Tag: Home technology

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Design Smart Home

New! Sonos and HAY collaborate on stylish smart speaker

Fusion Studio TIFF File

One of the first brands to introduce an attractive yet affordable, quality wireless speaker system, Sonos ups the ante this month with its gorgeous limited edition collaboration with chic Danish design brand HAY.

Sonos X HAY speakers
The speaker comes in a delectable rainbow of colours

Clean lines aside, the most notable feature of the new Sonos One smart speaker line-up is the colour palette. Vivid red, forest green, pale yellow, baby pink and light grey make for a collection that is sure to pique the interest of design lovers who are looking for both form and function when it comes to a home sound system. Sonos One is capable of playing music, podcasts, audio books,  supporting multiple voice services and Amazon Alexa voice control too. It also delivers a meaty sound despite its petite size.

Sonos X HAY baby pink speaker
The baby pink iteration

“Sonos’ product design philosophy focuses on achieving the elegant integration of domestic life and sound design. We strive toward this goal without compromising on acoustics, connectivity, or the listener experience. Our speakers aren’t designed to claim attention, they are designed to blend naturally into their surroundings,” says Sonos VP of design Tad Toulis.

Forrest Green Sonos X HAY speaker
Sonos X HAY speaker in forrest green

“For me, colour is one of the most important tools in the design process, and it was very important we didn’t just create a colour scale that looked beautiful. Colours can hide completely and disappear or provide contrast – creating ranges in more colours produces more impact and opportunities for mixing items in the home. These speakers deserve to be treated like furniture; strong, independent objects that can blend in or stand out – functional accessories for any room that fit different needs and different spaces,” says HAY co-founder Mette Hay.

Sonos x HAY speaker in pale yellow
Sonos x HAY speaker in pale yellow

Mette saw the collaboration as a natural fit. “Sound plays such an important part in architecture and the experience of life at home, yet we hadn’t found speakers we were happy to have in our home until we discovered Sonos. We were intrigued by Sonos’ philosophy of sound architecture, its approach to contemporary design and sophisticated manufacturing techniques – values, both companies share,” says Mette.

The HAY for Sonos Limited Edition Sonos One speaker retails for $349 and is available online, at the HAY store in Sydney and Cult Design in Melbourne.

Shop online | Another smart speaker

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Shopping Smart Home

Google Home Max: a smart, stylish and powerful speaker

Google Home Max speaker

In exciting news for tech lovers, Google Home Max launches tomorrow and not only is it the loudest smart speaker yet from Google, it’s also the best looking and debuts some fabulous new features.

Google Home Max speaker
The Google Home Max speaker blends in seamlessly on this kitchen bench top

Smart Sound
The first Google speaker with Smart Sound, it’s helpful to think of it as AI for your ears. Once you’ve set the speaker up, it adapts to your home environment and will automatically tune itself based on where you’ve placed it in the room. If you move it to the other side of the room it will adapt within seconds.

It’s loud!
With two 4.5-inch woofers (each with 22mm of excursion), the speaker delivers an extremely high range for its size, with particularly powerful bass that sounds clean at high volumes. And at 20 times more powerful than the original Google Home, this little guy is extremely loud and will fill any room with pumping audio.

It’s super stylish
If you could call a speaker beautiful, with its minimal lines, Google Home Max certainly is. And not only can you stand it up vertically or place it horizontally to fit in your space, it’s made from gorgeous, durable fabric too.

Google Home Max speaker

Voice technology
Google Home Max contains a built-in Google Assistant that is always ready to start your favourite song, pause or turn it up – all with just your voice. Possibly the coolest function is the Assistant’s ability to find a song with just a line of the lyrics or a few small details. Just ask “Hey Google, play that song that goes, ‘Rebel just for kicks,’” for instance. What’s even more impressive about this functionality is that it works even when the speaker is blasting. The technology is able to separate your voice from the background noise, even if you’re across the room!

Using the Voice Match technology, the Google Assistant can recognise your voice and up to five others within your home so you can all access your music services and personal playlists. When Voice Match is set up, the Assistant will play your favourite playlist, and not your partner’s, for example.

Endless music options
You can use your voice to play music services such as Spotify or YouTube Music through the speaker. Through casting, you can access hundreds of compatible apps to stream in high-quality over Wi-Fi from your phone, tablet or laptop. You can also listen to songs over Bluetooth, or plug in your record player using an analogue stereo cable.

Google Home Max speaker

Seamless pairing throughout the home
Google Max works seamlessly with Google Home, Google Home Mini and hundreds of Chromecast built-in speakers. All you have to do is create a speaker group in the Google Home app and you can play the same song in sync on all the compatible speakers in your home. You can also stereo pair another Google Max for an even wider soundstage.

Control your smart home
You can make the speaker the centre of your smart home as it works with more than 5000 devices worldwide, and more than 100 home automation devices from more than 50 brands in Australia including Nest, Belkin TP-Link and Phillips Hue.

Also, if you have a compatible smart plug and bulbs, try saying, “Hey Google, dim the lights, play a summer time playlist,” for impressive multi-tasking.

Google Home Max, RRP $549, is available from JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, David Jones, The Good Guys, Officeworks and The Google Store. 

REVIEW TIME: Jen just got her hands on a speaker to review and her husband Damian, a former consumer tech journalist, will be reviewing it for us later this month! They’re already fans of the affordable Google Home Mini but let’s face it, it’s not the best sound quality!

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Smart Home

Living trend: Tech-driven luxury apartments hit Melbourne

Designed by architects Woods Bagot and developed by Perri Projects, The Englefield development in Melbourne’s South Yarra not only looks super slick, it boasts home automation, personalised valet services and remote control technology too.

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A render of how the apartments will look inside

Comprising seven penthouse-sized apartments that offer all the benefits and privacy of a freestanding home, without the upkeep, the development is a response to research that suggests that more and more people are seeing the benefits of apartment living.

“Our experience and research have indicated that there is a new demographic of purchasers seeking out luxury apartments in curated developments that offer convenience as well as space and privacy. These purchasers seek either two or three bedrooms, a study and a large outdoor entertaining space, in a low-rise, premium address that affords them the privacy they desire,” says Perri Projects Director, David Scalzo.

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Technology-based features abound within the development where residents will be able to control their home’s lighting, cooling, heating and blinds through a smartphone. “This technology is currently already used in state-of-the-art luxury homes, but it’s rare to see it incorporated into boutique apartment developments,” says David.

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The complex will also feature a unique valet service concept. Located in the lobby, each apartment will have its own valet store which will facilitate the private collection and delivery of items – think shopping and dry cleaning, cleaning, housekeeping and home maintenance. “Each year, the residents will select the service providers they deem to be the best in their area, and entrust them with access to the private lobby space to service the residents and their homes,” says David.

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With lush landscaping and a high-end build, the apartments have been designed with three sides of natural light and soaring ceilings which increase the feeling of space and make them feel more like a freestanding luxury residence.

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See here for more