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The best smart garage-door controller
By Jennifer Pattison Tuohy This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here. After spending over 20 hours wiring and rewiring garage-door openers, opening and closing the doors with our smartphones and our voices, and controlling them through smartphone apps and home-automation routines, we found that the Chamberlain MyQ Garage (MYQ-G0301) is the best smart garage-door controller for most people. It was the easiest and quickest to install of all the controllers we tested, it's among the simplest to set up and use, and it's compatible with the most garage doors, thanks to the huge popularity of Chamberlain and LiftMaster products in homes across the country.
Chamberlain's garage door app now works with your Nest Cam
Things disappear out of garages. Especially when you accidentally leave them open. Chamberlain and LiftMaster's garage solutions not only open and close that giant door with the MyQ app, they also tell you when it's been left open. For even more peace of mind, the Chamberlain group announced today that its app is getting support for the Nest Cam. Now owners not only know when the door is ajar, but have instant access to video via the app.
Daily Update for January 13, 2012
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LiftMaster uses your iPhone as a remote garage door opener
Sometimes I begin to wonder if the entire "let's control your life from your smartphone" thing is going a little too far. We've seen iPhone-powered barista tools, ADT sells a smartphone-connected security system, and now garage door opener manufacturer LiftMaster is selling two openers that can use your iPhone or computer to open and close your garage door. From the marketing materials on the LiftMaster website, it's apparent that they want you to be able to open or close your garage door from any room in your house, from your backyard, or while you're on vacation thousands of miles away. Call me old-fashioned, but why can't you just walk a few feet and punch the wall-mounted garage door button to open and close it? The system, which LiftMaster refers to as MyQ, uses an internet gateway that connects to the garage door opener. Install the LiftMaster Home Control app (free) on your iPhone, and now you're opening and closing your garage door from that internet café on Novaya Zemlya. Sure, MyQ can also turn on and off lights in addition to opening and closing that garage door, but what ever happened to the good old days when you either a) used timers on lights, and b) had your neighbors check on your place? That's certainly less expensive than this system, which ZDNet reports has a price tag of $350 - $500, plus a $15 annual fee for the privilege of using your phone to operate your garage door. Seriously?
