Amazon Alexa and Google Home are great control centers to navigate your new smart home, but they aren't absolute necessities. Here are other ways to make your home smarter. John Carlsen has more than ...

When you set up a smart bulb in a lamp, you get to name that lamp, so Alexa will know which lamp you are asking her to turn on. In my living room, I’ve set up lamps called table lamp and floor lamp.

Chris Wedel is a fan of all things tech and gadgets. Living in rural Kansas with his wife and two young boys makes finding ways to stay online tricky — not to mention making my homestead smarter.

Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. Virtual assistants will soon be as commonplace as smartphones -- in many parts of the world, they already are. Most smartphones have a built-in ...

Our kids' room has its own routine. When we say, "Alexa, it's bedtime," their sound machine turns on (powered by a smart plug), their bedside lamp switches off, and their smart light strip turns on to ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Terri Williams is a journalist covering housing trends. When designing or decorating a home, much thought is given to the colors, ...

Aside from set-up, the Alexa app comes with plenty of features to help you control your devices and smart home in general. It ...

No disrespect to Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, but voice control still has its quirks and sometimes it’s easier to control your various smart home devices using your PC instead. But the degree to ...