Smart Home

Not every device works with every other, and while Routines and Shortcuts offer the potential for more powerful commands, there is a tool that already has a much broader reach. IFTTT (IF This, Then That) is a free system for bringing together your software and your devices to create new functions. WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH IFTTT? IFTTT […]

In many cases the technology that is marked as smart is just something that you’re already familiar with, but now remotely control using apps. That’s great, but it’s only really the beginning. Routines – or Shortcuts as Apple calls them – offer you the chance to spend less time talking to your digital assistant, while getting more

The great thing about Alexa, and the other personal assistants to a lesser degree, is the ability to add additional features. These are managed by the respective developers, be that Apple, Google or Amazon. With Apple, so far at least, the additional features come from Apple. Amazon, on the other hand, allows virtually anyone to

Smart energy meters are coming to a home near you; there is government backing to get one in every home in the UK, US and Australia. The goal is to make it easier for you to see how much electricity and gas you’re using, while at the same time sending your usage figures directly back to

 By combining the promise of smart lighting and devices that respond to your whims, your home cinema set-up really can impress. Recreating the richness of the cinema – or movie theatre – experience in the home has a lot of appeal. We can’t often get to the cinema, and it certainly isn’t always showing our favourite movies,

Tech can smarten up almost any gadget that you have lying around the home, even fridges, but four categories have emerged as the most popular places to start, and for very good reason: they’re all useful, and they all offer something genuinely new when compared to their ‘dumb’ predecessors. None should be seen as working in

In a sci-fi movie, we take it as read that when the disgruntled space-cop walks into a room they just need to say ‘lights’ to trigger illumination, or when the starship captain has brought an alien woman back to show her some more of this Earth thing called kissing, he can order the computer to

One of the most frustrating things about Wi-Fi is how vulnerable the signal is to interference or obstruction. Rather than stand next to the router, laptop in hand, you can improve performance with a smarter router and some simple tricks. Everything from brick walls to other Wi-Fi devices can seriously deplete your Wi-Fi from the 50m (160ft)