Around The Home

So-called "porch pirates" are generally looking for packages that they can grab quickly and easily – if anything presents a challenge, they'll move on to another porch. It was with this in mind that the Snare Parcel Protection system was created.

While it's a good idea for people with upstairs bedrooms to have a collapsible fire escape ladder handy, quickly finding and deploying the thing could be difficult in a smoke-filled home. That's where the Rescue Ready Retrofit is designed to come in.

When it comes to rough, tough, gruff, no-nonsense devices, power drills certainly fit the bill. Nonetheless, a Canadian company has given the tool a high-tech makeover, adding what are actually some pretty handy features.

Not everyone has a green thumb, which is why we've seen a number of smart pots designed to make plant-care easier. One of the latest systems, known as Pico, consists of multiple mini-pots that can be electrically linked together.

Ordinarily, when you're cutting lengths of a material, you measure each piece with a tape measure then mark the cut point with a pencil before sawing. With the new M1 Caliber tool, however, neither of those tasks are necessary.

Voice-activated smart speakers can be handy around the house, but they come with a privacy trade-off. Appropriately named start-up Paranoid has unveiled a set of devices that can make sure smart speakers are only listening when you want them to.

MB&F and L'Epee 1839 have teamed up again to make another quirky timepiece that's part desktop clock and part space station. The Starfleet Explorer boasts a more compact design as well as bright colors and an eight-day power reserve.

Razor companies seem to have the research budgets of NASA or Tesla. We were curious about just how well what seem like innovations-for-innovation’s-sake actually stand up, so we grabbed the Gillette Labs Heated Razor and headed for the bathroom.

Video conferencing calls have quickly become a mainstay of socializing in 2020, and now Facebook is throwing its sizeable hat in the ring with a new service called Messenger Rooms, which will be able to accommodate up to 50 people.

A new startup called Yeeuu Tech has thrown eight different unlocking methods into one device. The S1 Smart Lock can be unlocked through passcodes, NFC, an app, fingerprints, or Bluetooth, among others, and can be fitted into most existing locks.

The AiT Smart One desk can be controlled via smartphone and offers a few well-considered bells and whistles, including a built-in air quality sensor that alerts the user when it’s time to crack a window.

Scientists at Purdue University are putting forward another interesting proposition in the realm of home automation, developing a cheap sensor that can detect when a person enters a room via carbon dioxide levels in the air.