Smart Home Archives - The Canadian

14Jan

By thecanadianNo Comments

Hue, News, Philips Hue, signify, Smart Home, Smart Lights

New Philips Hue device turns dumb light switches into smart switches

Signify showcased some new Philips Hue smart products at CES 2021, including a new device that can turn dumb switches into smart ones. This little device is called a Hue Module and it should be placed on the wall behind the existing light switch. Philips hasn't shared much information on how this works, but once you hook it up behind your switch, you can control your lights regardless of whether the switch is on or off.Coming soon: the wall switch module! Make any light switch smart by installing this little gadget behind the wall plate. Your smart lights remain accessible and you can use the light switch to set your favorite light scenes. Europe: Spring 2021 North America: Summer 2021 pic.twitter.com/197GqSye4c - Philips Hue...

13Jan

By thecanadianNo Comments

Google, Google Home, nest, News, Smart Home

Google fully implements ‘Guest Mode’ on all Nest home devices

Google's privacy-focused 'guest mode' is finally available for all of your Assistant-enabled devices. This function is a simplified version of the wizard without custom results. That means you can ask him questions, but he won't know who you are. So you can still set timers and ask about the weather, but you can't get a calendar or commute data. Google says that you can just say, "Ok Google, turn on guest mode," and your interactions with the Google Assistant will not be saved to your account. While in guest mode, you can enjoy popular features such as asking questions, controlling smart home devices, setting timers, and playing music. Your device will not show personal results, such as your calendar entries or contacts, until ...

13Jan

By thecanadianNo Comments

Google Assistant, Guest Mode, News, Smart Home

Google fully implements guest mode on all Nest home devices

13Jan

By thecanadianNo Comments

Features, General, Nanoleaf, Smart Home, Thread, wireless protocol

Canada’s Nanoleaf relies on Thread, a wireless protocol for connecting smart home devices

Thread is the next big thing you probably haven't heard of, and you may never witness in action, but it is likely to bring massive changes to the technology you interact with on a daily basis. In simple terms, Thread is a wireless connectivity protocol specifically designed for smart home devices. Over time it will form the backbone of connected homes, providing an open, fast and reliable way for smart devices to communicate. In fact, it's already built into many products, although you may not know it. The thing is, Thread isn't exactly new. It's been around since 2014, when an alliance of companies including Google-owned ARM, Nest, Samsung, Qualcomm, and more formed the 'Thread Group' with the goal of making Thread an industry standard. Apple joined in 2018 and released the Thread...

TP-Link launches new line of smart home products

12Jan

By thecanadianNo Comments

CES, News, Smart Camera, Smart Home, tp-link

TP-Link launches new line of smart home products

TP-Link is expanding its Kansa smart home product line with a new three-way dimmer switch, smart doorbell, and outdoor plug.The coolest innovation is a motion-sensing dimmer switch that automatically turns on after a certain point in the day when motion is detected. You can even schedule it to not turn on during the day if you have it set for an outside light.Beyond that, the switch also offers traditional smart light controls like a dimmer that turns the lights off at bedtime and then back on again in the morning.The company is also adding a smart doorbell to its offerings that can record video in 1080p. TP-Link also says that the camera has person detection and allows users to save their images to the cloud or to a local micro SD card. It should be noted that you have to p...

12Jan

By thecanadianNo Comments

gaming TVs, News, Smart Home, TVs, VIZIO

Vizio updates its existing high-end TVs for 4K / 120Hz gaming

If you bought a Vizio TV and an Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5 last year, you may be able to get a little extra performance from your TV after a new update. The update is rolling out to the company's OLED TVs and its latest Quantum X and Quantum P-series models. If you're not sure if your TV goes into this update, a good place to start is to see if it has the 'IQ Ultra Processor 'from the company inside. If so, this update will allow for some specific tweaks depending on the next-gen gaming experience you are using.In this latest segment of Gaming 101, we break down 4K Gaming and HDR Tone-Mapping. Whether it's watching sharp turns in a racing game or spotting your enemy in a dark room, VIZIO's Pro-Gaming Engine is equipped to immerse you #gaming configured from hobbyist to profes...

11Jan

By thecanadianNo Comments

CES, ces 2021, LG, News, OLED, Smart Home, TV

LG has some amazing TVs to come out, with questionable software

LG has expanded its OLED lineup, added mini-LED arrays, and more in 2021, offering one of the strongest TV selections available. Beyond releasing better hardware, the company is also revamping its smart TV software with a new look and some cool features. WebOS 6.0LG is updating WebOS with a home screen to be more in line with other smart TV operating systems. I'm not sure if the new design is the right move for LG, as the subtlety of WebOS was something I liked. That said, having a more traditional home screen could make LG TVs easier for more people to use. LG says this new version of WebOS will also be better at recommending content to people. With that said, it will be interesting to see what content partners the company can leverage for this. Hopefully it works well with C...

11Jan

By thecanadianNo Comments

News, Smart Home, tcl, TV

TCL plans to go big with 85-inch 8K TVs in 2021

With the launch of CES, TCL is making its name heard in the television market with even more advanced mini-LED televisions. In 2021, TCL appears to focus on making TVs bigger and more expensive than in the past, but the company will continue to sell. 2020's highly rated 6 Series, so it should help keep some TVs within the budget range. Moving on to what's new for 2021, the biggest change this year is TCL's new OD Zero mini-LED display panels. These new panels have no gap between the LEDs and the LCD screen, which according to TCL allows for a slimmer design, but is not yet close to what OLEDs are capable of. This new design will be available on the company's 2021 Series 6 TVs. These new models are also 8K, so they cannot be confu...

11Jan

By thecanadianNo Comments

ecobee, News, price, Smart Home, SmartCamera

Toronto-based Ecobee lowers the price of its SmartCamera to $ 179.99

Toronto-based Ecobee announced a new lower price for its new SmartCamera, noting that it took customer feedback "seriously." Last April, Ecobee introduced the SmartCamera along with other new smart home devices designed to connect with its 'Haven' home monitoring platform. Ecobee's smart camera was the central pillar of the system, offering 1080p video recording, a 180-degree field of view, and built-in voice control. At launch, it cost $ 249.99. Starting January 11, it will cost $ 179.99 Along with a lower price, Ecobee announced that the latest version of Haven will bring more features to the SmartCamera and other devices. New features include HomeKit Secure Video, which leverages iCloud to securely encrypt and store video cl...

9Jan

By thecanadianNo Comments

great value, Reviews, Smart Home, smartlight, Walmart

Walmart’s Great Value smart light is true to its name

If you're looking to outfit your home with smart lights, one of the best options surprisingly comes from Walmart. I recently moved in and while looking for some more smart lights, I came across a smart light from Walmart. And to my surprise, this $ 16 great value A19 LED smart light is pretty good. After doing some more research, this light looks like a simple rebrand of a Wiz light, which has probably been done since Wiz has an exclusive deal, so it only seems to sell its lights at Home Depot in Canada. Tried the color-changing version, but there are a few other options for basic white / blue lights and larger bulb sizes on the Walmart website. Set the lightTo set the light, you have to use the Wiz app, which is really simple and worked for me without any problems. The app looks c...

7Jan

By thecanadianNo Comments

ces 2021, JBL, News, Smart Home

JBL launches new audio equipment ahead of CES

CES is just around the corner, and ahead of the show, JBL has unveiled a handful of new home audio products. JBL 75th Anniversary ProductsSome of the most popular products to come out of the presentation are the cool 75th anniversary editions of JBL hardware. This includes a very attractive SA750 amplifier and speaker system. While I'd love to dive into the weird amp speaker and speaker specs, I'll move on to regular consumer gear as these limited-edition games carry multi-thousand dollar price tags. If you are interested, you can Find more about them here. Headphones and earphonesOn the normal side of things, the company has a few new pairs of earbuds and earphones. All new sets are wireless and come in four levels: Tune, L...

7Jan

By thecanadianNo Comments

2021 tv, News, Samsung, Smart Home

Samsung’s 2021 TV Lineup Overview

Samsung dropped a lot of TV-related news ahead of CES this year and this post should help you understand many of the features that are coming to the company's new TVs. There are a few main categories that Samsung TV commercials fall into: environmental, micro LED, mini LED, and software features. Mini LED software and technology are likely to impact general consumers first, so I'll start with those announcements. Samsung 2021 TV software enhancementsFor starters, Samsung saw people adapt their work from home settings in 2020 and tried to build more work features on their TVs. This means that Samsung 2021 TVs will be able to video chat via Google Duo. Samsung's press release is a bit complicated, but it seems like you can connect a webcam to your TV and then use it to video chat w...