VISIT OUR SITES: THE AWESOMER | 95OCTANE

Cool Gadgets, Gizmos, Games and Geek Stuff on Technabob
Like Us on Facebook

Technabob is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Disclosure.

Tag: Home Automation

Ori Robotic Furniture Transforms Small Spaces

Ori Robotic Furniture Transforms Small Spaces
I watch a lot of those tiny house shows with my wife that seem to come on every day on HGTV and other home improvement networks. The idea of having less junk and working less to pay for things you don’t need is very appealing to me.

SmartRemote Contextual Remote Control for Smart Appliances: Faceshifter

SmartRemote Contextual Remote Control for Smart Appliances: Faceshifter
For better or for worse, our appliances are getting smarter. But like their simpler ancestors, they usually come with their own remote controls, be they physical controllers or apps. French startup Sevenhugs thinks it has the answer with SmartRemote, a touchscreen universal remote control for connected devices.

Microbot Push Robot for Pushing Buttons: For Semi-automated Homes

Microbot Push Robot for Pushing Buttons: For Semi-automated Homes
You know the old joke about how if someone ever invented a device that does everything at the push of a button, people would still ask for a device that would push the other device’s button for them?

Mycroft Open Source Personal Assistant: Maker Street

Mycroft Open Source Personal Assistant: Maker Street
Like 3D printers, electronic door locks and PCs on sticks, it seeems like everyone’s making personal assistant devices these days. One of the latest electronic PAs is Mycroft, and it stands out from the rest by having open source technology.

Knocki Gesture Remote Control: Clapper 2.0

Knocki Gesture Remote Control: Clapper 2.0
Last year, we checked out a light switch that let you toggle lights just by waving your hand. Knocki lets you do that and more but by knocking or tapping on a surface. Unlike the Clapper, Knocki doesn’t use microphones to detect knocks.

Beam Smart Projector Screws into Light Sockets: Bulbflix

Beam Smart Projector Screws into Light Sockets: Bulbflix
These days, there are projectors small enough that you can easily mount them wherever you want. But the Beam smart projector provides an even more convenient option, because it screws into and gets power from E26 and E27 light sockets.

Cubic: An Omnipresent Personal Assistant with Personality

Cubic: An Omnipresent Personal Assistant with Personality
If Cubic Robotics sales pitch is to be believed, we’re one big step closer to having a personal assistant on the level of J.A.R.V.I.S. in Iron Man and Samantha in Her. Its presenting its Android-based Cubic personal assistant as someone you’d want to talk to, whether you want it to do something or not.

Cloudwash Smart Washing Machine Prototype: Shut Up and Take My Laundry!

Cloudwash Smart Washing Machine Prototype: Shut Up and Take My Laundry!
Washing clothes shouldn’t be rocket science, but you’d be forgiven for thinking that when you look at the controls of modern washing machines. So when cloud services company Berg set out to create a prototype for an Internet-connected washing machine, they didn’t want to smarten it up just so it can tweet which socks you prefer.

bRight Switch Smart Switches and Outlets: Home 2.0

bRight Switch Smart Switches and Outlets: Home 2.0
Home automation technologies have been around for a while, but most systems require additional gadgets to be plugged into each outlet you want to add to the system, and are generally quite costly. bRight Switch wants to replace every switch and outlet in your home so it can truly become a smart home – all without breaking the bank.

SmartThings is About to Get Smarter With the Release of its Developer Toolkit

SmartThings is About to Get Smarter With the Release of its Developer Toolkit
Remember SmartThings, which was successfully funded on Kickstarter a few months ago? It was understandably a huge hit with backers who wanted to make their homes infinitely “smarter.” At the end of the campaign, $1.6 million had been raised and the first batch of kits had all been sold out.

Android App Turns Lamps on or off Just by Pointing Your Device at Them

Android App Turns Lamps on or off Just by Pointing Your Device at Them
Developer Mike Leslie is working on what he calls Project Rita, a device that “keeps track of all of the information that the user is personally interested in” and ultimately “present the user with the right information at the right time.”

SmartThings: Make Your Dumb Home Intelligent

SmartThings: Make Your Dumb Home Intelligent
I love the idea of an intelligent home, one that has a lot of functions that can be programmed and controlled from far away, but the overall cost of such automation has generally been pretty high.

Ubi Voice-activated Computer: Home-Based Siri

Ubi Voice-activated Computer: Home-Based Siri
One of the cool technologies from the Iron Man movies is the computerized take on the Avengers’ butler Jarvis. The Ubi computer can’t be sarcastic and exchange witty banter, but it might be the closest we can get to Tony Stark’s A.I.

Lennox icomfort Wi-Fi Thermostat Geeks up a Boring Air Conditioning System

Lennox icomfort Wi-Fi Thermostat Geeks up a Boring Air Conditioning System
Thermostats are usually boring little devices that are typically plain rectangles or circles with a manual slider that you use to choose the temperature you want your house to be. The problem for many people when it comes to saving electricity is that if you want to make the home warmer while you’re gone to cut down your air conditioning bill, you come home to a hot house.

Siri Used for Home Automation: She Can Speak to Appliances Too

Siri Used for Home Automation: She Can Speak to Appliances Too
Siri can trade jokes and witty banter with you and even serve you beer, but programmer Christopher Deutsch aka CDeutsch has come up with a more practical application for the virtual assistant. Using the help of a few store-bought gadgets and Siri’s other digital buddies, Christoper Deutsch (aka “CDeutsch”) was able to create a voice-controlled home automation system.

Kinect-omation Hack Controls Room Lights

Kinect-omation Hack Controls Room Lights
Kinect hacks are the big new thing for geeks with time on their hands. That’s all fine and good since many of the hacks we have seen lately are actually things that are interesting. A hack has surfaced today that takes the Kinect and turns it into a home automation controller.