Ivee Sleek voice-activated home assistant joins forces with Lowe's Iris and Staples Connect

Interactive Voice unveiled a voice-controlled gadget called Ivee Sleek at last year's CES. Although just a prototype in January 2013, the Wi-Fi-enabled personal assistant is now on sale for $229.99. The news of the week is that Ivee Sleek has established a couple of new smart home partnerships with Lowe's Iris and Staples Connect.

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For a quick refresher, Ivee Sleek is like your very own in-house personal assistant. It's supposed to be able to answer questions and respond to commands in over 30 different categories. It sort of reminds me of Siri -- just for the home instead of the phone.

And, like the Honeywell Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat with Voice Control, you simply say, "Hello, Ivee" as a prompt. Then you can let the questions fly: weather, stock prices, time, and more. You name it, Ivee should be able to answer it (thanks to the AT&T Speech API).

Partnering with Lowe's Iris and Staples Connect means that Ivee Sleek can interact with all sorts of "smart home" things like thermostats, plugs, locks, and security cameras. This year's Ivee Sleek display specifically features Schlage Locks, Philips Hue, Belkin WeMo, Smart Plugs, GE Dimmer Switches, Jasco Fan Switch, Nest, and Bali Blinds. We can't wait to review one of these back at the appliance testing lab, so stay tuned for more Ivee Sleek action.