The luxury house of the X Factor’s Savan Kotecha illustrated just how much of the world we now have at our fingertips. A music producer for the hit TV talent show, he’s really kitted his pad out, and a large portion of his gadgets – including electric blinds, cameras and door locks – are all controlled from the comfort of his iPad. Although he spent a fair wad, these kinds of technologies are becoming more and more available to the average consumer, and as Samsung is now demonstrating with its Smart Air Conditioning systems, if it’s electronic, it can be controlled by a mobile device.
As with Kotecha’s gadget-laden lair, the Korean company’s Smart Air Conditioning can be controlled locally or remotely. If you’re sitting at home and feeling a little on the warm side, you can use the accompanying iOS or Android app to kick in that much-needed reprieve. If you live in the kind of climate whereby you genuinely fear going to bed because of the heat wave that you have to contend with upstairs, you can simply use your tablet or smartphone to cool things down in advance; a couple of swipes and taps later, and your bedroom will be cooling down, ready for you when you decide to hit the hay.
The thing I like, in particular about this system, is the remote capabilities. While controlling immediate surroundings using a smartphone or tablet is wonderful and all, it does point to the lazy, vegetative husks of our former selves that we’re quickly becoming. However, when you’re out on-the-fly as it were, being able to activate, deactivate, and adjust the temperature of your air conditioning unit has endless possibilities.
For example, if you forget to turn it off, you can save yourself a hefty bump in your electricity bill by remotely deactivating. Similarly, if you’re out and about and know your house is going to feel like a furnace when you get back, you can set your air con to kick in half an hour before. Of course, timers do currently exist, but when plans change, you either end up wasting a lot of electricity, or coming home early to a stifling atmosphere.
The technology is most certainly in place for us to control pretty much everything around us without having to move much, and with Samsung and others bringing these products to the mass market, it’s only a matter of time before we’re all living like Kotecha.
(source Samsung)
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