IoT gadgets that make life easier for their owners

Cloud technologies are developing rapidly. And this is noticeable not only in industry - IoT devices are increasingly penetrating into homes or offices. The developers of such devices are trying to make them as user-friendly as possible, and often succeeds. There is such an important question as the security of the system, but after all these troubles happened with the invasion of the Mirai botnet and its derivatives, the creators of cloud devices began to take a closer look at their security.



Some of the modern gadgets help prevent water or gas leaks, others - to save energy, and others - to take care of the security of their “fortress”, be it a home or office. Today we will tell about the devices that for all the time of existence have managed to prove their “professional suitability”.

Neurio Electricity Control System

The system was created by Energy Aware Technology, which is physically located in Canada. The main task of the system is to analyze the energy consumption data of the house or office where Neurio is installed. For example, this software / hardware platform may determine that an electric stove or lighting is on at home. Neurio also shows how much and which electrical appliance “eats” energy.







Even Neurio can determine whether there is a person in the room or not. Thanks to this, the system understands that the stove is wasted because there is no one in the kitchen, for example, for an hour.



The main element of Neurio - Neurio Sensor. It connects to the home electrical panel and analyzes information using WiFi power sensor and cloud service. Ideally, the user always knows how much which appliance consumes and controls all electrical devices, reducing power consumption.

Rachio Water Flow System

The system for the consumption of water Rachio, unfortunately, is not installed in the kitchen / bathroom. It is designed to optimize lawn irrigation. The main element of Rachio is a controller called Iro. Its cost is $ 249, and it allows you to control lawn watering using a mobile device. The device connects to the network wirelessly, after which the user can remotely enable and disable sprinklers, set up a lawn irrigation plan, depending on the weather, soil characteristics of the lawn, etc.





You need to configure the system only once, after which it remains only to enjoy its work. Control is done through the Rachio cloud using an iPhone or Android app.

Smart thermostat Nest Learning Thermostat

Thermostats are a great thing, and smart thermostats in general can remove the task of monitoring the indoor climate to the home or office owner. This version of the thermostat is already the third, that is, this is the third generation of the system that is able to adapt to the owner, following his “temperature habits”.



Thanks to the minimalist design, the thermostat fits perfectly into the interior of almost any room. Information about the mode of operation of the device can be seen on the LCD screen. We here calculated that in approximately two years of operation this thermostat can pay for itself. With the right settings, it saves 10-12% of the cost of heating and 15% of the cost of air conditioning. Not bad, especially when it comes to an apartment or a house in Europe, the savings can be very substantial.



This thermostat adjusts to the algorithm of the owner's life - the device knows what temperature is set in the apartment when everyone wakes up or falls asleep. By the way, this thermostat should be used together with the smoke and carbon monoxide detector Nest Smoke Alarm.



You can control the thermostat settings using a mobile phone application, both Android and iOS. However, for this you need to connect the thermostat to a wireless network, which takes only a couple of minutes. The device is compatible with approximately 95% of various heating and cooling systems, including those that run on electricity.

Digital smart lock August Home

In principle, now you won’t surprise anyone with a digital lock. But even among the variety there are devices that differ in functionality. One of these devices - August Home, allows you to control the lock of the front door of a house or apartment remotely. Doors can now be opened and closed without keys and codes.



Each family member or office worker is given a "key" - this is a digital code that provides access to the premises on certain days. During operation, the castle maintains logs, allowing you to see who entered the house or left it.



The system is autonomous, runs on batteries. In the event that they are discharged, then a notification about this problem comes to the user's smartphone. Also, the castle feels the user's approaching the house. If the owner is already behind the door - it opens independently.



If the door is left unlocked, it is automatically locked by the system. Management is performed from a mobile phone, the application is released for both iOS and Android.

Netatmo weather station

Netatmo is a wireless station that allows you to not only know the weather, but also what a person breathes. In other words, this device can analyze the composition of the air and determine the level of carbon dioxide, the high content of which is not very good for health. The higher the level of carbon dioxide, the higher the human fatigue, and the lower its efficiency.



In addition, the station monitors the noise level in the room. All collected data is transmitted wirelessly by Wi-Fi to the user's mobile device.







The weather station, among other things, also uses partners' weather reports, plus it is compatible with the Imperihome application (smart home control). The system consists of a main station and an outdoor module. But it can be expanded by connecting additional room sensors. All plug-ins are powered by AAA batteries.



In general, Netatmo allows you to always be aware of weather conditions, as well as to know the level of noise, carbon dioxide, air humidity and its quality in the room. Measurement is carried out in real time.

BitLock - connected bicycle lock

The developer of this castle is the company Mesh Motion, which in 2014 collected money for its device on Kickstarter. The device itself is a system controlled by a smartphone on Android or iOS. Control is via Bluetooth. When the owner is next to the bike with the phone in his pocket, then you just need to press the button on the lock, and it will open. If there is no phone, and the attacker tries to open the lock, then nothing good will come of it, the system will not work, the bike will remain chained to its support.



If the owner of the bike forgets where he tied his iron horse, then the object can be found using GPS. Plus, the GPS module from the lock allows you to track the path traveled by bike.



Batteries last for 5 years of work, so often it will not have to be charged. Of course, the device is protected from the ingress of water, so you can’t fill it with water and hack it.



The lock is compatible with devices on iOS and Android.

Smart Camera iVideon Oco 2

This camera was first shown in Las Vegas at CES in 2016. Like all the devices listed above, it works around the clock, tracking events in your home or office. The system is configured without a computer, so that a novice user who understands little of the technology can handle it.



This miniature camera will look great and work anywhere in the room. Thanks to the magnetic stand, you can choose any convenient shooting angle.



In order to “start” the camera, you just need to power on it, turn it on, connect to the wireless network, download the corresponding application and use the QR code. The camera works in real time, shooting with Full HD resolution. Inside - built-in sound and motion detectors. If the camera spotted something, a notification will be sent to the smartphone.



Data can be stored on a memory card or in the cloud. WiFi and Bluetooth are supported from wireless communication systems. There is also support for the IFTTT service. Thanks to all this, one can not only observe what is happening at home, but also communicate with households (or colleagues) during a business trip / vacation.

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