Almond WiFi routers now control Nest gear in your home

Securifi's Almond routers just got much, much more useful if you use one of them as the center of your smart home. Both the base Almond and the Almond+ now talk directly to Nest's thermostat and Protect smoke detector, giving you network-savvy controls that Nest alone can't offer. Thanks to equally new WiFi triggers, you can have the thermostat adjust the temperature the moment your phone connects to your home network. The routers will even "broker" between two connected smartphones -- if you like it hot but your partner wants it cooler, you'll get a temperature in between the two.

There are a couple of additional updates that should make your life easier. You now have local control over at least some devices without needing an internet connection, and you can create "scenes" that perform multiple actions at once. If you're packing it in for the night, for instance, you can have the router lock your doors, set the alarm and shut off the lights. It'll be expensive to put the Almond/Nest combo in action (you're currently looking at $80 for an Almond 2015, and $249 for a Nest thermostat), but it might be easy to justify if you're trying to create the smartest possible household.