Automated Home Podcast

We chat with Simon Collinson, Commercial Director of Consumer and Home System for Philips Hue in the UK about integrating with more than 700 apps, affordability and adding Hue to John Lewis lighting.

We chat with David Mudd, Business Development Direct of IoT at the BSI, about the new British Standard for IoT devices.

We chat to Nigel Fisher, Managing Director of Yale Retail UK about hitting a new £100 price point for smart locks, retro-fits, proximity unlocking and the 9 volt emergency battery trick.

We chat with Paul Hughes, Head of PR and Communications at Tado, about heating controls, smart thermostats, geofencing and heat pumps in the UK.

We got some face to face time with Abbie Byrom, Director, Global Partner Marketing at Samsung SmartThings. We chatted about integration, Zigbee, AI and the Connected Home tech that's coming to your appliances.

Our review series comes to a conclusion with some interesting running costs comparisons with our petrol mower. Read all the details here - http://autoho.me/2c6WZML

This week there are some weird tufts of grass and some strange patterns appearing on our lawn. So what's happened? Read all the details here - http://autoho.me/2al5BfA #HusqvarnaAutomowerChallenge #Husqvarna

So far living with the Husqvarna Automower has been an overwhelmingly positive experience. However 1 aspect of ownership gives cause for concern. Read all the details here - http://autoho.me/2a0SYZ6

The Automower doesn't care if it's wet or dry, it just gets on with the job in hand. We also cleaned the machine & replaced the blades. Read all the details here - http://autoho.me/29GNUGm http://www.automowerchallenge.co.uk #HusqvarnaAutomowerChallenge #Husqvarna

Automower 'Connect' is Husqvarna's name for their smartphone interface to the mower. The Connect board uses the cellular network and connects to Husqvarna's servers via 2G GPRS. Read all the details here - http://autoho.me/28IcDcm    

Part 3 of our Husqvarna Automower Review shows the timer setup as we back the machine off it's 24/7 pace and some great drone footage of the bot as it takes care of our lawn. Read all the details here - http://autoho.me/1TUYh8w

Part 2 of our Husqvarna Automower Review shows the machines first cut, a comparison with our ride-on, the charging procedure, a before and after of 2 weeks progress and a time lapse of the random cutting pattern. Read all the details here - http://autoho.me/1U8wEuM http://www.automowerchallenge.co.uk #HusqvarnaAutomowerChallenge #Husqvarna #Automower

Earlier this year Husqvarna launched a campaign looking for 100 bloggers to test out their Automower robotic lawnmower range. Now who doesn’t want their own little R2D2 running round their garden, so of course I applied and in the end was lucky enough to be shortlisted to receive one of the bots. So here's the first of around ten or so short videos across this mowing season on the Husqvarna 430X Automower, starting with its arrival and setup at the Automated Home a few days ago.

The brand new Apple Mac mini was released earlier this week. We connect it up to our AV system as the ultimate 1080p HiDef media streamer in conjunction with open source Plex software

This time we're joined by Ian Lowe and Mal Lansell of the xPL Project. We discuss how the open source Home Automation Protocol came about, how it aims to be the "glue" in your smart home setup and the variety of hardware that can talk to each other through the systems hub.

We've updated the iPhone to V2.0 and installed a few apps to play with. Of most interest to Home Automators will be the new free Apple "Remote" application. Here's a quick two minute video tour showing just how quick and easy it is to install and use.

Show AH0014 features an interview with Matt Bendiksen from Perceptive Automation. We talk about their home automation software solution for the Mac - Indigo. Even if you're not a OS X user there's plenty of interesting chat including the differences between X10 and Insteon hardware, what it's like being a developer of a home automation system and the potential of the iPhone and iPod touch as a smart home controller.

This time we talk to AlertMe.com co-founder and director Pilgrim Beart along with his Chief Design Engineer, Dr Amyas Phillips. We talk about the technical background that lead both men to work on one of the UKs most innovative security systems, discuss the architecture of the Zigbee mesh network and the Linux powered hub at the centre of the system.

This time we talk to Ian Dixon of theDigitalLifeStyle.com. Ian has been producing his podcast since 2005 and with over 150 shows under his belt already he's one of the UK's most prolific bloggers on the Digital Home. We chat about how he got interested in Media Centre, his Windows Home Server setup and his special relationship with Microsoft.

In the fifth and final of our video interviews from this years Smart Home Show we have a quick chat with Guy Reece from WebBrick. Guy talks about the hectic last 12 months for the company and how they are using their product to manage renewables and save energy in other intelligent home configurations. The WebBrick gateway uses standards based HTML so can be configured to output almost anything you require and support for DMX lighting control has just been added too.

Show AH0010 marks the first of our audio podcasts (shows 1-9 are all video content). In this hour long episode we interview "IBM Master Inventor", Dr Prof Andy Stanford-Clark. We talk to him about his work in industrial telemetry integration that's lead him into the world of home automation. We chat about his hi-tech home, his internet connected mouse trap and monitoring his domestic power consumtion via Twitter.

In the fourth of our video interviews from this years Smart Home Show we talk to Chiu Lu Yung from Cytech, manufacturers of the Comfort smart home security system. Chiu shows us round some of the new additions to the range, including the Z-Wave serial interface we announced last month. We also look at the new design of the door station as well as a biometric interface and a new CCTV option.

In the third of our video interviews from this years Smart Home Show we talk to Dave Robinson of Sensible Heat. Dave shows us round the new Web Manager, an embedded Linux PC heating controller. We also talk about the third party home automation companies interfacing to their technology and the reason this year in particular people are taking heating control more seriously than ever.

In the second of our video interviews from this years Smart Home Show we talk to Iain Shaw, founder of the UK based integrators - Brilliant Living. Iain talks us through a live example of a recent custom installation carried out on a holiday home on the east coast of England. Using the beautiful AMX panel (around £3,000 worth) we see how the skill of an integrator can combine audio, video, lighting, heating, security and weather cameras into a single, easily managed interface.

Recently featured on Channel Five's Gadget Show, the AlertMe is a brand new Smart Home Security system from a UK start-up. After spending a few weeks with the product we reveal its highs and lows and provide the information you need to decide if it's right for you.After you've watched the video you can read our full review here - http://www.automatedhome.co.uk/New-Products/AlertMe-ZigBee-Smart-Home-Security-System-Review.html

In the first of our video interviews from this years Smart Home Show we talk to Andrew Pemberton of Schneider Electric, the UK distributors of Clipsal C-Bus products. We talk about the new black and white C-Bus touchscreen with its much improved contrast and we get a chance to flip off the front to see what lies beneath. We also check out the the new blind relay and chat about some possible future modules too.

We've spent may hours with Drobo and DroboShare over the last few weeks preparing our review. We've finally put down the camera, finished the text and graphics so today we can published our video. After you've watched the video check out our review with photos, graphs and screen grabs from Windows, Mac and Linux. Oh, and our verdict on Drobo too - http://www.automatedhome.co.uk/New-Products/Drobo-DroboShare-In-Depth-Review.html

We've just got back from the Smart Home Show and while we can't say it was a big show, there was still some interesting stuff there. We were lucky enough to be accompanied by a proper film crew this year so we have five interviews coming up in the next few weeks that we filmed at the show. In the meantime here's a quick video (edited and uploaded within 2 hours of leaving the NEC - gotta love iMovie08!) of some of the sights round this years exhibition.

Do you NEED to be able to connect to the net always? Do you feel funny when you aren’t near a wi-fi hotspot? Are you outside the range of traditional ADSL and cable but have 3G cellular cover?Does your home or office need a backup broadband service for those frustrating outages? If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions then the new Vodafone USB Stick 3G Modem may be for you. After you've watched the video read our full review of this mini marvel - http://www.automatedhome.co.uk/Reviews/Vodafone-USB-Stick-3G-Modem-Review.html

Our quick video of the HomeEasy RF Wireless Home Automation system. Read our full review for details on the remote shown, plus the range of different dimmer modules available here - http://www.automatedhome.co.uk/Reviews/HomeEasy-Wireless-Home-Automation-Review.html