Home sweet (smart) home

　　甜蜜的智能家居

　　This is the year when smart homes, in which everything from ovens to door locks to thermostatsare connected online, reach beyond the fringe to more of the mainstream. The sales pitch is thatpeople with connected homes can control their appliances and other electronics using a singleremote: their smartphone. The reality, however, falls far short. For example, homeowners end uphaving to use different apps to turn appliances on and off instead of being able to do so from acentral hub. Incompatibility is a big problem. Tech companies like Apple, Samsung, and Google andappliance makers are already trying to solve the problem by recruiting outside developers to usetheir smart home software and enlisting smart appliance makers as partners. In the end, morepeople will have reason to spend the extra money on connected home electronics, which until nowhave seemed like more of an expensive and unnecessary hassle.

　　今年，从微波炉到门锁，再到恒温器。全部联网的智能家居将会从边缘走向主流。智能家居的所谓卖点在于：拥有智能家居的人只需要利用一个远程控制端——智能手机，就可以控制他们的家电和其他电子产品。然而现实和理想还差得很远。比如，用户不得不安装各种各样的应用来开关电器，而不是利用一个枢纽型的应用来完成这个程序。兼容性差是另外一个大问题。苹果、三星、谷歌等科技公司和电器厂商已经开始尝试着解决这一问题。他们招募了外部开发人员来使用智能家居软件，并列出可以作为合作伙伴的智能家居生产商。相信到最后，越来越多的人会有理由花上额外的一笔钱来购买联网家电。尽管到目前为止，这看起来更像是昂贵和没有必要的麻烦。

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（责任编辑：何莹莹）