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naples mac help

MAKING YOUR HOME
SMARTER

W e all hear the term ‘smart’ all the time now as a descriptive prefix SMART DOORBELL

to common items. Smart phones. Smart lights. Smart TV sets.
What if you’re not home and you’re expecting an
Smart thermostats. Smart homes. Wait….smart homes? How
important package? The Ring video doorbell lets you
can you get started making your home smarter?
answer a ring
The item you already likely have in your home that counts as a smart
at your door
device is your TV set. If your set was made in the last four years, it can likely
from your smart
connect to the internet to bring you online services such as Netflix, Hulu or
phone, you can
Amazon Video. The ability to connect you to these services is what makes
see and speak
your TV ‘smart.’ If you have that mastered, you are ready to move on to
to whoever is
getting more devices that are connected and thus smart. Here are a few that
there! Don’t
can make your life a bit easier.
worry, the video
For most, if not all, of the items I will review, you will need a smart phone
is only one
to have the most control over your technology.
way; you can
see them but they can’t see you, so if you’re just getting
SMART LIGHTING out of the shower, you can have a two-way conversation
Lighting is an easy way to get into and ask the delivery person to leave the package on the
the smart home lifestyle, and you porch. Optional motion alerts send a notification when
already have them in every room! movement is triggered as well as record the visitor, and you
You can replace your existing bulbs can access a live view of the front door at any time. If you
with smart LED bulbs that will last live on a street with lots of traffic, you can select motion
20-25 years, and start automating zones that limit false alarms.
your home with them. LED light
bulbs also use 80 percent less power SMART
than traditional bulbs, so it won’t take long for them to pay for themselves.
You can control individual bulbs or multiple rooms of them from your CAMERAS
smartphone, and you can schedule bulbs so that they turn on when you Having a
wake up, or turn off when you go to sleep or leave for work. I personally security camera
use the Philips Hue bulbs, and bulbs made by GE, IKEA, Cree and other in the home
manufacturers are also available. In addition to the smart bulbs, you will need provides total
a hub which is the hardware that allows your smart phone to control lighting peace of mind.
from anywhere. The hub connects to your home modem or router, and all The Canary smart home security camera lets you keep an
you have to do is plug it in! eye on things while you’re away on vacation, and also lets
you check up on your cats while you’re at work. Canary
sends motion-activated alerts to your phone and records
activity in HD video. The Canary also has a siren built into
the camera, so if you see something amiss, you can trigger
the alarm and call the police! Timeline videos stored in the
cloud can be accessed from anywhere using the app (which

Jeff Bohr | Naples Mac Help 239.595.0482 | jeff@jeffbohr.com