Introductions
Introduction to Smart Entertainment: A Brief History of Wireless Remote Controls
It is a rainy September afternoon in New York. We are at the first Electrical Exhibition held at Madison Square Garden. A tall, skinny man is standing next to a big pool, surrounded by...
Introduction to Smart Lighting: A Very Brief History of Light
Just as light is a vital component of life, smart lighting is a cornerstone of our smart home. In this introduction post (thank you for the feedback, that we need such posts!), we will...
New Ideas
How to teach your Logitech Harmony: Alexa, Hey Google turn on Roomba!
It must have been a strange moment for Mr. Colin M. Angle, CEO of iRobot, when he presumably announced summer 2017 his plans to sell the mapping data share maps for free with customer consent of his...
Logitech Harmony and Alexa: Setup, Voice Commands and a Candlelight Dinner
This Valentine's post is a story of appreciation, harmony and ultimately ... love. In this post we are going to connect Alexa with our Logitech Harmony Hub, only to find one of the loveliest integrations...
Sleeping Better with Smart Lighting: Smarter “Go to Bed” and “Wake Up”
We spend 36% of our lives asleep, and while the average sleep period has decreased over the last 60 years, neuroscience is discovering more and more how important sleep is for our well-being. Can...
Top Devices
Logitech Harmony – a Hub and it’s Elite, Ultimate, Companion
How many remote controls do you (have to) use?
How many times are you searching for one of them, only to find you need the other one? Switching input channels and turning devices on, on...
Philips Hue – Smart Lighting needs a Smart Setup
Philips Hue is a personal wireless lighting system, enabling you to control and automate your lights from your smartphone and digital assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant.
There are many smart lighting vendors: Osram...
Nanoleaf Aurora – Smart Lighting, Living Paint or Smart Art?
Nanoleaf Aurora provides a personal smart lighting experience which is indeed unlike anything I have seen before. It is a smart lighting device, consisting of triangular LED panels which you can plug together in...
Top Assistant Posts
Hey Google, Play Some Music! All The Music Voice Commands
"Hey Google, play the album with a diving baby and a one dollar bill on its cover." "Alright, here's the album Nevermind on Google Play Music."
Seriously?
There's a bunch of commands and features in this post,...
Google Assistant and Philips Hue: Setup, Review and Voice Commands
In this post, we will configure Philips Hue for Google Assistant. Before we start, we have to say goodbye to multiple Philips Hue bridges and Philips Hue scenes. Finally Google Assistant (Version 1.2.8215) fixes the...
Alexa, Play Some Music: All The Music Voice Commands
If you are anything like me, you don't like to pull out your smartphone to browse for the music you'd like to hear. So you're standing there, in front of Alexa, wondering what you...
Logitech Harmony and Google Assistant: Setup and Voice Commands
In this post, we will connect Google Assistant with our Logitech Harmony Hub. In case you have not already set up your Harmony devices, activities and favorites, it is a good time to do...
Assistant Showdown with Philips Hue: Who will win, Siri, Alexa or Google?
Let's compare the strengths and weaknesses of our assistants in combination with Philips Hue. Since Google finally also supports Philips Hue room and scene import, and some smart home features have been added to...
Siri and Apple Music: The Many Voice Commands for HomePod, iPhone, Apple TV, Apple...
If you are anything like me, the sound of your new HomePod somehow managed to make you fall in love with music, again. So you are sitting in front of your new speaker, wondering...
Logitech Harmony and Alexa: Setup, Voice Commands and a Candlelight Dinner
This Valentine's post is a story of appreciation, harmony and ultimately ... love. In this post we are going to connect Alexa with our Logitech Harmony Hub, only to find one of the loveliest integrations...
Google Home and Nanoleaf Aurora: Setup and Voice Commands
Make sure you have installed Aurora according to “Nanoleaf Aurora – Smart Lighting, Living Paint or Smart Art?”. In this post, we will setup Google Assistant to talk to your Aurora.
Preparation
To support Alexa and...
Alexa and Philips Hue: Setup, Review and Voice Commands
Let's set up Alexa to talk to your Philips Hue smart lighting. You will be surprised, how simple and effective Alexa supports your Philips Hue lights by importing your rooms and scenes, as well as...
Workaround: Philips Hue Scenes in Google Assistant through IFTTT
Finally our Google Home supports Philips Hue scenes natively! Still, if this feature does not work for you, here's a workaround.
Before we start, let me warn you that with this workaround you will need...
