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TECHNOLOGYFriday 29 December 2017
Smart homes: Not just for tech geeks anymore
By ANICK JESDANUN In this Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017, file photo, Amazon Echo and Echo Plus devices, behind, smart plug, they are likely
AP Technology Writer sit near illuminated Echo Button devices during an event announcing several new Amazon to buy more, market re-
NEW YORK (AP) — Internet- products by the company, in Seattle. searchers say. They also
connected lights, locks tell friends and neighbors
and laundry machines are Associated Press about them, and might
close to becoming ev- buy some as gifts.
eryday household items, assistant to play your fa- smart plug, can make any closer to how we work with REMAINING HURDLES
thanks in part to voice- vorite music or check the appliance or lamp remote- Questions remain over
activated speakers such weather. You can order controllable by cutting or people in our home.” whether inviting internet-
as Amazon’s Echo and pizza, track flights or play restoring its power — just connected products to the
Google Home. Jeopardy. ask an assistant to turn it off BEHIND THE GROWTH home also opens the door
Market research groups The more people use such or on. From there, it’s only to hackers, notwithstand-
are seeing increased sales speakers, it turns out, the a small step toward prod- U.S. sales of smart speak- ing manufacturers’ prom-
of lights that turn off when more things they want ucts with smarts already ises of security and privacy
you say “good night,” them to do. In some cases, built in, ones that can dim ers have more than tripled protections. For that rea-
smart locks that let in your that leads directly to oth- the lights or even change son, Hawkinson said, smart
friends before you get er smart gadgets for the colors based on mood — to nearly 25 million in 2017, lights tend to be more
home and similar smart- home. all through the speaker’s popular than cameras and
home gadgets. While the People who own an Echo assistant. about 11 million coming door locks.
devices are still relatively are definitely more likely to Now that people can sim- Sharonda Dozier, a
expensive — you can get install other smart gadgets, ply talk to their gadgets, during the holiday quarter, 28-year-old in Detroit,
six regular light bulbs for the said David Limp, Amazon’s they “no longer have to said her boyfriend wants
price of a single smart one senior vice president of de- learn so much about how according to a CTA esti- a smart speaker, but she
— demand is likely to pick vices and services. “They to use a device and its intri- worries: “What if it starts
up further as prices fall. don’t start by rewiring the cacies,” said Kara Alexan- mate. They’re expected glitching and we’re having
“This holiday, it’s starting whole home. They start der, senior product man- an argument or something
to turn the corner into the with a switch.” ager for Belkin’s WeMo to grow further in 2018, to else is going on that’s per-
mass market,” said Steve That switch, known as a smart products. “It’s much sonal?”
Koenig, senior director of about 36 million, as Apple’s Analysts say the privacy
market research at the Aruba Divi Phoenix hurdle is surmountable,
Consumer Technology As- 1BR 1 Bath week 52 HomePod joins the fray. as people have shown
sociation, which puts on 5TH Floor In the Tower OV a willingness to set such
the CES gadget show in 14 /6 Weeks remain on the It helps that such prod- concerns aside for conve-
Las Vegas each January. contract nience. The larger road-
Until recently, many peo- Price :$12,500 ucts are no longer limited blocks, they say, are cost
ple viewed these products Call:630-1307 and awareness.
as unnecessary luxuries, if johnnypaesch@gmail.com to electronics stores such A pack of two smart plugs
they knew about them at costs about $30. Smart
all — not least because _________________________________208875 as Best Buy, but are now bulbs start at $10; ones that
setting them up and using let you control brightness
them sounded like a lot of available at Home Depot, and color can cost three
work. times that. Equipping a few
A POWERFUL VOICE Target and other general rooms with security camer-
What’s changed? The as will set you back a few
growing popularity of retailers. And prices have hundred dollars — or much
smart speakers and their more for a premium model
digital assistants, mainly. dropped, with lower-end such as Nest’s Cam IQ.
From your couch, you can Beyond the upfront costs,
now ask the Echo’s Alexa some products carry on-
going service fees. That’s
models costing just $50. especially true of security
cameras that offer online
Smart-home products video storage. Nest, which
shares a parent company
such as lights and security with Google, charges $10
or $30 a month, depend-
cameras are behind, but ing on how long video is
kept.
catching up. Still, smart products aren’t
going to be right for every-
“We’re still in the early one.
“I walk over and lock the
stages,” said Jeff Patton, a doors. I go over to the
thermostat and just turn
smart-home executive at the thing down,” said Rick
Daigneault, 38, a former
General Electric. While the insurance research tech-
nician in Warwick, Rhode
gadgets aren’t yet “main- Island. “People are get-
ting lazier and lazier. You
stream,” he said, average need a device to think for
you.”q
people are much more
aware of them.
Alex Hawkinson, CEO of
Samsung’s SmartThings
smart-home business, said
that about half of his new
customers are coming be-
cause of smart speakers
“igniting a lot of excite-
ment.”
Once people get their first
smart product, such as a
