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A12 TECHNOLOGY
Friday 22 april 2022
Smart-home devices could save you

money on home insurance

By SARAH SCHLICHTER
of NerdWallet
A smart thermostat can turn
up the heat in your home
before you roll out of bed.
A smart speaker can play
your favorite podcasts with
a voice command. A smart
lightbulb can be turned on
or off from across the room.
But smart-home devices
aren’t just about conve-
nience. Because some of
them can help keep your In this Sept. 20, 2017, file photo the Nest Secure alarm system is
seen on display during an event in San Francisco.
home safe and secure, Associated Press
they could also earn you
a discount on your hom- surveyed, the smart devic- most states can sign up for
eowners insurance. es most commonly eligible three years of free Ting ser-
DISCOUNTS FOR SMART- for discounts were water vice. Ting provides a plug-
HOME DEVICES leak sensors, security cam- in that monitors your home
NerdWallet reached out to eras and smoke detectors. for electrical problems that
a dozen insurance compa- However, insurers like Farm- could cause fires.
nies and found that most ers and Lemonade also of- Hippo, a homeowners in-
of them offer discounts to fer savings for smart locks, surance startup, gives
homeowners with smart- while Amica and Farmers policyholders in eligible
home devices designed give discounts for motion states free smart home-
to prevent water damage, sensors. monitoring kits from part-
fire or theft. In our research, Some insurers have part- ners such as Kangaroo and
we found companies ad- nered with smart-home SimpliSafe. As long as the
vertising homeowners insur- technology companies to policyholder installs the de-
ance discounts up to 13%, make the devices more af- vices and keeps them ac-
depending on the device fordable or even provide tive, they can save up to
and where you live. them for free. For example, 13% on their homeowners
Among the companies we State Farm policyholders in insurance.q

U.S. drone company Zipline starts

delivering medicine in Japan

By YURI KAGEYAMA
AP Business Writer
TOKYO (AP) — Zipline, an
American company that
specializes in using autono-
mously flying drones to de-
liver medical supplies, has
taken off in Japan.
They’re flying, starting
Thursday, across the tiny
Goto Islands, off the west-
ern coast of Kyushu, in
southwestern Japan, de-
In this photo provided by Zipline, a drone makes a package livering to pharmacies and
drop during a demonstration at Zipline’s Northern California hub hospitals.
in 2021. Other parts of Japan may
Associated Press follow, including urban ar-
eas, although the biggest
needs tend to be in isolat-
ed rural areas.
Zipline, founded six years
ago, already is in service in
the U.S., where it has part-
nered with Walmart Inc. to
deliver other products at
the retail chain as well as
drugs. It is also delivering
medical goods in Ghana
and Rwanda.q