How Smart is Your Home? :: Gadgets Gone Wild!

Flower Power

How many houseplants have you killed lately? I know I sure don't have the time I used to have, when it comes to caring for my little green friends. Well, here's the perfect solution for avoiding your next, "involuntary plantslaughter."

Flower Power is a sensor that you "plant," close to your indoor or outdoor greenery... be they potted, or loose in the wilds of your yard. As described on Parrot's site, "It precisely measures, in real time, the parameters that are crucial for the growth and good health of plants: Soil moisture, fertilizer, ambient temperature and light intensity." Their app pulls optimal data from a database of over 6,000 varieties, for custom advice on maintaining each of
your plants optimally and then sends it to your smartphone... for you, the plant-murdering dummy.

$59 at us.store.parrot.com

Note: Look for their next idiot-proof invention, the Plant Pot, which is coming soon!

Welcome Camera

You know you want to play at "big brother," so you can spy on who's home and what they're up to, now don't you? If only there was a device that would let you do so... Netatmo has
come up with a smart security camera called Welcome, which uses its facial recognition technology to send you the names of the people who've entered your home, directly to your smartphone. If it's not someone the gizmo's programmed to know, it'll send you
a warning ping-I'm thinking a loud scream might be a bit more interesting. And, no fair deleting your father and/or mother-in-law!

For those of you who wish to control ...errr... know the weather, they make a nifty weather station too!

$199 at netatmo.com

ecobee3

"It's gettin' hot in here, let's take off all our clothes..." Wait, that's another kind of home gadgety party. Moving on...

Is there anything worse than coming home from a hard day's work to either a blast-furnace or a deep-freeze of a home? Snap! Problem solved with the ecobee3. This little puppy is smart enough to understand and manage each room in your house through the use of its smart, little ecobee3 remote sensors that intuitively deliver the right temperature... and it's completely based on your unique heating and A/C
equipment. It senses when you're home and when you're not, and lets you monitor and control the temperature anytime, anywhere, from your smartphone, tablet or computer.

$229 at shop.ecobee.com

Quirky Aros

Okay, okay, I realize that not everyone has central air-conditioning, so don't go getting your sweaty knickers in a twist! Ever the one for finding solutions, I've found a great one for you. The folks at the "invention platform" known as Quirky have come up with a smart
solution, so dump your dumb window A/C unit and "chill out."

It's called Aros, and it is definitely not stupid. It learns from your habits, your budget, location, schedule and how much you use the unit, to automatically
maintain the perfect temperature and maximize savings. Want to update a temperature or time setting? No problemo, this 8,000 BTU, 115 volt, 6.3 amp "chill machine" can be controlled
from the Wink app on your mobile devices anywhere, anytime.

$199 at amazon.com

Kevo Kwikset

Now, just to get inside the house. How many times have you lost your keys and had to figure out how to break into your own home? Just like the criminal you are trying to keep out!

How about this... you always have your phone on you anyway, and I mean always... Why not solve the problem by combining the two? With Kwik-set, the encrypted electronic key, your phone
becomes your key. Use the app to send eKeys to anyone, anywhere, anytime for those you wish to give access (or disable/delete them depending on the status of your relationship), view the history of lock activity (for those who you forget), and for just generally screwing with those you want to by controlling the days and the time of the week when their eKey is active. Just make sure you haven't invited someone
from one of those "other apps" before you click "open!"

$195 at kwikset.com