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- Life Imitates Art At The Cannes Film Festival - The Great Heist Movies
- Silvie Paladino sings for Denis Walter
- Best and worst movie adaptations
- What’s the best type of property to buy?
- Jim Schembri's cheat sheet - 17 May
- Fast facts: Dick Van Dyke
- New release movie reviews - May 17
- Casey Donovan sings for Denis Walter
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- Popi on Around the home with Shannon Lush Hi ShannonHow do I remove nail polish from carpet.CheersPopi more
- Lynne on Around the home with Shannon Lush Hi,My female cat has a problem with weeing in a corner of the house. I was wondering what can I use to remove the smell? ... more
- Jeff on Will Movie 43 be the Worst Film of '13? go watch transformers if you want to see the spectacular battle scenes. that isn't what the movie is about. and you're ... more
- Yvonne Guerra on Around the home with Shannon Lush Hi ShannonI have a damp wet smell inside my dryer and want to know what I can use to rid this smellThanks in advance :) more
- Wendy on Casey Donovan sings for Denis Walter Fantastic! I love listening to Casey, but love watching her sing even more. I must book......NOW! more
- Lyn on Casey Donovan sings for Denis Walter Her versatility is just mind blowing! Is there nothing she can't do? Casey connects to her lyric and takes her audiences ... more
- Shelley Blew on Around the home with Shannon Lush Hi Shannon, Can you please help me to remove the sticky residue from airport stickers off an ostrich skin barrel bag. more
- Kere on Casey Donovan sings for Denis Walter This is a fine example of why this woman is my favourite singer EVER. From Metallica to Mama Cass, she shines and channels ... more
- Debbie May on Around the home with Shannon Lush We have recently built a new home and have bamboo click together floorboards. Some tradie has walked something through which ... more
- jane on Around the home with Shannon Lush HELP please ShannonI have ironed an iron on number onto the back of my sons footy jumper and it has wrinkled. I need to ... more
- John Twomey on New release movie reviews - 21 March Marie,As I hope you have found by now, "The Cruel Sea" is available through Amazon.com at ... more
- John Twomey on The Ten Tenors perform 'Hey Jude' Wow. That kind of ... sucked, to be honest. And for anyone who says, "Oh, I suppose you could do it better" ... yes, as a ... more
- abdul the "turkish bath"(er) on Renee Geyer with Billy Pinnell She's a class act I saw her at the Albion in South Melb, now the butchered plastic joint called the Motel.Get to see her ... more
- Yvonne McCaig on Health with Gerald Quigley Hi Gerald,Could you please tell me what to take for weak finger nails that also have ugly ridges?Kind regardsYvonne more
- Pru on Sunrise girls and their ... Heard this Barr piece comment one time she is so tired in the afternoon, she feels like belting the kids at 4.00 p.m. more
- Michelle on Around the home with Shannon Lush Hi Shannon, we had my daughters 18th on the weekend and we hired a slushie machine. Just my luck someone who was rather ... more
- Caroline on Around the home with Shannon Lush Hi Shannon, I placed my dark wet washing on top of the wet light colours and I have had a black pair of jeans leave dye on a ... more
- Chris Hutton on Around the home with Shannon Lush Hi Shannon On 7/5/13 you answered a question in relation to cleaning Scanpan cookware - I missed most of your answer but ... more
- Colleen on Health with Gerald Quigley My hisband has been ill bronchitis and pneunomia for about 3 weeks. Could you please repeat the supplements you suggested ... more
- the serial pest on The Ten Tenors perform 'Hey Jude' Why was this not authorised by me first? more
What are smart homes nowadays
We all recall when someone we knew had a remote garage door and we thought, wow, how lucky are they? Nowadays, most new homes have things like, video intercoms, home theatre systems, we are seeing a lot of homes with keyless entry and surveillance/camera systems that can be viewed from iPads or smart phones remotely and people can even turn their heating & cooling on and off remotely.
Now we are seeing:
Smart Integration
It’s the buzzword-smart homes can work out what a home needs before it’s owner does. They can be programmed to maximize solar heat and light in Winter and minimize it in Summer with automated blinds, shutters and curtains as well as temperature control systems. If there is a fault, the system can email the owner and let them know of the fault.
There’s also a system where you can press one button to lock your doors and be sure all the lights are off and the TV!
Smart Energy
There are systems that can measure the power use from each appliance. It can take the guesswork out of what the best setting is in order to run your heating and cooling efficiently and cost effectively.
Smart Media
Things like Sonos wireless sound systems streaming music through your home are now common. There are also tablet devices and apps that can control every component of a home media system, like the Television, DVD player, Foxtel and home theatre.
Smart Kitchens
Self-cleaning pyrolytic ovens, steam ovens, steam dishwashers, fridges with wi-fi and LCD screens.
Smart Cleaning
Robomaid automatic vacuum cleaners are becoming popular. Nono coatings for shower screens and mirrors to reduce cleaning are also becoming popular.
Clearly, as time goes on, we will continue to see advances in technology and whilst some of these things may seem a little bit like gimmicks, the more they are accepted and the more they are used by consumers, the more demand will increase and prices will come down and they will become more accessible and a part of our daily life & routines.
James Hatzimoisis is a Director and Auctioneer with Barry Plant Real Estate.
