World Monitor Magazine, # 1, 2017 | Page 66

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Netatmo Healthy Home Coach
Sony LSPx-s1
Air quality monitors are like fitness trackers for your home — and , like fitness trackers , everyone seems to be making one . The good looks of Netatmo ’ s Healthy Home Coach help set it apart . The bronzed cylindrical monitor tracks air quality , noise , temperature , and humidity , and sends that information to an app that helps you make sense of what ’ s happening in your house . but we ’ d be lying if we said this device is on this list because of what it can do . Lots of connected gadgets are proving themselves increasingly useful in the home — a big challenge , going forward , will be achieving a distinctive yet appealing look . Netatmo ’ s Home Coach wins marks on both points .
Sony ’ s new candlelight speaker isn ’ t the best of either category . You can find better lamps and better Bluetooth speakers , probably for half the price . But combining the two is just unexpected enough to make the product charmingly unique . Sony housed a dim-able LED inside a glass tube and stuck it atop a 360 degree speaker . The result is a minimalist hybrid product that pulls double duty as a maker of vibes .
Kuri Robot
Our homes are full of robots that don ’ t look like robots . They play music , order groceries , and keep watch when no one ’ s home . Mayfield ’ s Kuri isn ’ t one of those robots . The diminutive bot ( it ’ s 20 inches tall ) looks straight out of a cartoon . It has big blinking eyes and sounds like the Sesame Street version of R2-D2 . It ’ s freaking adorable , and that ’ s why it ’ s so interesting . Instead of hiding its purpose behind an ambiguously techy design , Kuri fully embraces its role as your robot pet . Whether not you need a bot to take care of menial household tasks isn ’ t the point — this thing ’ s so cute you ’ re going to want it to .
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