A few years ago, connectivity and home automation systems were only within the reach of a privileged few with sufficient resources to install the different sensors and equipment necessary for the operation of basic applications with rough and sometimes complex interfaces to use. Today, it is possible to create smart homes capable of offering us a multitude of options. However, we still have the problem of fragmentation. That is to say, there are very varied alternatives to protocols and brands, often incompatible with each other, so we must choose very well the system we are going to opt for. In the last two or three years, this diversity has been reduced, or rather concentrated, in what we can call platforms or ecosystems where the different sensors and home automation elements live. Below we will review the most popular different alternatives for smart home automation, each with its advantages, disadvantages, and range of compatible devices. Amazon and its ubiquitous Alexa: Amazon set out to make home automation a more attractive experience for the general public and it seems that it is achieving it due to its multiple products and devices. It started with a modest and simple smart speaker called the Echo, but it gradually extends its domains to multiple and different areas of the connected home. The basic operation of Alexa is very simple. We ask a question or give an order to a compatible device capable of understanding us and it either executes it if it can do it directly or sends the necessary commands transparently for the user to the target gadget in charge of the task. In this way we can distinguish two types of devices, those that have Alexa integrated directly and can understand our commands, such as smart speakers, and those that can receive commands. To start creating an Alexa ecosystem, we must first get one of the Amazon speakers, such as the Amazon Echo. From there we can search for a multitude of devices and accessories available on the brand's website. Everything is available from light bulbs to WiFi repeaters, lighting systems, plugs, speakers, etc. Of course, we must bear in mind that many of them are from little-known brands. Google Assistant, your new virtual butler: Google also wanted its share of the cake and that's why in recent years it has been subtly sneaking its virtual assistant Google Assistant into our lives. First in the form of software for mobile terminals and with language limitations that little by little has been overcome with forecasts of surpassing the more than 30 languages. And later as a complete home device in the handy form of a connected speaker capable of helping us with basic tasks. It was with the arrival from 2017 of the original Google Home, the Home Mini and later the Home Max when the plans of the search engine giant have been outlining beyond the smartphone in two modalities: devices with the assistant incorporated inside and equipment that do not have it but can be managed from them, a strategy very similar to that of Amazon. One of Assistant's strengths is its ability to speak multiple languages and adoption by third-party companies, with more than 5,000 compatible devices. Apple HomeKit: Apple could not be left out of the home automation sector and to enter through the front door there was nothing better than to take advantage of its wide customer base with an iOS terminal. This is how HomeKit was born, the brand's home automation solution, offering manufacturers the possibility of integrating their products in iOS in a simple way and all controllable from a single application. HomeKit coordinates the different apps that our home automation systems manage, working in the background and making the applications connect to each other so that they can be managed from a single device, also including support for the Siri voice assistant. In addition, as we use the application and the teams, the system is supposed to learn about our guidelines and remember our habits in order to anticipate our needs. Which devices are compatible? Well, as we pointed out few of the devices among 100 household appliances, the brands will continues to add more and more devices with more advanced features.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
|