The Verge

The smart home was once a far-flung pipe dream, but it is now a reality. Wherever you live, your home is ground zero for some of the most interesting tech available right now, and tech that’s yet to come. Best of all, it doesn’t have to cost a fortune to get your home up and running with smart hardware and services.

Home security and monitoring solutions can alert you to a burglary, smoke, fire, or just simple motion activity. There are plenty of options with a range of capabilities, from smart doorbells and smart locks to indoor and outdoor cameras that can see in the dark.

Smart speakers, like the Google Home, Amazon Echo, and Apple HomePod each play a big role in helping you out, too. In the kitchen, they can read out recipes, or if you’re cleaning, you can call out to them to change the song on the fly. If you buy smart light bulbs, for instance, you can turn them on and off by using your voice.

Smart Home

Panasonic has a prototype of its upcoming remote for use with the web browser on select 2012 Smart Viera HDTVs. These are our hands-on shots.

Panasonic Smart Viera prototype remote photos

Verge Deals

Panasonic Smart Viera prototype remote photos

The Game Awards 2023: all of the biggest trailers and announcements

The race to 5G is over — now it’s time to pay the bill

Geoff Keighley let video game developers down

Google just launched a new AI and has already admitted at least one demo wasn’t real

Google launches Gemini, the AI model it hopes will take down GPT-4

Panasonic Smart Viera prototype remote photos

Panasonic Smart Viera prototype remote photos

Panasonic has a prototype of its upcoming remote for use with the web browser on select 2012 Smart Viera HDTVs. These are our hands-on shots.

The Game Awards 2023: all of the biggest trailers and announcements

The race to 5G is over — now it’s time to pay the bill

Geoff Keighley let video game developers down

Google just launched a new AI and has already admitted at least one demo wasn’t real

Google launches Gemini, the AI model it hopes will take down GPT-4

More from Smart Home

After promising support for Matter and Thread, Level launches a Wi-Fi bridge instead

eBay’s early holiday sale brings discounts on Samsung’s The Frame TV and Bose headphones

How Ecobee is becoming the smart home company Nest should have been

What is Wi-Fi 7 — and do you even need it?

Panasonic Smart Viera prototype remote photos

Panasonic Smart Viera prototype remote photos

Panasonic has a prototype of its upcoming remote for use with the web browser on select 2012 Smart Viera HDTVs. These are our hands-on shots.

Share this story

The Game Awards 2023: all of the biggest trailers and announcements

The race to 5G is over — now it’s time to pay the bill

Geoff Keighley let video game developers down

Google just launched a new AI and has already admitted at least one demo wasn’t real

Google launches Gemini, the AI model it hopes will take down GPT-4

More from Smart Home

After promising support for Matter and Thread, Level launches a Wi-Fi bridge instead

eBay’s early holiday sale brings discounts on Samsung’s The Frame TV and Bose headphones

How Ecobee is becoming the smart home company Nest should have been

What is Wi-Fi 7 — and do you even need it?