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

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Screenshots of LG's new feathered digital assistant for webOS smart TVs.

LG's Bean Bird takes flight

LG's Bean Bird takes flight

LG's Bean Bird takes flight

Screenshots of LG's new feathered digital assistant for webOS smart TVs.

Google quietly ends support for decade-old Chromecast

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LG's Bean Bird takes flight

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Screenshots of LG's new feathered digital assistant for webOS smart TVs.

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Google quietly ends support for decade-old Chromecast

The iPhone is dead — long live the iPhone

A developer says Reddit could charge him $20 million a year to keep his app working

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Twitter just closed the book on academic research

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