Episode 81: Reviewing the Wink Hub 2 and new gear from Philips Hue

The second version of the Wink hub, complete with an Ethernet connection, Bluetooth and a $99 price tag is out, and I started testing it. The good news so far for folks who have existing Wink gear is in this week’s show, along with my take on the new, richer color Philips Hue bulbs. For those seeking the latest in thermostats, we discuss the new, cheaper Ecobee Lite, the Honeywell Lyric T5 for $149 and Nest’s need to the lower its pricing. (We also discussed the new Eco nomenclature). Kevin Tofel shared his impressions so far on Google Assistant, and we’re all still waiting for Google Home.

honeywellt5

After that, Michael Wolf, creator of the Smart Kitchen Summit and host of The Smart Home Show talked with me about his vision of the connected kitchen, some of the latest gadgets on offer for that segment and food waste. In the show I mention my anti-food waste recipes, so here they are for y’all (Minestrone and Weeknight Curry). Just chuck your old produce in one of these and feel virtuous.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Michael Wolf, The Smart Home Show and the Smart Kitchen Summit
Sponsors: ARM and Hewlett Packard Enterprise

  • Only one hiccup with my Wink hub transfer
  • I’m all in on Philips Hue
  • Google Assistant is no Amazon Alexa (yet)
  • Is the smart kitchen ready for the harried chef?
  • The best kitchen gadget buying advice

Published by

Stacey Higginbotham

I am a journalist who has covered technology for over a decade at publications such as Fortune, PCMag, Gigaom, The Deal and BusinessWeek.

4 thoughts on “Episode 81: Reviewing the Wink Hub 2 and new gear from Philips Hue”

  1. Another awesome Podcast, and it was doubly awesome since you had Michael Wolf on this week. I listen to his podcasts on a regular basis.

    With regards to lighting, Fry’s has the Wemo 60W Smart Buld at $7.99 with their Thursday promo code. The sale goes through Saturday October 22nd. Also, they have the Lenmar 60 watt Dimmable LED Soft White A19 lights 3 pack for $5.97 with Sunday October 17th Promo code. Thought I would share that.

    Thanks for the great IoT info every week.

    Cheers

    Jon

  2. You asked what appliance would be gone from our kitchens in the future. I think the first candidate is the kettle. An extra tap providing hot water at the required temperature means we heat just the amount of water we want and it’s ready immediately. Mind you, will I ever get around to emptying the dishwasher if I don’t do it while I wait for the kettle to boil?

    It’s interesting that so many of our kitchen chores are intransigent. emptying dishwasher, washing machine and rubbish etc.

    This whole smart fridge thing I just don’t get yet but here is what I would like to help me buy what I need from the shop.
    Positioned just above my rubbish and recycling bins is a little camera. If I hold the item up to the camera it takes a picture and that gets send to a visual shopping list that any of the family can add to or access at the shop. After all it’s the packaging of the thing that I’m throwing away that I want to replace. Almost everything has packaging and I’m smart enough to know that a handful of orange peal means I need more oranges.

  3. And another thing for the kitchen, it pains me to heat up a tank of hot water with nice green solar energy and then have the dishwasher/washing machine/kettle heat more water from cold using electricity. For homes such as mine, that have hot water under pressure, ie. the hot water does not sit in a tank and become potentially unsafe to drink, I want a device that will pump the hot water pipe until hot water arrives and only then pass it on to the device.

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