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Love Orange
1. Never run out of fresh milk again for your cuppa. Smart fridges connect to your personal devices so that they can alert you when the milk’s gone off. Take it one step further, and you can program the fridge to order you more drinks or food when supplies run low. Add to that new functionality that suggests recipes for you to try based on the foods you have in your fridge.
2. Come home, oven ready. You can direct your kitchen to pre-heat the oven on your way back from work so that it’s primed to use as soon as you walk through your front door. Even better, pop a few potatoes in the oven before you leave and return to piping hot jacket potatoes. Other kitchen devices can be remote-operated too— why not set your smart coffee machine to wake you up with a fresh brew?
3. Your front door will unlock itself as you approach. Imagine you’re carrying loads of bags or your keys are at the bottom of your handbag—never mind! Your front door can be fitted with sensors that respond to the key-card in your bag or to your smartphone itself so that the door automatically unlocks as you walk up your front path.
4. What are the kids watching? You can monitor your children’s screen-time from the safety of your own mobile phone. Programme the televisual devices in your home to allow a certain amount of screen time, and to alert you to what is being viewed online.
5. Did you leave the iron on? Smart appliances can now be connected to a central hub device that keeps track of which items are in use. Wondering if you’ve left your hair-curling-iron switched on—never fear, the house will tell you its status and you can turn it off from your hand-held device wherever you are. Also: washing machines and dryers can now alert you when their cycles have finished with a simple text message.
6. Knock, knock! Who’s there? Ever wonder what might be making those noises outside your front door late at night? Or if the rustling in the garden is just the local cats on the hunt? There are plenty of systems now available that connect security cameras, motion sensors, lights, and alarms – and they can all be accessed from the comfort of your own bed. No need to scramble for a torch and creep downstairs to see what’s scuffling by the bins outside. Just access the security cameras from your tablet or telephone to see what’s up.
7. Chill out and get cosy. You can programme your smart house to regulate temperature so that you never have to battle with your husband again over the heating. No more April to October boiler settings. Set the house to warm up your bedroom to a specific temperature at dawn before you wake up, or to cool down the house before you come home on a hot day.