The smart home steps outside (pictures)
You may think the smart home is limited to your house, but it doesn't have to be that way.
A slew of smart outdoor devices
Home automation doesn't have to stop when you leave your house. Here are 15 devices geared toward your garage, garden, and beyond.
Alottazs Labs Garageio
The $149 Garageio links to your current garage door opener and lets you open and close up to three different garage doors on the related Garageio app.
AT&T Digital Life garage-door controller
AT&T's Digital Life home security and automation service added this garage door controller to its list of hardware in May 2014. It may not look smart, but this $50 device lets you open and close your garage door straight from the Digital Life app.
Cree PAR38 90W replacement LED
While this North Carolina-based LED maker doesn't offer much in the way of connected residential lighting, it still has a lot to offer. For one thing, it was recently listed by Apple at WWDC 2014 as an iOS 8 Home Kit-compatible brand. Cree is also one of the fastest growing manufacturers of consumer LED lighting, and this $25 PAR38 bulb can keep your yard well-lit even when it's dark outside.
Dropcam Tabs
Dropcam Tabs are $29 pre-orderable accessories that you can stick on pretty much anything, from a laptop to a gate. Tabs track both motion and movement and work alongside the Dropcam Pro camera to add something new to your do-it-yourself home security setup.
The Edyn Garden Sensor
The Edyn Garden Sensor is a device designed by ecologist Jason Aramburu to make it easier for folks to care for their plants. Aramburu unveiled his Edyn sensor on Kickstarter, and last I checked, it had more than doubled its original $100,000 funding goal -- although there are still several days left on the campaign.
Ego Power+ Lawn Mower
This $499 battery-powered lawnmower takes the noise out of the lawn care equation. It runs on a 56-volt lithium ion battery that can supposedly charge in under 30 minutes.
iDevices iGrill Mini
iDevices $40 iGrill Mini is a pint-size Bluetooth meat probe that tracks the temperature of your food and lets you see its progress on the iDevices app.
Koubachi Wi-Fi Plant Sensor
Koubachi sells both an indoor ($99) and an outdoor ($129) plant sensor for all of your gardening needs. While the sensors work well, Associate Editor Andrew Gebhart found a work-around so you can use the free Koubachi app and skip the pricey sensor altogether.
Kyodo America LawnBott
The Kyodo America LawnBott (model number LB85EL) is a robot lawnmower. Yes, it costs $2,799, but for that investment, you can relish in your newfound freedom while your automated mower does all the dirty work.
Netatmo Weather Station
Netatmo's $180 Wi-Fi Weather Station uses environmental sensors to track all sorts of things from the current temperature to humidity. It also works with IFTTT, so you can set all sorts of advanced recipes for the most dedicated of weather geeks.
Parrot Flower Power
The $60 Parrot Flower Power is a Bluetooth-enabled plant sensor, so if you want to be able to monitor your garden from far away, this limited-range device isn't for you.
Oso Technologies PlantLink
The $79 PlantLink system comes with a Wi-Fi-connected hub and a sensor. PlantLink is limited to collecting moisture data though, so it isn't the most comprehensive plant sensor we've seen.
Power Practical PowerPot V
The $149 PowerPot V is a portable thermoelectric generator that can cook a meal and charge your small gadgets. That means that you can take it on a camping trip and when you're ready to boil some water at dinner time, hook up your phone, camera, Kindle, or other small appliance and let it charge away.
Rachio Iro
The $249 Iro replaces your current irrigation controller to improve the way you program your sprinklers. Download the Iro app on your Android or iOS phone and schedule your system as needed. It will also use the Wi-Fi connection to pull in weather info and adjust your schedule accordingly.
Samsung SmartCam HD Outdoor
Samsung's SmartCam HD Outdoor camera is scheduled to be available in July 2014. The related Wi-Fi hub stays inside while the outdoor-rated camera gets to hang out outside and keep an eye on your front door or any other area you'd like to monitor more closely.