7 ways smart technology products are changing our lives
07 May 2019
Smart technology is no longer futuristic, in just a few short years it’s quickly become part of our everyday lives. In this blog post we look at how smart tech is changing everything from the way we work to how we play, keep fit and manage our homes.
If you want to get the latest smart tech for your home and family, many products are available via your employer’s Home Electronic scheme. More details here.
1. Smart tech and communications
Perhaps the most common form of smart tech many of us use day-to-day is our smartphone. In fact, smartphones are now so common that you might have forgotten what a huge technology breakthrough they represent!
For most people the smartphone is our most important way to communicate with our friends, family and work. Whether that’s texting, using messaging apps, sending emails, through social media or even a phone call! Our smartphones are also our mobile entertainment systems, our personal organisers and productivity tools, where we get our news from, how we find our way from A to B and where we keep our shopping list!
Today, our smartphones are also the main way we control and manage other smart technology, as mentioned below.
2. Smart tech and fitness
How many steps have you done today? Only a few years ago that question wouldn’t have made much sense to the average person, now we know exactly what it means! Fitbits and other fitness trackers have given us the technology to monitor our activity throughout the day, and incentivises us to keep moving and get fitter.
As well as tracking steps, distance and calories, fitness trackers can also monitor our heart rate, sleep and share our activities and compete with others in online communities.
3. Smart tech and entertainment
Smart technology has given us the power to fill our homes with sound without needing to run cables everywhere or have different music systems in each room. With smart speakers you can play different music in every room of your house, all running from your digital music library, internet radio or online music services.
4. Smart tech and managing our homes
One of the most exciting developments in the home in recent years is the Internet of Things. That's what allows us to control everyday technology such as heating, lighting, sound and even our coffee maker using a mobile device or smart home voice controls like the Amazon Echo.
Not only can we control this technology while we’re at home, telling Alexa to play something different, add something to a shopping list or turn a light on, we can also manage our homes while out. For example, if the weather has suddenly turned a bit chilly you can use your smartphone to turn your central heating on so that your home is warm and snug for when you return.
5. Smart tech and security
Another really useful development is in home security. From video doorbells that let you to see who’s at the door on your smartphone and speak to them if you want, to smart security cameras and CCTV so you can monitor inside and outside your home from your mobile.
Smart tech can also monitor your home for smoke and carbon monoxide. A smart monitor will send you a notification if it detects any changes so you can act fast, and triggers alarms if it senses danger.
6. Smart tech and work
Many of us can’t imagine how we managed our work before we had a smartphone or tablet! These devices have released us from our desks so we can work remotely and carry huge amounts of information with us whether we go.
For some people smart technology has given them a better work-life balance, allowing them to work more flexibly and from home. Even those of us that need to be at work every day are able to be more mobile in our workplaces. With a smartphone or tablet we can work from a breakout area, while travelling for work, or from any site that provides secure online access.
7. Smart tech and play
Smart tech has opened the doors to lots of exciting new toys and gadgets for big kids and little ones! Drones that capture video and images, some that even come with virtual reality goggles so you can experience flight in VR, are very popular. Toys which are controlled with a mobile device, takes remote control toys to another level where you can interact via apps and with other smart tech products. It’s a great time to be a (big) kid.
Many of the products explored above weren’t available a few years ago. It’s really exciting how quickly smart tech has changed our lives, making things easier and more convenient as well as more fun!
For more information about our Home Electronics scheme and how you can order smart technology whilst spreading the cost the easy and affordable way, please visit vivup.co.uk.