Sixfold increase in demand for ‘smart home’ gadgets – despite security fears

October 24, 2016

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Smart gadgets are taking over our homes as the number of people shopping for them has soared sixfold over the past year, according to John Lewis.

Its annual retail report published today reveals a sharp uptick in sales of intelligent lighting and heating systems, despite mounting fears that people who use them are becoming a target for cyber hackers.

John Lewis said searches for smart lighting system, Philips Hue, which lets users change the colour and type of light in different rooms around the home, increased by 207pc over the past 12 months.

It also saw increased demand for smart air purifiers, heating systems and fridges which can be controlled at the touch of a screen on a smartphone.

Overall searches for smart home products on johnlewis.com were up 670pc this year, it said.

lightbulbs — Smart technology now lets people choose different types of light throughout their homes CREDIT: TELEGRAPH

Consumers’ growing appetite for gadgets which make home life easier, has come despite repeated warnings from cyber crime experts that the new technology may leave them vulnerable to having their bank details stolen.

David Emm, security experts at Kaspersky Labs, said: “Unlike traditional laptops and computers which are usually protected with encrypted passwords, many passwords for smart devices are generic and non-encrypted, meaning they are much weaker.

This makes it easy for criminals to access. Then once they are in they can use the device to look at data being sent to and from smartphones and gain access to bank details. And if hackers can find enough devices to hack into at once they could threaten to cut off services en masse.”

As well as practical appliances the shift to smart home technology is also having a big impact on home entertainment, with 95pc of television sales now Internet-connected, far outweighing non-connected options.

In the toy space, the BB-8 App-Enabled Droid, which is also controlled by a smartphone app, was the most popular Christmas gadget for the retailer this year.

Meanwhile John Lewis said old-style laptops with disc drives, CD and DVD storage units were well and truly out-of-date, with sales dropping by 50pc on the year before.

It also included the traditional alarm clock on its list of items it believes are going out of fashion, putting the trend down to people using alarm clocks on their smartphones instead.

[Source:-The Telegraph]