Amazon Alexa and Google Home are great control centers to navigate your new smart home, but they aren't absolute necessities. Here are other ways to make your home smarter. John Carlsen has more than ...

Chris Wedel is a fan of all things tech and gadgets. Living in rural Kansas with his wife and two young boys makes finding ways to stay online tricky — not to mention making my homestead smarter.

Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. Virtual assistants will soon be as commonplace as smartphones -- in many parts of the world, they already are. Most smartphones have a built-in ...

If you’re seeking to make your home smarter, odds are you’re in between two smart home ecosystems, Amazon Alexa versus Google Home. Both Amazon Alexa- and Google Assistant-enabled devices can help ...

Aside from set-up, the Alexa app comes with plenty of features to help you control your devices and smart home in general. It ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Terri Williams is a journalist covering housing trends. When designing or decorating a home, much thought is given to the colors, ...