The internet of things needs better-made things | John Naughton
You know the problem. You're going abroad for a couple of weeks, during which time your house will be empty. You haven't yet got round to installing a burglar alarm. But not to worry - just pop round to a supermarket and buy a couple of timer sockets. Plug them into the mains, set the timers to switch on and off at appropriate times twice a day, plug your lamps into them and off you go. Easy, peasy!
Well, yes. But it's so 1950s. So analogue. Why not be really cool and have a proper networked timer socket, something that you can control from your smartphone from anywhere in the world? Something like the AuYou Wi-Fi Switch for example. Looks like it's just the ticket. Plug it in, hold down the power button and it hooks up with the app on your (Android) smartphone, and - bingo! - job done. Now, where did you put that boarding pass?
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