Cool Smart Home Gadgets You Missed

Smart homes are the future; everyone knows that. But that future is not so distant. Rather, it is just around the corner. Many houses around the world already fall into the category of smart homes, while others are following suit at a tremendous pace. Although many media outlets claim that if you have a smartphone and a smart TV, you already have a smart home, not many people agree with it.

However, having IoT devices installed in your place is a sure measure of your house being a smart home. A number of quirky IoT devices have sprung up in recent times to automate a lot of tasks and make life simple for the owners. But many people miss out on the real gems that are out there in the market.

There are home gadgets that offer a lot more functionality than your usual smart home plugs or other common devices. We will tell you about some cool smart home gadgets that you probably missed.

Knocki 

You probably know about smart home plugs or other types of devices that turn ordinary objects into controllable devices. However, you wouldn’t have heard about a smart house gadget that can transform any surface in your house into a remote. Knocki is a device which converts any surface it is attached to into a remote. You don’t have to carry around a remote or your smartphone to control thing; you have as many remotes as many Knocki devices you have attached to the surfaces.

You can attach Knocki to your wall, table, door, furniture, etc. It works with a wide range of devices. You can use it to play music when you want, operate your television, order a cab or a pizza, know when someone knocks on your door, dim the lights, and what not. You set different patterns of gestures and knocks on the surface to automate different tasks. You can tap once to turn on music, twice to find your smartphone if you can’t find it, etc. Knocki has as many uses as you can imagine. At $99, it enhances your life tremendously.

Smart Remote by Sevenhugs

There are a number of smart home remotes that can control many different devices. So what makes this Smart Remote by Sevenhugs interesting? Well, it is compatible with more than 25,000 devices. Put the smart remote sensors in the room where you wish to use it, and the Smart Remote will control all devices you point it to. It is adaptive and recognizes devices when you point at them.

However, that’s not all. While this can enable you to control devices using IR and Bluetooth, you can utilize its Wi-Fi connectivity to control devices remotely as well. You will have to add those devices to the Smart Remote app on your smartphone. Although some people might be put off by the $229 price, it is one heck of a remote.

Bitdefender BOX

IoT devices sure can make your life a lot easier and better, but these devices have one caveat, which is their lack of security. Many IoT devices are prone to hijacking attacks by malicious users, which can allow the attacker to control a lot of things in your home. But you can prevent his by using the Bitdefender BOX.

The global giant in the antivirus industry brings a cool smart home gadget to take care of all your devices. The Bitdefender BOX protects all your devices from malware, encrypts your connection to prevent theft of data, and checks all outgoing URLs against its list of suspicious websites. It also checks for suspicious activity in apps on your smartphone.

The Bitdefender BOX can work as a standalone router or can be connected to an existing router. Once this is done, all your devices, including IoT gadgets, are protected. Your smartphones will continue to enjoy its protection even when outside the home Wi-Fi and when using public wireless networks.

Devices which do not have protection like gaming consoles and IoT devices can be secure using Bitdefender BOX. At $99, you get one year’s subscription to the device. You can protect as many devices as you want. All operating systems are supported, and all your devices are protected under one solution.

Updated – There’s a new version!

Slide

Rather than spending on a new rail system to automatically open and close your curtains, you should go to Slide. It is a small device that works well with almost all types of vertical and horizontal curtains. You can set your curtains to open or close at fixed times. You can set up times with sunrise and sunset, or link the Slide app with the alarm on your smartphone so that the curtains part when the alarm goes off. You can control how much the curtains will part, enabling you to control the amount of light entering your room.

Slide also has IFTTT capabilities, allowing you to improve your home security system. It uses geo-fencing to close curtains when no one is home or open them when someone comes in and allows you to remotely control them to discourage burglars. If you want to manually operate your curtains, Slide allows you to do that as well. It even remembers your setting of the curtains. You get 1 Slide for $135, and 2 for $255.

Conclusion

There are many household gadgets that people use. However, what makes your home truly smart is the combination of devices you use. Going with mainstream smart home gadgets don’t make your home dull or inefficient. But if you dig a little deeper, you find real treasures you would normally have missed out on.

These smart gadgets offer something unique which you don’t find in online stores easily. As the developers behind Knocki said in their promotional video, these devices do not control your life but enhance it. To enhance it as best as possible, try looking for devices that aren’t held down by the usual shackles.