With a tap, a swipe, a knock, a voice command or even doing nothing at all, you can control and monitor virtually anything in your home, and I do mean anything. Control the lights, open and close your drapes and blinds, check what's in the fridge and match it up to recipes, monitor the heating and air conditioning, turn appliances on and off, see who's at the door, safeguard your medications, play with the dog, water the lawn, play your favorite tunes, take a call, watch a movie, order a meal, I could go on, but I'm sure you get where I'm going.

In addition to being incredibly advanced and useful, it's enabling increased independence affordably. You can get a speaker hub for under $50 and if you have a router, a smart phone or a tablet you're ready to take control of your home and your life in the most amazing ways.

The most immediate method is to start with a smart product.

There's an app for that.

There really is. When you buy a smart product, count on it having a either a proprietary standalone app or platform connectivity with one or more of the main providers including Google, Amazon, Samsung, and Apple. The product range is huge and you don't need a full hub system to operate it.

Switch it up and take it with you

Smart switches are adapters that go into outlets that enable you to automate what's plugged in to them. Keep one in your bag when traveling or in your dorm room to control your lamps and other compatible products either with a remote or app.

Smart Speakers do more than play music - they're task oriented using "skills" to do all sorts of things, and they're robust enough to act as a hub for your connected system, which you'll likely want as you add more smart items to your daily life.

Smart Home Platforms

Alexa is Amazon’s cloud-based voice service available on more than 100 million devices from Amazon and third-party device manufacturers. Alexa is free to use and you can add apps and skills to enhance the service. Amazon Prime customers have access to expanded options and a paid business package is also available.

Hey Siri is the activation command for Apple HomeKit connected devices. Use the app to group functions by room as well as function to control everything in a convenient single command or screen tap.

Hey Google opens the vast reach of google home using Google Assistant. With Assistant, you can control more than 5,000 smart home devices from more than 150 brands.

Wink With Wink, building a smart home is easier than ever before. Start with connected products from your favorite brands including GE, Nest, Philips, and Schlage. Before you know it, your home will be doing things you never thought possible.

Wearables

Smart technology isn't just for homes. Wearables include hearing aids, monitors for your bladder, heart rate and glucose levels, calories burned, stress and pain management, control your temperature and emergency / fall alarms. There are even wearables for your pets that can control doors, litter boxes, feeders, monitor health, activity levels and sleeping patterns.

Hubs & Controllers

A hub provides a platform to control multiple products and allows for automation of processes like timing your lights or adjusting the thermostat and setting alarms etc from a single interface accessed by your phone or tablet. Think of it as your control center for your connected compatible devices.

Google Home Hub brings you visual help for any moment at home. With the Google Assistant built in, use your voice to view your latest events and reminders, and control smart devices from a single dashboard. Ask questions, and get visual, immersive answers from Google, and helpful videos from YouTube.

Google Home Mini is powered by the Google Assistant, so you can ask it questions and tell it to do things. Just start with "Ok Google" to get answers from Google, tackle your day, enjoy your entertainment, and control your smart home.

Amazon Echo Show Amazon Echo Show is a smart speaker that is part of the Amazon Echo line of products. Similarly to other devices in the family, it is designed around Amazon's virtual assistant Alexa, but additionally features a 7-inch touchscreen display that can be used to display visual information to accompany its responses, as well as play video and conduct video calls with other Echo Show users.

Wink Hub The Wink Hub allows your diverse collection of smart products to speak the same wireless language, so that you can easily control them and customize their interactions from the Wink app. Order at https://www.wink.com/products/wink-hub/

Wink Hub 2 Wink Hub 2 is the first smart home hub designed for the mainstream consumer, sporting industry-leading protocol support, a sleek design, enhanced connectivity, and security features that create a best-in-class experience.

MyCroft AI is a free, open source voice assistant. Mycroft runs on Mycroft AI's Mark I smart speaker, along with Raspberry Pi, Linux Desktop, and more. Mycroft is private and customizable, meaning you can be comfortable having a digital assistant in your home and can tailor the assistant to your liking.