Podcast #799: Prime Day and Vacation Automation

Back for the third installment, Amazon Prime Day hits next week. There's a lot to be ready for, and so many deals to be had. And with summer vacation season in full swing, we also have an in-depth look at how we use automation to make us feel at home while on vacation. Maybe some of our ideas will spark some new additions to your own home automation setup. And if you're lucky they may even be on sale on Prime Day.

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Podcast #788: Smart Home Tech and Hulu TV

We discuss a couple interesting takes on how to use smart home technology to enable those who may not otherwise want to jump into something so “techie.” Voice control alone could be huge for many as they age or those with serious injuries or disabilities.

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Podcast #785: D-Link Omna 180 Cam HD

The D-Link Omna 180 Cam HD (MSRP $199.95) camera is the first camera that makes use of Apple’s HomeKit technology. It's not an ugly, bulky Wifi camera that most are used to, but one that can be easily integrated into your home, while still providing a complete feature set in 1080p resolution.

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Podcast #733: Home Automation: OpenHAB and OpenRemote

There is this dream we have to be able to automate everything in our homes, but do it ourselves, without hiring an installer, and do it for cheap without breaking the bank. So far we have used a lot of Insteon devices, and tied them into other systems to expand the overall reach of what we could build. Luckily, we aren’t the only ones with this dream and a few open source projects have popped up to help us DIY-ers achieve our dreams.

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Podcast #730: Interview with Will Price, CEO of Simple Control

Ara has been using Simple Control as his home remote for many years. It is the one piece of gear that he can’t live without. His setup includes three rooms, lights, thermostats, and iTunes control all in one great looking app. We produced a video demonstrating the capabilities, though a little dated they show the capabilities pretty well.

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Podcast #709: CEDIA Expo 2015

Each year CEDIA (Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association) holds an event where the industry gathers to show off their wares. Kinda like a mini-CES, but also like a best of CES, we’ve been to a few of these and actually enjoy the show more than CES. It takes the parts of CES that we are interested in and compresses it down to a more manageable show. We didn’t go this year but that won’t stop us from talking about some of the products we think are interesting. This year the show was from October 14-17 in Dallas, TX.

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