配备智能家居从未如此简单和实惠。但你从哪儿开始呢？我们研究了一些解决方案，这些解决方案让您可以从小处着手，稍后连接更多设备。让我们(Let)一起看几个场景，您可以决定哪种方案最适合您。
你的家 - 它有什么聪明之处？
在看了一集《星际迷航》(Star Trek)中皮卡德与(Picard)企业(Enterprise)谈话后，我们知道我们想要什么：一个资格过高的家庭佣人，能够满足我们所有的愿望，甚至猜到一对我们没有想到的夫妇。如果您认为这完全是科幻小说，那么您会对目前市场上可用的产品感到惊讶。该技术远未充分发挥其潜力，但您今天可以获得令人满意的结果。
您家的哪些部分可以连接到您的智能解决方案？设备的范围令人难以置信。许多初创公司都将自己的未来押注于寻找下一个惊人(astonishing gizmos)的小发明。谷歌和苹果(Google and Apple)等老牌公司正在这一领域大力投资，以实现设备和标准的统一。这是一个非常简短的示例列表：
聪明之处在于这些设备能够相互通信并与您通信，并根据所有这些丰富的交互做出决策。第一个关键问题是什么促进了所有这些交流？这不是一个微不足道的问题，因为无数的智能家居设备使用不同的标准。如果你的设备不能互相“说话”，房子就不会那么聪明。
你的家围绕着枢纽
一种方法是提供一个中央集线器，该集线器知道如何以自己的标准与每个设备进行通信。该集线器还提供了一个中央控制点(control point)，可以更轻松地协调所有智能家居设备。例如， Insteon(Insteon)、iControl Networks、Samsung SmartThings、 Wink正在提供集线器。
照片：家庭控制(Home Controls)
大多数中心将专注于控制其他一切的工作。其他包含其他功能：
集线器是处理当前复杂技术的好方法。缺点是你的家只会和你的集线器一样聪明。这项技术以惊人的速度发展，以至于今天的最新和最好的技术可能在几个月内就过时了。但是，使用中央集线器并不是唯一的方法。还有一种“集体”方式，为了向您展示我们的意思，我们将回到另一个星际迷航类比(Star Trek analogy)：博格(Borg)。
你的家——聪明的集体
照片：Wikia.com
让博格人变得令人敬畏和恐惧(Borg awesome and frightening)的是他们对集体的依赖，而不是对社区中任何一个人的依赖。另一部分是，更令人毛骨悚然的是，皮卡德(Picard)发现了艰难的方式，整合来自不同物种的新个体并使它们作为蜂巢的一部分充分发挥作用的能力。
智能家居设备和标准的发展方式与这种集体方法非常相似。没有控制一切的中央设备。我们有智能设备，可以与多个其他设备通信，并根据接收到的内容改变它们的行为。智能手机或平板电脑这些重新定义您生活的其他“智能”设备确保了您的互动和您在该网络中的位置。
让我们设置一个简单的场景来看看这是怎么回事。我们的经典恒温器每天都会按照固定的时间表对房屋内的温度进行编程，周末会有所变化。智能恒温器将从学习您的行为开始。除了您在特定时刻决定的程序温度外，智能恒温器还会从您的实际使用中学习。您所做的每一次调整都将是一个更好地了解您并在未来提供更智能服务的机会。(smarter service)当恒温器开始与您的智能手机交谈并了解您何时离开和何时回家时，事情会变得令人惊奇。您的门锁也是如此。房子将在您离开的那一刻开始锁定并开始节能，它会欢迎您回家(home knowing)当您还在路上时到达。
苹果(Apple)已经与HomeKit 一起(HomeKit half-way)进入了集体领域。您可以使用任何与HomeKit兼容的设备构建您的智能家居，并且只要您在家就可以完全控制它们。如果您想在离开时访问，Apple会强制您安装Apple TV。它充当电子管家，在您离开时接听您的订单并打理家务。
Nest为您的智能家居提供了一些基本设备，然后推广他们的程序“ Works with Nest ”以获得更广泛(wider range)的兼容设备，以实现完整的智能家居解决方案。一旦您拥有任何Nest产品，您的智能家居解决方案就会启动并运行，您可以按照您想要的任何顺序添加与Nest兼容的设备。
一个共同的线索是平板电脑和智能手机的出现，成为智能家居网络中的必备元素。在这些智能设备上，世界由应用程序控制。
智能家居以应用为中心
照片：ASID.org
在智能家居方面，我们从台式电脑和互联网浏览器(Desktop PCs and Internet browsers)到智能设备上的应用程序的转变已经完成。应用程序是制造商提供的用于处理其设备的首选方式。
从应用程序的安装方式可以看出集线器与集体的方法。(hub versus)该中心将提供一个应用程序，作为其功能的网关。集体方法将智能家居控制集中在您的智能设备上。我们往往会忘记我们的大多数智能手机和平板电脑有多强大。他们的规格与几年前值得尊敬的笔记本电脑相匹配。这样做的好处是，在智能设备上更新应用程序比在家里更换硬件要容易得多。
让您的家更智能
我希望我已经说服您深入了解智能家居领域。该技术正在经历巨大的变革，但今天提供的价值足以使其值得进行初始投资。入门价格很低，因为解决方案利用了当今许多房屋中可以找到的东西，例如网络路由器(network router)和智能手机。在您的评论中告诉我们您对智能家居解决方案的最佳体验是什么。
How to get smart about your home?
Equippіng a smаrthome has never been easier and more affordable. But where do you start? We examined a couple of sоlutions that allow you to start small and connect more devices later on . Let's look together at a few scenarioѕ and you can decide what works best for you.
Your home - What could be smart about it?
After watching an episode of Star Trek with Picard talking to Enterprise, we know what we want: an overqualified domestic servant that is able to fulfill all our wishes and even guess a couple we did not think about. If you believe this is strictly science fiction, you will be surprised at what is available right now on the market. The technology is not anywhere near to fulfilling its potential, but you can get satisfying results today.
What part of your home can be connected to your smart solution? The range of devices is mind-boggling. Numerous startups are betting their future on finding the next astonishing gizmos. Established companies like Google and Apple are investing heavily in this area to bring about both devices and standards to unite them. Here is a very short list of examples:
What is smart is the ability of these devices to communicate with each other and with you and make decisions based on all this rich interaction. The first key question is what facilitates all this communication? This is not a trivial question because the myriad of smart home devices use different standards. The house will not be that smart if your devices cannot "speak" to each other.
Your home revolves around the hub
One approach is to provide a central hub that knows how to communicate with each device in its own standard. The hub also provides a central control point which makes it easier to coordinate all your smart home devices. Hubs are being provided, for example, by Insteon , iControl Networks , Samsung SmartThings, Wink.
Photo: Home Controls
Most of the hubs will focus on their job of controlling everything else. Others incorporate other functions:
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iControl Networks Piper doubles up as a camera so you can already cross this off your shopping list. The downside is that you will be forced to position your hub wherever you need that camera which may be impractical.
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Logitech Harmony Hub focuses on home entertainment, having the ability to control almost any audio/video device.
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Amazon Echo delivers voice interaction and behaves like an electronic interpreter when dealing with the rest of your smart home devices.
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Apple TV doubles up as a smart home hub for devices that are compatible with HomeKit, the standard pushed by Apple in this area. The voice interaction with your home is enabled by Siri.
The hub is a good way to deal with current complex technologies. The downside is that your home will only be a s smart as your hub. This technology advances at such an astonishing pace that what today is the latest and the best can become dated in a few months. However, using a central hub is not the only way to go. There's also a "collective" way and to show you what we mean, we will go back to another Star Trek analogy: The Borg.
Your home - The smart collective
Photo: Wikia.com
What made the Borg awesome and frightening was their dependence on the collective and not on any one individual of their community. Another part was, even creepier as Picard found out the hard way, the ability to integrate new individuals coming from different species and make them function fully as part of the hive.
The way the smart home devices and standards evolve is very similar to this collective approach. There is no central device which controls everything. We have smart devices that are built to talk to multiple other devices and vary their behavior based on what they receive. Your interaction and your place within this network is ensured by the smartphone or the tablet, the other "smart" devices that redefine your life.
Let's set up a simple scenario to see where this is going. Our classical thermostat will program the temperature in the house on a fixed schedule every day with a variation for the weekend. The smart thermostat will start by learning your behavior. Besides what you decide at a given moment is your programmed temperature, the smart thermostat will learn from your actual use. Every adjustment you make will be a chance to know you better and provide a smarter service in the future. Things get amazing when the thermostat starts talking to your smartphone and learns when you leave and when you come home. The same is true for your door locks. The house will lock down and start saving energy the minute you leave and it will welcome you back home knowing when you arrive while you are still on your way.
Apple has gone with HomeKit half-way into the collective territory. You can build your smarthome using any HomeKit compatible devices and you have full control over them as long as you are in the house. If you want to access while you are away, Apple forces you to have Apple TV installed. It works as an electronic butler taking your orders and taking care of the house while you are away.
Nest provides a few basic devices for your smarthome and then promotes their program " Works with Nest " to get a much wider range of compatible devices for a complete smarthome solution. Once you have any of the Nest products, your smarthome solution is up and running and you can add Nest compatible devices in any order you want.
One common thread is the emergence of tablets and smartphones as the mandatory element in a smarthome network. And on these smart devices, the world is controlled by apps.
Smart homes are app-centric
Photo: ASID.org
Our move from Desktop PCs and Internet browsers to apps on smart devices is complete when it comes to the smarthome. Apps are the chosen way to go, offered by manufacturers, to deal with their devices.
The hub versus collective approach is visible in the way the apps are installed. The hub will offer an app that acts as a gateway to its functions. The collective approach centers the smarthome control on your smart device. We tend to forget how powerful most of our smartphones and tablets are. Their specs match respectable laptops of only a couple of years back. The advantage here is that updating your app on your smart device is far easier than changing hardware in your house.
Smarten up your home
I hope I have convinced you to take a deeper plunge into the smarthome universe. The technology is under tremendous transformation, but there is enough value provided today to make it worth an initial investment. The price of entry is low as solutions take advantage of things that can be found in many houses today like a network router and a smartphone. Tell us in your comments what is your best experience with a smarthome solution.
