Smart home technology has been around for a few years now, and has garnered a lot of hype and interest recently. Among the most popular smart products being sold include smart security cameras and voice assistants, or smart speakers if you may.
These two are the most popular due to the features that they provide consumers with. The smart camera serves as a safety net for homeowners, one that they can rely on and access 24/7 from almost anywhere with seamless video streaming and no interruptions. Voice assistants on the other hand not only make life much easier but their interconnectedness with other smart home devices becomes a plus point for consumers to invest in other devices as well.
However, before investing in either of these devices, consumers need to decide which kind of wireless protocol they will be establishing for their smart devices to work on. These protocols range from Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Z-Wave and ZigBee. For more information on wireless protocols for your smart devices, you can check out FirstEnergy Home’s website www.firstenergyhome.com.
To further ease your decision of choosing which smart home devices are worth investing in, here is some in-depth information about voice assistants and smart cameras and the different brands of both products
Voice Assistants: Amazon Alexa and Google Home
As voice assistants gain popularity, seemingly a lot of companies want to jump on the bandwagon by creating their own version. Currently the Amazon Echo, featuring the widely known Amazon Alexa and Google Home with its Google Assistant are the most popular smart speakers on the market. Apple introduced its HomePod to compete against the two but was kicked out of the race eventually.
The top contenders for voice assistants featured in smart speakers are still Amazon and Google’s products even though other voice assistants such as the Xiaomi have entered the industry. Most companies opt for creating a smart speaker device that can carry out the most basic functions of a voice assistant, but a lot of them are not compatible enough to carry out other features such as integration with other devices or certain brands – which could obviously prove to be a problem for a smart home.
Since, these devices need to be run on a protocol system, the best one for the Amazon Alexa protocol or the Google Home is the Wi-Fi protocol, as it maintains internet connectivity of your devices that can also be accessed from outside of your home as well.
Voice Assistants such as the Amazon Alexa and the Google Nest, can easily and seamlessly integrate and connect with other smart devices, which ideally makes them suitable for your home. For example, these voice assistants can connect with smart bulbs, smart thermostats and even smart smoke detectors or multiple brands.
With these functions, your voice assistant essentially acts as an all-in one device – so even if your separate devices don’t have an added voice control feature, you can use the integration aspect of the assistant and make them much smarter. Additionally, with personalization features such as those available on the Google Nest, multiple users in the same house can have control over the voice assistant – and that includes altering their specific schedules, search histories alarms and more. On the Google Nest, this feature is known as the ‘Voice Match’ feature which lets about six people use the device. This voice recognition feature is also available on the Amazon Alexa.
Smart Cameras
Currently, the most popular smart camera in the market is from the Google Nest range. The Google Nest camera offers a number of varieties that you wouldn’t have imagined with a regular surveillance camera. For example, users have the option to choose from either a wireless or a wired camera device that is suitable for both indoor and outdoor usage. Additionally, they can also get a separate floodlight that connects with the camera’s motion detection sensors for added security. Other options available on the market for smart cameras include the Ecobee smart camera and the Arlo Essential Spotlight Camera.
Smart Cameras like the Google Nest Camera provide access to the live video streaming straight from our smartphones and tablets, along with two-way audio to allow for easy communication. They also feature built-in artificial intelligence as well as motion detectors. With artificial intelligence technology, the camera can easily distinguish between objects, animals, vehicles and humans. With motion detection, as soon as any motion is detected a snapshot is taken and users are alerted immediately via their smartphone application. More so, smart lights such as smart bulbs or smart floodlights can also be integrated with the camera to switch on when any kind of movement is detected within a set activity zone.
Of course there are a lot of other smart home devices that are great to add or install into your homes, but imagine having something that can integrate all smart devices together and provide a seamless method of control across your home? That is why Smart Speakers with voice assistants are one of the most popular smart home products among homeowners. The same goes for Smart cameras, however in the capacity that they are one of the best and affordable means of providing security for your home. If you wish to check out what other smart home devices there possibly could be, head on over to FirstEnergy Home and browse through their smart home catalogue.
