Episode 59 - Intelligent Irrigation with Franz Garsombke of Rachio

In our main segment this week were joined by Franz Garsombke, co-founder of CTO of Rachio. For the uninitiated Rachio is the manufacturer behind Iro, an intelligent irrigation controller. Since it's launch the Iro has gained traction with several major brick-and-mortar retailers, including Home Depot, Apple Stores, and Best Buy. We brought Franz on to chat about what has lead to the product's success. Our conversation covered everything from the basics of installation and setup, to the large-scale challenges of water conservation the product aims to address.

As always we hope you enjoy the show. If you find the podcast valuable, entertaining, or both please consider becoming a patron, or leaving us a review on iTunes! 

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Episode 58 - Listeners' Corner feat. Cody Crossland

We started out this week's show by trying to settle a little internal debate here at HomeTech. Amazon made a big splash on the tech-news scene this week with the announcement of the "Dash Button". One half of the HomeTech team thinks the product very clever, and worthy of the smart home label most tech journalists are using to describe it. The other half thinks it's just a silly button to help you buy more crap. Tune in to hear the debate (and tweet us with your thoughts if you're so inclined). 

In other news this week we discuss the release of a new controller by Savant. It's Savant's first processor with imbedded I/O ports (IR, RS-232, Relays etc). This means that, for the first time, you do not need separate hardware to control devices such as TV's, AVR's, and cable boxes. Also worth noting is the inclusion of Z-Wave, an addition that could mean a move further downstream towards a true DIY solution. 

Our main feature this week is the second installment of "Listeners' Corner". We brought on Cody Crossland, who has been one of our most ardent supporters since launching the show. Cody is a fellow systems integrator and, similar to Seth, is a Control4 dealer. We had a great conversation about some of the pitfalls that end users need to be aware when purchasing new technology. Ranging from new TV's (4K / UHD) all the way up to entire smart home systems, Cody has some great insights to share. 

We had a great time recording this episode. If you are interested in joining us on a future installment of our listener-series let us know on our feedback page!

See you next week!

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Episode 57 - Cut the Cord with Tablo's Grant Hall

If we've said it once we've said it a dozen times: 2015 is the year of the cord cutter. With new over-the-top offerings coming to market at an increasing pace, consumers everywhere are finding it increasingly easy to tell their big cable providers to go pound sand. While services like Netflix, Hulu, and the newly released SlingTV provide consumers with a great deal of content to chose from, they are all missing one thing - access to local, live, high-definition programming available free to anyone with an OTA antenna.

Enter Tablo, a whole-home OTA DVR that allows users to record and stream free HDTV programming to any screen in their home. This week we sat down with Grant Hall, CEO of the Ottawa-based company behind Tablo. In addition to taking a deep-dive into the product's design and function, we also discuss some of the broader trends currently disrupting the traditional TV service provider model. 

2015 is no doubt a year full of exciting prospects for cord cutters everywhere. Tablo is uniquely positioned to take advantage of this growing market. Tune in to learn more... 

PS - As you'll hear us explain at the start of this episode HomeTech now has a Patreon page. We'd love for you to check it out. You can also read more of our take here. We hope you will consider showing your support for the show. It would be tremendously appreciated! 

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Episode 56 - Listeners' Corner feat. Jonathan Horvath

It's been a little over a year since we launched the hometech podcast. During that time we've been fortunate enough to hear from many of you with suggestions, comments, questions, and loads of positive feedback. Without fail this correspondence has led to inspiration and ideas for future episodes. In light of this fact we had a thought: why not take the correspondence itself and make a show of it?  

With that by way of introduction, we are excited to present to you the first edition of "Listeners' Corner". We were joined by Jonathan Horvath, who has been one of the most active members of our budding community. You may recognize his name from another recent episode and / or from a guest review he was kind enough to send us on the Yale smart lock. Jonathan has a interesting background in the commercial access control space. He is also working on some very unique projects in his own home, using open source tools to create his own Z-Wave based home automation hub. Tune in to hear all about it.

At the risk of sounding clichéd we often like to remind you that without your listenership this show may as well not exist. As podcast creators we obviously like to hear ourselves talk. But, after all, if we knew no one was listening the production would surely lose its luster in a hurry.  

Thank you for being a part of the show! If you are interested in joining us on a future edition of "Listeners' Corner" please don't hesitate to reach out on twitter or through our feedback page.

See you next week!

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Episode 55 - NEEO: The Thinking Remote with Raphael Oberholzer

About a month ago, February 12th to be exact, one of the most successful smart home Kickstarter campaigns  in recent memory came to its glorious end. Initially setting out to raise $50,000 for their nascent "thinking remote", the team at NEEO had obliterated their goal, ending the campaign at an astonishing $1.5 million. Clearly the NEEO remote has struck a chord with smart home fans. 

As we discussed in last week's show, 2014 marked a tipping point in the smart home. Countless products have since hit the market as companies rush in to stake their claim in this modern day gold rush. It would seem however that by and large control of consumer A/V devices in the media room has been overlooked.  In this week's show we chat with NEEO's founder, Raphael Oberholzer, to find out exactly why that is. More importantly we discuss what NEEO plans to do about it. Tune into this episode to learn about this exciting new product, and to hear about NEEO's plans to dominate the smart home, starting with your media room...

 

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