The popular task automation tool has launched channels for Belkin WeMo, Jawbone's UP, and Philips Hue, allowing users to control lights and home appliances with their phones, computers, and tablets.
In the 1960s we were told that the future was all about automated homes. (Also: jetpacks, flying cars, robot maids, etc.) The idea has since languished. But a few Kickstarter projects may yet prove the future is now.
Belkin's just tweaked its Powerline Networking hardware and made it a promising alternative to Wi-fi--it's been given ethernet speeds of a gigabit per second. That's five times faster than other powerline systems, and nearly twice as fast as 802.11n.
Most power strips are flagrant examples of terrible design--always conspicuous and hideously colored, they actually create more ugliness, by causing ugly wire tangles. What do you do with them? Here's a few of the best-designed power strips and cord management systems around:
