Episode 24 - Talking HomeKit with Macworld's Chris Breen

On this week's show Jason and Seth were pleased to welcome Macworld Senior Editor Chris Breen onto the show for a conversation all about Apple's entry into the Smart Home market with the HomeKit initiative.

Typically HomeTech show guests come directly from the smart home background, so the conversation with Chris provided a fresh perspective. As someone who lives and breathes Apple, Chris provides a unique take on HomeKit. From specific topics, such as the possibility of the AppleTV acting as a Home Automation hub, to a general overview of Apple's ambitions in the smart home space, the conversation covered all things HomeKit.

Show Notes

Episode 22 - The Sales Process

Episode 21 - Auto Motion Nope

Episode 20 - 5 Things Every Home Technology Customer Should Know

On this week's episode we take a break from the news and discuss 5 really useful tips everyone should know before starting any home technology project. This list comes from our experiences working with customers on projects past and present.

Shown Notes

1. Thermal Management

2. Network Equipment

3. Service Providers Suck

4. HDMI has 'problems'

  • HDMI is very hard to troubleshoot because of the lack of tools available to professionals and consumers. It should be "plug and play" but most integrators will call it "plug and pray."
  • Check for firmware updates on receivers and TVs
  • Cable boxes aren't always up to date (see point 3)

5. All systems will break

  • Integrated systems are incredibly complex, hard to troubleshoot, and have multiple points of failure. Given time even the most stable, reliable system will break.