What’s New in Home Automation – March 2016

Home automation is a fast paced field.  Even I can’t keep up with all of the news from day to day.  Here’s a recap of some of the news and announcements that happened in March 2016:

3/1 – Get election updates from your Amazon Echo with the NBC News skill

3/1 – Amazon and Brita team up to make sure your Brita never runs out of filters

3/3 – Amazon and Nest announce an official integration 

3/3 – Amazon announces Echo Dot and Amazon Tap

3/10 – Nest adds geolocation and family accounts

3/10 – Travelers becomes the latest insurance company to offer discounts for smart devices

3/10 – Bosch wants all of their products to be IoT enabled by 2020

3/10 – Sonos announces layoffs and a plan to (finally) innovate

3/11 – Alexa can give you an update on your Capital One accounts – Also added HuffPo to news briefing and support for TP-Link smart plugs

3/16 – Ring video doorbell announces Ring Pro (1080p, motion zones, smaller form)

3/16 – Nest now works with Android Wear

3/18 – Amazon Echo gets a Fitbit skill

3/24 – Amazon announces native support for Big Ass Fans’ Haiku

3/25 – FirstAlert releases the first HomeKit enabled smoke detector