Quirky and useful gadgets for your connected smart home
Who even knew some of these gadgets existed?
When it comes to having a connected home, Australians are increasingly on board with wireless connectivity and streaming platforms like Netflix, Stan and Presto.
We’re also learning to automate our homes, installing connected technology like smart locks that make our lives more convenient. There’s no end in sight to the devices that are joining the list on the Internet of Things.
Check out some of the lesser known smart appliances for your home, from the highly helpful to the downright unusual.
Sense sleep monitor
Sense is a little device that sits by your bedside and monitors your sleep, including the temperature and noise levels in the room, how long it takes you to get to sleep and how many times you wake up in the night.
It then gives you a full report in the morning that lets you know how you slept and what disturbances there were.
The inbuilt alarm will collect your data and then program itself to wake you up when you are sleeping lightly.
You can review all your progress on a connected app and work towards creating an environment for a better night’s sleep.
Robot bartender
Video courtesy: Somabar on YouTube
From the “coming soon” files comes this automatic bartender, which successfully raised thousands on Kickstarter. The Somabar is available for pre-order, pitching itself as the “world’s first app-controlled robotic bartending appliance”.
This streamlined gadget lets you make a selection via the app, then mixes cocktails in seconds, with refillable ‘pods’ and hundreds of drink options (depending on what ingredients you fill it with).
It will even flush itself out with water after being used so that your next round is made fresh. Bottom’s up!
Interactive kitchen scale
Video courtesy: Drop on YouTube
Keen cooks will already be using apps to access recipes and to perfectly time their baked goods so it’s high time a kitchen scale joined the list of connected kitchen gadgets.
The Drop Interactive Kitchen Scale syncs with an iPad app to share recipes and tell you if you’re using the right amount of ingredients.
Even better, you can automatically adjust an entire recipe if you’re a little bit short on one ingredient.
Smart egg tray
Video courtesy: Quirky on YouTube
Speaking of ingredients, don’t you hate it when you run out of eggs? Yep, just eggs.
A smart egg tray could help make sure this truly terrible problem never happens to you. With the help of an accompanying app, you can check from the shops how many eggs you have at home and receive notifications when you are running low.
The tray will also give you an indication of which of the eggs in your tray is the olderst, so that you can use them in order and don’t risk stinking up your house with a truly horrible smell.
Bluetooth shower head
Video courtesy: KOHLER on YouTube
Your options for music in the shower are generally limited.
You can either turn your home stereo way up to cut through the noise of the water, potentially angering your housemates or neighbours, or you can press pause on the party until you’re out and towelled off.
Alternatively, thanks to the increasingly esoteric range of connected devices out there, you can now take singing in the shower to a whole new level with a connected shower head Bluetooth speaker.
Sync to your phone or desktop music player and the detachable waterproof speaker can keep the tunes going as you get clean.
It may sound a little odd, but you’ve got to admit it’s an interesting solution to a daily, if minor, dilemma.
Wi-fi air conditioning
In the US, connected thermostats are taking over the control of your home’s internal environment. Similar technology is filtering into Australia, including air conditioners that you can access via your phone.
Check in before you leave the office for the day and they’ll let you know how hot or cold your house is.
You can then set the air conditioning to bring your place to the perfect temperature, ready for when you walk in the door. Hopefully it won’t be long until even more options start to flood our sunburnt shores.
Wi-fi enabled air purifier
Video courtesy: Holmes Products on YouTube
Of course, if you’re air conditioning your home you want that air to be of good quality.
Smart air purifiers can be controlled from anywhere with connectivity, letting you set a schedule for turning on and off and keeping you up to date about the air quality in your home.
Once you’re up and running, it can help you can reduce the amount of pollen, dust and pet dander in the air in your home.
While this device might seem like connected overkill, Amazon reviewers say they can be a big help for families that are dealing with allergies.
From the bedroom to the bathroom, the living room and beyond, pretty soon the walls will be ‘talking’ as the Internet of Things takes over your home. Stay tuned for more awesome gadgets as we draw ever closer to the Jetson age.
As we move into a connected future, Australians are not only upgrading their tech arsenal, we're also using more data. Check out how much Australian broadband usage has increased in just the last handful of years.