Remember Rosie, the Jetson's home robot? She was kinda sassy, but man, did she do a lot for the family! Modern robots haven't quite caught up to that pipe dream, though the Roomba and others aren't doing a half-bad job at cleaning floors. But why should awesomely automated robots be limited to vacuuming? They shouldn't, which is why we're featuring some of the other ways to get robotic minions to do your bidding. Well, some of your chores at least. More

The light from the street lamps bleeds through the blinds, washing the room in a faint yellow. We've been rolling around trying to get to sleep for an hour so there's no more cool spots left for us to find solace in. The clock mocks us with its glaring numbers. If you've ever had trouble sleeping you know our pain. And we'll wake up tomorrow less refreshed than we should be, to a jarring blast of cell phone noise that sends our heart pounding. It leaves us feeling less than great. But we've decided to end these restless bookends to our day and these solutions we've found seem to be working. More

If you're a Windows Phone user, you might recognize the name, Julien Schapmen, the developer of custom UI, TouchXperience for WP7. Check out what he's done using his HTC HD7, connecting it via 3G with a X10 home automation system (with USB-UIRT, amBX and programmable LED systems for ambient lighting, room temperature reading, and surveillance options). He dropped about €400 and his own custom programming to get this up and running... More

Ever wanted to know what is going on in your place while you're away or you just don't want to get up to see the ruckus? You should spy! Setting up a home surveillance camera is easier than ever and the newest models are less intrusive looking than those big brother reminders many businesses have. Here are some options that won't break the bank or kill the style in your room while letting you monitor from your smart phone! More

We don't often notice the lowly smoke detector. It's usually white, small and made to blend into the wall it sits on. In fact you've probably spent more time annoyed at it beeping at you to replace its battery or blowing smoke away from it when you burn something in the kitchen than you have using it. But it's one of many unsung heros in the house that rarely get used but make all the difference in a dangerous situation. And you're almost guaranteed to have smoke detectors (unless you uninstalled them on purpose), but do you have a carbon monoxide detector? What about a weather radio or burglar alarm? More

Product: Mr Beams LED Home Power Outage Lighting System
Price: $49.99-$99.99
Rating: Strong Recommend*

I've always loved living in older buildings. Of the five different apartments I've rented throughout the years, four were constructed between 1907-1922. Juxtaposing modern furnishings with period detailing is always a winning combination in my book. But the tradeoff of calling older architecture "home" can be living with the quirks of period details where electrical outlets are at a premium and as a renter, adding lighting can be difficult. That's where something like the Mr Beams lighting systems offer a viable solution without messing with any wiring... More

After hearing about what happened to Scarlett Johansson it seems like everyone is talking about what they can do to keep the private data on their smartphone private. While it is important to follow best practices, it might be time, depending on which OS you rock on your smartphone, to consider adding an extra level of protection. More

Yesterday it was all about Target+Missoni trending across the Twitterverse, today, the hot topic is the pair of leaked private photos taken from actress Scarlett Johansson's cell phone. Reportedly the FBI was notified, as the pair of revealing images were supposedly downloaded remotely from ScoJo's camera phone. The truth is a great many of us are storing private moments of our lives on our smartphones, the new digital hub, and they don't necessarily have to be so revealing. So here's what to do to keep your private content on your phone private... More

If you're a good little techie, you probably have volumes and volumes of music and photos backed up to a spare disc or external hard drive. But while you're making room for that U2 album you never listen to and those photos from Aunt Ruth's birthday party, why not consider the safety of something you actually care to keep: your video games. More

These days we're often sent links by email, not to mention the plethora of linked content via Twitter and Facebook. But how to know whether the links are benign and will take us to the wonderful world of animals looking ridiculously cute or videos of people doing equally ridiculously foolish things caught on tape? Or is the link hiding more insidious content? More