Ikea’s smart home hub Dirigera is reportedly getting support for the Matter smart home standard in beta. Matter is an open-sourced IP-based connectivity software layer for smart home devices that enables connected devices to communicate locally in a home without a cloud connection.
Although the news of Matter’s integration was announced at
the time of Dirigera’s launch, its rollout got delayed. Matter is now available
for the Dirigera hub via the Ikea Home Smart app, which also already supports
Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, and Google Home.
During Matter’s beta testing for Dirigera, Ikea plans to collect feedback from the beta users so it can further improve the overall experience before launching Matter to all customers on Dirigera.
WiZ, the smart lighting company, is launching a new feature
for its motion-sensing Wi-Fi smart bulbs. The feature is a Home Monitoring functionality,
paired with an indoor security camera, and is designed to alert owners of intrusion
attempts.
The new Home Monitoring feature will detect motion using WiZ’s
SpaceSensing / Wi-Fi sensing technology that can identify changes in Wi-Fi
signal strength caused by movement, and will turn lights on or off. Upon detecting
any motion, it will send an alert to the WiZ app where you will be able to view
the camera recording that it captures.
The WiZ Home Monitoring Starter kit will be available for sale June 15 onwards. It costs 159.99 Euro and comes with three WiZ A19 full-color smart bulbs and one camera. In case you already own at least two WiZ bulbs or lights, you can purchase the camera separately for 89.99 Euro. You will be able to find the Home Monitoring feature for free in the WiZ V2 app.
Apple has
announced the launch of its second generation HomePod smart speaker
priced at $299. The speaker features support for the wireless protocol Thread
and the smart home standard Matter, support for spatial audio with Dolby Atmos,
and support for handing off music. It is designed using an upgraded S7 chip, a single
four-inch woofer paired with five tweeters, and five microphones.
In addition to these impressive features, the HomePod also
has the capability to detect its positioning in a room and adjust its sound
depending on that. The design of the speaker also incorporates built-in
temperature and humidity sensors. Moreover, the voice assistant Siri within the
speaker is capable of recognizing up to six different voices and providing
personalized responses.
The HomePod’s potential doesn’t end here. Apple has also announced that the speaker will be updated with a software that allows it to listen for smoke or carbon monoxide alarms through its built-in microphones and notify the user about it via an iPhone.
Despite the ongoing intense war in Ukraine, more than 6
million people have returned back to their home, according to the latest
figures by the International Organization for Migration (IMO). Since IMO
records began on April 17, there has been a sound increase of people making the
journey, whether from abroad or from other parts of the country. According to
the figures provided by latest surveys, around 16 percent of returnees were
people aged 60 and older, 57 percent of them were females and 25 percent were
infants or children under 17 years.
Wardrobes are the most searched for type of furniture, with 301,000 searches per month.
This made us wonder, in what ways to our home designs support and impact and physical and mental health and what can be done to improve both?
ImproveNet surveyed nearly 3,000 Americans in 24 major cities across the country to find out. The impetus of the survey was to try and learn more about American’s connections to their homes and overall levels of wellness and happiness. They asked about home design and home characteristics that fit into 5 different categories that can impact or physical and mental health.
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