Bad Idea

If you own a Nexx Smart Garage Door Controller and depend on its Just Drive Feature to automatically open your garage door, you may be in for a surprise today. That’s because the company turned the feature off for all users. The good news is, you can turn it back on (with some new agreements). The bad news? It just doesn’t work well. But you probably knew that.

Josh Hendrickson 6 months

Kwikset’s New Smart Lock Is All About Your Fingerprint

Kwikset

Josh Hendrickson 7 months

The 7 Best Alternatives to Ring Products

Ring, an Amazon-owned security company, has a reputation problem right now. Between blaming users for security problems Ring could prevent, and a less than transparent relationship with law enforcement, it’s hard to recommend anything from the company. Thankfully, you can find plenty of alternatives to Ring products, whether it’s cameras, lights, or security. Here are seven suggestions to consider.

Josh Hendrickson 8 months

The 5 Best Smart Home Hubs (That Aren’t Wink)

Every smart home needs a brain—a single unit that can tie all the smart devices together and provide a single source of control. Choosing a smart home hub can be difficult. Whatever you choose opens up some possibilities, and closes others. Knowing what kind of smart home features you need will help narrow down your choices. Here are five great options.

Josh Hendrickson 8 months

Ring Cameras Have a Security Problem, and It’s up to the Company to Fix It

Recently, several reports have described disturbing instances of bad actors taking controls of Ring security cameras and harassing the owners. Ring denies any security breach and blames the users for reusing passwords. While that may be true, Ring can and should do more to prevent this from happening.

Josh Hendrickson 8 months

Amazon, Apple, Google, and ZigBee Want to Join Forces in Your Smart Home

Choosing what smart home devices to buy can be a chore. You need to know what platforms a device supports like Alexa, Google Assistant, ZigBee, and more. Manufacturing them is equally complicated. Now Amazon, Apple, Google, and the ZigBee Alliance are promising a solution to the problem: work together! They’re forming a working group called Project Connected Home over IP to create one standard to bridge them all.

Josh Hendrickson 8 months

The Nexx Nxg-200 Smart Garage Controller Will Control Any Garage Door—with a Catch

I own a Chamberlain garage door opener, and sometimes that’s a pain. It’s not smart unless I add a Chamberlain Wi-Fi bridge. And the company requires extra subscriptions for basic features like Google Assistant control, which I don’t like. The door opener also uses proprietary communication signals preventing other smart products from working. Now there’s a workaround for that problem—the Nexx NXG-200 Smart Garage Controller.

Josh Hendrickson 8 months