Australian Home Security Gets Smarter
The smart home will actually be a thing in Australia by 2021
New research says Australian households will be home to an average of 14 smart home products by 2021, and that the industry will be worth nearly $5B.
Australia has been behind the smart home curve, but it’s catching up. Australian homes are getting smarter by the day with smart fridges that compile your shopping list and live-stream your groceries, to smart doorbells that monitor your yard for intruders and dodgy mail deliveries.
The Promise of a Smart Home
Around 140 million smart home products will be connected in Australian households by 2021, says research firm Telsyte. Right now, only 40 percent of homes have just one smart home device connected. Smart home technology promises to make your living space more comfortable, more convenient, and more secure.
The firm said each household will have an average of 30.7 internet-connected devices, 14 of which will be smart-home devices. These are products like smart lights, smart alarms and smart fridges, which can be controlled by your phone.
Smart homes will be an AU$4.7 billion industry by 2021, much more lucrative than the AU$377 million spent on smart home products last year.
The US has access to a plethora of smart home gadgets, but Australia is only just getting its game together. Telstra introduced its Smart Home platform last year, and it’s possible we could soon get Amazon’s Alexa smart home hub, with Amazon recently announcing it’s bringing its retail platform down under.
SMART SECURITY PRODUCTS YOU CAN BUY TODAY
— Philips Hue White Ambience Starter Kit, $190: These smart bulbs can turn on when they sense movement and change hue depending on the time of day.
— Ring Video Doorbell 2, $329: This smart doorbell senses motion at your front door, and sends alerts and live video to connected smartphones.
— Nest Protect, $189: This smoke alarm detects smoke and carbon monoxide, sends alerts to your smartphone and can light up when it detects movement.
DANIEL VAN BOOM, 9 MAY 2017 3:48 PM AEST Originally published by CNET.COM