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Smart homes: Not just for tech geeks anymoreNEW YORK— Inter-net-connected lights, locksand laundry machines areclose to becoming everydayhousehold items, thanksin part to voice-activatedspeakers such as Amazon’sEcho and Google Home.Market research groupsare seeing increased salesof lights that turn offwhen you say “good night,”smart locks that let in yourfriends before you get homeand similar smart-homegadgets. While the devicesare still relatively expensive— you can get six regularlight bulbs for the price of asingle smart one — demandis likely to pick up furtheras prices fall.“This holiday, it’s startingto turn the corner into themass market,” said SteveKoenig, senior director ofmarket research at the Con-sumer Technology Associa-tion, which puts on the CESgadget show in Las Vegaseach January.Until recently, many

people viewed theseproducts as unnecessaryluxuries, if they knew aboutthem at all — not least be-cause setting them up andusing them sounded like alot of work.

A POWERFUL VOICEWhat’s changed? Thegrowing popularity ofsmart speakers and theirdigital assistants, mainly.From your couch, you cannow ask the Echo’s Al-exa assistant to play yourfavorite music or checkthe weather. You can orderpizza, track flights or playJeopardy.The more people usesuch speakers, it turns out,the more things they wantthem to do. In some cases,that leads directly to othersmart gadgets for the home.People who own an Echoare definitely more likely toinstall other smart gadgets,said David Limp, Amazon’ssenior vice president ofdevices and services. “Theydon’t start by rewiring thewhole home. They start

with a switch.”That switch, known asa smart plug, can makeany appliance or lampremote-controllable bycutting or restoring itspower — just ask an as-sistant to turn it off or on.From there, it’s only a smallstep toward products withsmarts already built in,ones that can dim the lightsor even change colors basedon mood — all through thespeaker’s assistant.Now that people cansimply talk to their gadgets,they “no longer have tolearn so much about how touse a device and its intrica-cies,” said Kara Alexander,senior product manager forBelkin’s WeMo smart prod-ucts. “It’s much closer tohow we work with peoplein our home.”

BEHIND THE GROWTHU.S. sales of smartspeakers have more than

tripled to nearly 25 millionin 2017, about 11 millioncoming during the holidayquarter, according to a CTAestimate. They’re expectedto grow further in 2018, toabout 36 million, as Apple’sHomePod joins the fray.It helps that such prod-ucts are no longer limitedto electronics stores such asBest Buy, but are now avail-able at Home Depot, Targetand other general retailers.And prices have dropped,with lower-end modelscosting just $50.Smart-home productssuch as lights and securitycameras are behind, butcatching up.“We’re still in the earlystages,” said Jeff Patton, asmart-home executive atGeneral Electric. While thegadgets aren’t yet “main-stream,” he said, averagepeople are much moreaware of them.Alex Hawkinson, CEO

of Samsung’s SmartThingssmart-home business, saidthat about half of his newcustomers are coming be-cause of smart speakers “ig-niting a lot of excitement.”Once people get theirfirst smart product, such

as a smart plug, they arelikely to buy more, marketresearchers say. They alsotell friends and neighborsabout them, and might buysome as gifts.

Associated Press

David Limp, senior vice president of Devices and Services at Amazon, displays a new Echo, left, and an Echo Plus duringan event announcing several newAmazon products by the company, in Seattle.

AP PHOTO/ELAINE THOMPSON, FILE

As people get voice-activated speakers and online secu-rity cameras for convenience and peace ofmind, are theyalso giving hackers a key to their homes?Many devicesfrom reputablemanufacturers have safeguards built in,but safeguards aren’t the same as guarantees.

AP PHOTO/RYAN NAKASHIMA, FILE

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12 | Saturday, January 6, 2018 | Tahoe Daily Tribune