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A Smart Home for Everyday People: This Tech Blogger Loves How Hive Makes Things Simpler for Even Tech Phobes

BY Promoted Series Correspondent // 08.17.17

You’re on a first name basis with the IT guy at work. At home, your neighbor’s preteen is on call for Internet emergencies and iPhone backups. Maybe you aren’t what one would call “high-tech” — but that doesn’t mean your home can’t be.

That’s the beauty of Hive, a smart home subscription service that’s entering the U.S. market after a successful launch in the United Kingdom. The company offers a suite of home products that can simplify day-to-day life in a matter of minutes, according to a prominent Dallas tech blogger used to having to make things simpler for his friends.

“The smart home services industry is littered with lots of companies offering lots of things, but the solution that Hive brings to the marketplace is compatibility,” says Liron Segev, founder and editor of The Techie Guy.

All too often, homeowners spend time and money on devices that won’t communicate. Segev is attracted to Hive’s “box solution,” which ensures that the products will work together. Plus, Hive customers pay for the service rather than the hardware, so product and technical support is always just a call or email away.

The standard Hive Welcome Home Standard Plan — which includes a Hive Hub, two Hive Active Plugs, four Hive Active Lights, two Window/Door Sensors, one Motion Sensor and one Hive Active Thermostat — starts at $24.99/month.

“A lot of home automation systems are amazing as long as you get in on the ground floor, but most of us don’t have that luxury,” Segev says. “The fact that Hive is wireless really adds to the value of the package.”

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Segev may have an IT industry background, but he says that anyone can set up a Hive smart home. Box 1 contains the Hive Hub, the most important component of the system. Open the package, plug the device into a power outlet, then connect it to Wi-Fi — and you’re halfway there. Switch on the rest of the products and control them via the award-winning Hive app (available for smartphone, tablet or desktop).

A lot of times Segev finds himself relying on his extensive tech background to set up things companies claim that anyone can do. Not this time. Not with Hive. The Techie Guy felt like he could have handed it off to a barely computer literate friend.

“The package didn’t come with a million complicated manuals… and at no stage did I have to reconfigure anything or change an IP address,” says Segev. Cue a sigh of relief.

The tech-savvy among us will be impressed by Hive’s capabilities, too. With Hive Actions, it’s possible to layer multiple action points. For example, if a Hive Motion Sensor is triggered at the front door, it can switch on a Hive Active Light, send an alert to your phone and activate a security camera plugged into a Hive Active Plug. Hive devices can become even smarter with the help of Amazon Echo or If This, Then That (IFTTT), a platform that facilitates communication between more than 500 different apps and devices.

With Hive, Segev can travel for work without worrying about what’s happening back home and he can adjust the temperature in his house while he’s playing video games on the couch. There are Egyptian sultans who only wished they had that kind of life.

Between peace of mind and the convenience factor, this Techie Guy is sold.

This tech expert didn’t expect the technology to make his life easier in such a natural seemingly way. That’s not how much of tech works. Even for those who work in it. But with Hive, it’s almost like Segev did not adjust to Hive as much as Hive adjusted to him. It’s almost as if the smart home system was made for his lifestyle.

Now that’s tech to believe in.

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