Smart Home

Imagine you can unlock your home as you pull into your driveway, turn on the lights as you walk in the door, ask the shades to open, and start a pot of coffee while your favourite playlist begins to play. This isn’t a vision of the future, but a very real scenario unfolding in smart homes everywhere.

Sure, smart home hubs aren’t new, but the next generation of hubs offers new features that make life even easier.

The Amazon Echo Plus, the next generation of Alexa-powered Amazon devices, acts as a smart home hub, voice controller and speaker system all in one. Turn out the lights, find out the weather or play your favourite tunes effortlessly.

The Samsung Smart Things Hub, meanwhile, is controlled using the free companion app from either your smartphone or tablet, and gives you the option to pair it with Amazon Alexa for voice control.