Voice Activation Set to Storm the Market

Voice activation with Amazon Echo / Alexa, Google Assistant and Microsoft Cortana were a strong focus at CES 2017 and with that came a flurry of new devices for use around the home. There were scores of home control buttons and remote devices on show – the Sevenhugs smart remote, which you can point and use with anything, was one of the best. There were also some LTE cameras, which you can carry around with you in the home. There will be much closer integration with the voice activation systems this year.

There was even also a smart camera (from a company called Smarter) that you can install in your fridge to tell you when products are running out of nearing their sell-by date. It will even suggest recipes that will use up the food that’s almost past its sell-by date. There are smart kettles and coffee machines too.

NETGEAR made something of a splash with its Orbi tri-band mesh home WiFi system, which turns more devices into a range extender and thus gives you better coverage all over the home (or office). With IoT and Smart Home devices now becoming more common, the prospects here are good. Security camera sales are expected to grow strongly this year and there was a lot of interest in NETGEAR’s Arlo devices as well.

Another area of growth potential is smart pet care. There were plenty of specialist cameras and feeding systems, and others that allow users to play with their pets remotely by using a laser beam. Human-centric innovations included a smart shower control and even a smart hair brush. Whatever next?