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Some Of The Best Smart Home Gadgets Revealed At CES 2021

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CES is known as the biggest electronics show of the year. While the pandemic may have caused the conference to look a little different this year, tech giants still managed to stun smart technology lovers with a slew of new products that would be the perfect addition to anyone’s smart home. Here’s a list of some of the most talked-about gadgets that were released this year at CES 2021: 

Denon Home Sound Bar 550: This soundbar is the perfect addition to any entertainment system. It delivers lifelike audio that is meant to fill a space and “move” in all 360-degrees, to give you that genuine surround sound experience. 

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Samsung Family Hub Smart Fridge: Smart refrigerator’s are relatively new to the smart home realm, however, Samsung has been a major trailblazer in these devices. This year, they’ve released an upgraded version of their Family Hub Smart Fridge which now has upgraded widgets to help you order groceries, find recipes, manage your other smart appliances, and so much more!

Samsung AI Robotic Vacuum: When one thinks about artificial intelligence, the last device you would think that it would be implemented into would be a vacuum. Samsung, however, feels the complete opposite, and has released a robotic vacuum that uses AI technology and special sensors to recognize specific objects on the floors and avoid all fragile pieces of furniture. It even has a built in camera so you can watch its route from anywhere. 

LOCKLY Duo Smart Lock: This electronic lock/deadbolt system for your door gives homeowners easy access to their space and a ton of security properties to keep you and your family safe. It’s equipped with dual-locking technology that allows you to lock and unlock the latch and deadbolt in one single motion. It also features voice assistant integration and worldwide monitoring so you’re able to be notified anytime your door is opened when you’re not home. 

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Nobi Smart Lamp For The Elderly: This smart lamp was designed with AI technology specifically to be used to detect falls. This way individuals who are either elderly and can’t move around as well as they used to, or who maybe have some sort of physical disability that puts them at an increased risk of falling, won’t have to worry about getting help should they fall down. The lamp delivers 24/7 battery-free monitoring and will call for help immediately if it senses you’ve fallen over and are struggling to get back up. 

Ampere Power Bluetooth Shower Speaker: There are a ton of waterproof Bluetooth shower speakers on the market now, but little compared to Ampere’s newest shower speaker. Unlike most Bluetooth speakers on the market, Ampere’s doesn’t ever need to be charged. It attaches right onto your shower-head and is thus powered by running water, so it’s constantly recharging as you get yourself clean. 

Samsung Bot Handy Smart Home Robot: In terms of Utopian visions of the future, Samsung’s Smart Home Robot is about as innovative as you can get. The robot literally recognizes and picks up household objects that need to be cleaned up or are in the way, such as cups, bowls, trash, etc. It even can help you clean your room and put away the dishes.  

Nest Home Speaker

Everything You Need To Know About Google’s New Home Speaker, Nest Audio

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Google is no stranger to creating smart home technology that anyone can use to make their at-home life a little more luxurious. Now, they’ve released their new Nest Audio smart speaker system, which is their next generation of full-size smart speaker for everyday use. The new speaker promises to improve upon speaker volume by an “astounding percentage.” 

Nest Audio is going to replace the original Google Home line of smart speakers, but it will not be replacing the Google Nest, despite their similar names. Google Home Max, Nest Mini, Nest Hub, and Nest Hub Max smart displays will all also remain available as a part of Google’s smart home technology. 

As of right now the Google Store is taking pre-orders for the Nest Audio for $100, but will discount that price by $20 for every two you buy; so if you bought two they would technically cost $90 each. Orders for Nest Audio will begin shipping out in the US, Canada, and India on October 5th and will be available in physical retail establishments starting October 15th. 

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The Nest Audio comes in five pastel colors; chalk, charcoal, sage, sand, and sky blue. The speaker itself is covered in a fabric-like mesh material that is made of 70% recycled plastic. Most tech experts, however, are more concerned about what’s actually different between the Nest Audio and previous Google Home speaker models that it will be replacing. 

The Nest Audio has a 3-inch woofer speaker system, which when compared to Google Home’s single 2-inch model gives off a better bass control with the ability to hit cleaner, higher notes. The quad-core processor internally also gives Nest Audio a much quicker response time and aids the device in emitting a rich, crisp sound. 

The Nest Audio also has a dedicated machine learning chip within it that performs on-device processing when it comes to privacy and response time. Aesthetically, focus groups are obsessing over the “loaf-like” design of the new speakers, claiming it looks sleek and less like an air freshener when compared to previous Google models. 

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One of the major points of contention over this “re-branding” of sorts from Google is whether or not all Google Home speakers will be Nest Audio now or not. As of right now, it’s looking like Google will stick with their tradition of clear branding by embracing the name “Nest across more of their smart home devices in the future.

This renaming has also confused current Google Home speaker users on whether or not they’ll need a new app to control the newer speakers. As of right now Google has two apps that connect to their home technology, one for nest and one for Google Home. The names of the devices have ever matched up with the applications, the Nest app is used mainly for security cameras, and thermostats while Google Home’s app controls the speakers, so Nest Audio will likely sync up with that app. 

There’s no word on any new Google Assistant commands that will be made available with the Nest Audio launch, however the company has claimed that the speaker in general has easier to use controls and sound quality that will work enough to separate it from its predecessors.