Skip to main content

Brookfield Residential’s Amazon Alexa Smart Home is available for public tours

Although the dust has officially settled on Amazon Alexa’s big breakout at CES 2017, the voice-activated service’s wide-reaching coverage continues to grow. Just this week, the Virginia-based real estate company Brookfield Residential unveiled a partnership with Amazon which would bring voice-enabled automation to its new line of houses, appropriately titled The Smart Home. Officially announced in December, Brookfield says it’s now offering in-person, daily tours at the Avendale housing community in northern Virginia.

Developed by Brookfield’s Washington D.C. division, The Smart Home leans on innovative 21st-century tech to help make its owners’ day-to-day lives abundantly easier. With Alexa integration baked completely into the infrastructure of the house, Smart Home buyers would have the ability to lock or unlock their doors, turn on or off the lights, check a video feed of their security camera, pre-heat the oven, water their lawn, among many other features.

“This is how we’re all going to live,” said Brookfield’s division president Robert Hubbell. “There’s no reason to wait. We couldn’t be more thrilled to offer voice-enabled automation to our homebuyers at many of our new communities.”

What is perhaps most impressive is that Brookfield created custom prompts, which allow users to trigger multiple actions with a single command. For instance, if a Smart Home owner were to say, “Alexa, turn on Relax,” the system would dim the lights, lower the shades, flip on a relaxing playlist, and turn on a soft star panel on the ceiling.

“This is the most technologically advanced home that we’ve ever built,” Hubbell said. “But this is only the beginning.”

As Amazon’s Alexa voice-activated platform continues to integrate with a wider range of appliances and gadgets, it’s certainly not surprising to see a forward-thinking real estate company partner with the corporation to bring it to its homes. What is surprising, however, is just how quickly a company like Brookfield decided to collaborate with Amazon to bring such a useful service to its customers.

Rick Stella
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Rick became enamored with technology the moment his parents got him an original NES for Christmas in 1991. And as they say…
SimpliSafe now offers live home monitoring with new Smart Alarm Wireless Indoor Security Camera
The SimpliSafe Smart Alarm Indoor Camera.

SimpliSafe is already one of the best options when shopping for home security solutions, and it’s looking to become even more enticing with the launch of the new Smart Alarm Indoor Camera. Coinciding with the latest product is a new service -- 24/7 Live Guard Protection -- which allows agents to access a live feed of your property for enhanced response times.

The 24/7 Live Guard Protection service is only available on the Smart Alarm Indoor Camera. Previously, SimpliSafe agents could only review recorded footage after an alarm was triggered. Now, the team can monitor a live stream through the Smart Alarm Indoor Camera for improved response times. They can even interact with the intruder thanks to two-way audio, informing them that the police are on the way and that they’re being recorded.

Read more
Aqara launches U100 smart lock with full Apple HomeKit support
A person unlocking the Aqara U100 smart lock with their phone.

The list of smart locks that support Apple HomeKit isn’t quite as impressive as those of Google Home and Alexa, but Aqara has officially added one more to the list with the Aqara Smart Lock U100. Clocking in at $190 and now available on Amazon, the premium smart lock offers full support for Apple HomeKit -- along with tons of cool features that should position it as a top option for smart home enthusiasts.

As you’d expect, the Aqara U100 comes with a keypad that lets you enter a passcode to unlock the deadbolt. However, you’ll also find a fingerprint scanner that can hold up to 50 unique prints and the option to set up Apple home keys to unlock it with your Apple Watch or iPhone. Aqara also tossed in a physical key in case of emergencies.

Read more
Are smart blinds worth it?
Controlling smart blinds with a remote.

As far as smart home gadgets are concerned, smart blinds are pretty niche. Unlike smart displays, video doorbells, or smart locks, it’s not often that you hear about smart blinds (or see them installed in a friend’s home). However, these unique products offer the same luxuries as their smart siblings -- and some might even be able to save you money.

But are smart blinds worth it? Or is the upfront investment too steep for the conveniences they offer? Here’s a closer look at these products to help you decide if you should upgrade your traditional blinds to something with a bit more brains.
What are smart blinds?

Read more