Home Tech
The science (and business) of sleep
Tech companies have joined the multi-billion dollar rush to help us get a better night’s rest. Are they making a difference?
Google smart home hub hopes to take on Amazon Echo
The unit, which will retail for $129—a full $50 less than the Amazon Echo—when it is available on Friday, November 4, will surely benefit from being so darned cute.
With DIY home tech kit, users can build their own products
Kano, a computer and coding kit that launched after a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2013, is ready to expand its offerings to include DIY camera, lightboard, and speaker kits.
7 home tech products to upgrade your space right now
With Apple’s iOS 10 and the company’s new Home app beaming onto devices the world over, we’ve rounded up 7 compatible products to smarten up your home.
New smart home hub offers solution for beginners
It’s the latest from smart home company Wink, which has updated its hub with increased security features and a sleeker look for the design-minded.
These elegant marble speakers double as home decor
If all-marble-everything is your home decor look, good news: Turkish designer Bilge Nur Saltik has created a series of bluetooth speakers that feature layers of marble and wood, designed to help project the sound.
Turn any old speakers into a wireless stereo sound system with this new device
The Vamp Stereo expands on the functionalities of the Vamp by making it stereo, which means it can be hooked up to two speakers, producing double the sound, and, presumably, the experience—but not the waste.
In smart home renovations, security and entertainment systems lead the way
Ready or not, smart tech is steadily streaming into our homes. According to a new study of 1,000 renovating homeowners, nearly half are incorporating "smart" systems or devices that can be controlled via a smartphone, tablet, or computer.
How to turn your home into a smart home
Home technologies can offer unprecedented levels of information and automation, but with so many places to start, it’s hard to know where to start. Tech mavens from Nest, Amazon, and more share their tips for how to make your dumb home smart.
What's the deal with wireless charging furniture?
We talked with Grant Reig, Product Manager at the MIT-born wireless energy company WiTricity, to find out everything you need to know about this brave new world of cord-free, device-charging goods.
People apparently want this smartphone case that sticks to stuff
"Why aren’t iPhones sticky?" is a thing that we guess some people are asking.
Philippe Starck designs smart radiators for Netatmo
In 2013, Starck worked with the French company, which specializes in connected electronic devices, on its design of a minimal thermostat. Now, they’ve teamed up again on voice-activated smart radiator valves that work in conjunction with the thermostat.
How one designer's vision of tech's future embraced the black and boxy
Apple, under the meticulous design direction of Jonathan Ive, continues to dominate the collective imagination with a singular vision the tech’s future. But what if the company's influential aesthetic wasn't cute, soft, and round?
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Untouched Glen Park midcentury asks $2.29 million
At the tail end of the midcentury aesthetic is this untouched midcentury house at 60 Laidley. It is nothing short of astounding. Also rare, insofar as the San Francisco market goes, is how it’s come away unscathed over the years.
Bluetooth-enabled button allows you to customize alerts depending on your location
Dot is a new Kickstarter-launched startup that bills itself as "The Physical Push Notification."
Smartwatch chargers are the next household items to levitate
Soon, everything we own will be hovering a few inches from its magnetic dock.
Smart home tech: what’s on your wish list?
This week, we want to hear what gets you most excited or curious about smart home tech. Which products would you definitely want for your home? What are your most pressing questions or hesitations
Danish tech brand Bang and Olufsen gives the television a minimalist makeover
Danish tech company Bang & Olufsen has unveiled its own high-end television, complete with sleek, minimalist looks, 4K resolution, and more.
New digital house manual works like video Post-It notes for guests
Ping uses mobile tech to make it easier for home-sharing hosts to communicate with their visitors.
Tokyo 2020 Olympic medals could be made of recycled e-waste
At least one Japanese recycled-home-appliance business owner proposes having the private sector establish a collection system for electronic waste to mine discarded units for medal metal.
High tech indoor garden lets you grow cannabis at home
While previous hydroponic growing systems were bulky, unattractive, and always ran the risk of making your entire apartment smell like a grow house, a new startup looks to change all that.
New Nest security camera watches your home and sends text alerts
Nest Labs announced preorders for an outdoor security camera that records everything it sees and hears, live streaming the footage and storing it in the cloud for 30 days.
Sonos brings its Wi-Fi speakers to the masses in first-ever retail store
The 4,200-square-foot space, the first brick-and-mortar store for the California-based company, offers an immersive, high-design experience meant to entice consumers.
Startup lets you take home tech for test drive
If you’re an Internet of Things skeptic or look askance at fitness trackers and connected home products of all sorts, then Grover, an online marketplace that lets consumers try out devices before they commit to a purchase, may be for you.
New app aims to simplify home selling and buying process
The app helps bring some transparency to the selling and buying process, including allowing digital access to information about bids from prospective buyers.
Can startup Tushy wash away Americans’ discomfort with bidets?
"Did you know that Americans use 57 sheets of TP on average every single day? And that it takes 37 gallons of water to make one TP roll?"
Samsung's designer Serif TV now available in the U.S.
Designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec have collaborated with Samsung on the provocative Serif TV, a flat-screen with an I-shaped frame, attachable legs, and a fabric panel to mask connectors in the back. They call it a "furniture TV."
Sublime smart home updates the traditional ranch
Another day, another swoon-worthy modern home from California—not that we mind. Built around a century-old oak in the Santa Lucia mountains of Carmel, CA, Ranch OH reimagines the traditional ranch house as a stunning modern retreat.
Amazon Prime Day 2016: best deals for the home
Prime Day, a.k.a Amazon’s "Black Friday in July" shopping event returns for a second year today, promising a shot at good deals for existing and new members of the Amazon Prime service. We’ll be updating our best deal picks for the home all day.
Hotel minibars get a chic, high-tech update
Offered in green and terracotta hues—or in a birch-plywood, oak, ash, or walnut veneer—the modern cabinets were inspired by the shutters on classic Spanish homes. They’re offered in small and large sizes.
New robotic furniture system transforms tiny apartments
Today, designer Yves Behar of fuseproject and the MIT Media Lab unveiled Ori, a new line of furniture solutions that lets you transform a studio space into a full apartment with the push of a button. Architectural robotics, y’all.
Smart home tech drives eco-conscious Aspen home
This polished abode in Aspen, Colorado offers a tremendous indoor-outdoor experience. Plus a whole lot of eco-friendly cred.
3D print your own speakers with this DIY kit
U.K. company Kitronik recently unveiled a kit for folks—largely engineers and designers—who like to tinker and are interested in assembling mini sound systems from a set of 3D-printed parts.
Smart baby monitor will make your kid go to sleep
It uses light, ambient noises, and lullabies.
These ceramic wireless charging trays fuse high-tech and high design
Created in collaboration with Italian ceramics company Bitossi Ceramiche, the Charge Trays, as they are so aptly named, are slip-cast ceramic, and come in a variety of sizes and colors.
Apple's all-in-one home tech app is coming
The Home app will act as a one-stop hub for all of a user's HomeKit-enabled products, including connected thermostats, locks, lighting, security cameras, and more.
Alexa may soon be able to ask you if you are mad at it
Because nothing calms people down like having a robot tell them their emotions.
Why yachts may be the original smart homes
At the intersection of energy-efficiency and homey comfort, sailboats offer valuable insights into the future design of smart home infrastructure.
Is the Amazon Echo turning your kid into a jerk?
Or is your kid simply able to distinguish between robots and people?