Now for the downside of a house loaded up with "smart" devices to allow remote control and monitoring: turning your home into a computer means computer-like problems. Today's example comes from the Wink Hub, a $50 device sold at Home Depot that's supposed to simplify things by working across standards and link common home appliances (lights, thermostat, garage door, etc.) to your phone. That was the plan until yesterday when Wink sent out a software update that went wrong somehow, and now a number of users have a box "so secure that it is unable to connect to the Wink servers" (Wink's words, not ours). The problem knocked all Wink hubs offline from 12:40PM to 11PM ET yesterday, and while the company says a "majority" of hubs were able to recover and reconnect, those that weren't will need to be sent back.

Update: We've confirmed what several Wink users have reported -- it appears that an expired certificate is at the root of the problem. The update pushed out was an attempt to fix the issue, and judging by responses on the Facebook group it did work for some owners. Stay tuned though, we're expecting more information on the issue shortly. [Thanks, Paul!]

Update 2: There's a way to fix the problem! Quirky founder Ben Kaufman tells us that Wink is currently testing it with a small group of users but plans to email directions out soon. Click here for more details, and keep an eye out for that email.

[Thanks Larry, Steve & John]