https://www.copyright link/technology/let-s-get-this-wi-fi-party-started-20191206-p53hhn
Let's get this (Wi-Fi) party started
You may not be able to control your guests, but with the right gadgets you should be able to sort just about everything else from your phone.
John DavidsonColumnist
Dec 12, 2019 — 8.58am
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The bad news is if your next party is destined to be a disaster, no amount of high-tech gadgetry is going to save it.
If your choice of music is lousy, then it won't matter how many latest-generation Wi-Fi speakers you throw at the problem, it will still be lousy. The only difference will be that everyone will hear in perfect clarity exactly how lousy it is.
And if the food is bland, you might be able to improve its appearance through some carefully placed Wi-Fi light globes (the secret is to set a multi-coloured Wi-Fi globe to glow green over the salad, to glow red over the meat and so on), but that trick will work only up to the moment the food goes in your guests' mouths.
But the good news is if your next party is teetering on the edge of greatness, then some well-placed tech can push it over that edge. The
Wi-Fi-controlled barbecue we reviewed in this column a few weeks back, for example, the Traeger Timberline 850 WiFi BBQ, can free you up to pay attention to your guests, and can stop you smelling like a barbecue yourself. Feature lighting displays that ebb and flow in tune with the music can give the misfits something to stare at. And the right music is all the better when it's played on the right speakers.
So, yeah, tech can make a difference. But you need to get the fundamentals right first.
LIFX Smart Home Lights
You can use LIFX lighting to create zones in your house. Supplied
The Australian-founded Internet of Things company Buddy Technology does a line of Wi-Fi-controlled smart lights that have colour saturation and brightness unmatched by rivals like Philips Hue, making them the best choice for the dramatic lighting effects you might need at a party.
LIFX lights come in all shapes and sizes, and with the exception of the strip lights and some of the feature lights, they all can fit in existing lamps and sockets, meaning that switching over to them is as simple as pulling out the old globe, putting in the LIFX globe, and connecting it to your Wi-Fi network.
From there, a LIFX app installed on your phone, as well as voice controls such as Siri and Google Assistant, can be used to turn your lights on and off, and set the brightness and the colour.
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LIFX lights are perfect for setting the mood for your party, and the fact that you can easily and independently change their brightness and colour means you can use lighting to create zones with different moods around the house.
You can even set the lights to slowly change the colour and brightness over the course of the party, not so subtly encouraging guests to skedaddle in a timely fashion by setting them to shift to maximum brightness and whiteness when you want everyone to go.
Because sometimes, getting a great party to end is every bit as difficult as getting it going in the first place.
Nanoleaf lighting panels
Not every Nanoleaf installation need be as big (and expensive) as this one. Supplied
Where LIFX is more about creating a mood with lighting, Nanoleaf is more about creating a talking point.
Its light panels clip together into installations as large or as small as you want them, which can then be used to create swirls and patterns of light, in constant motion if you want, adding the illusion of movement to your otherwise static party.
We've always found Nanoleaf to be far less reliable than LIFX (indeed, Nanoleaf lights are among the least reliable devices we've ever reviewed here in the Digital Life Labs), but if you make a bit of an effort, if you're prepared to factory reset them from time to time, you should be able to stay on top of the reliability issues and get pretty impressive results.
One thing we like about Nanoleaf lights is that they either come with a microphone built in (in the case of the square "Canvas" panels) or have an add-on microphone as an optional accessory (in the case of the triangular "Panel" panels), allowing you to create light shows that pulse in time with the music, letting you create your very own discotheque.
Like the LIFX lights, the Nanoleaf panels are controlled by an app on your phone, and that app gives you tonnes of interesting, music-actuated lighting designs such as "Meteor Shower" or "Pulse Pop Beats". You're almost certain to find at least one design which goes with the mood you're trying to set at your party, and if you can't find one, the apps lets you design light shows of your own.
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The Nanoleaf system even has an optional-extra remote control, shaped as a dodecahedron, that you can leave on a coffee table and will change the lighting design each time a guest picks it up and puts it down on a different face.
Your party may turn out to be dull, but at least that they'll remember that funny 12-sided thingo that magically controlled the lights.
Sonos Move
The Move has a handle on the back to make it a bit easier to heft around. Supplied
This year, legendary Wi-Fi speaker company Sonos finally came out with the perfect speaker for the perfect indoor/outdoor party: the Sonos Move.
The Move is Sonos' first battery-operated, fully portable speaker, making it ideal for parties that might start outdoors (next to that Wi-Fi-controlled barbecue) and then move indoors later in the evening.
Like all Sonos speakers, it's a Wi-Fi device that lets you stream music and internet radio stations from just about any streaming service you can think of: Spotify, Google Play Music, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Pandora (if you're still lucky enough to have it), to name just a few.
It can be used as a standalone speaker or it can also be joined via Wi-Fi to any other Sonos speakers you may have in your house, letting you play the same music in every room (Sonos used to call this its "Party Mode"), or different music in different rooms if that's what the party calls for. (You could even match your Sonos speakers to your LIFX lights, sort of like a food/wine pairing, only with music and light.)
Unlike Sonos' other speakers, though, the Move is also a Bluetooth speaker, allowing your guests to play music directly from their phones at the touch of a button if and when your music is not to their liking.
Unfortunately, putting a Move into Bluetooth mode disconnects it from the Wi-Fi, so a guest won't be able to hijack your Move and then use that to control all the music in your house: their music will play on only the Move itself.
Though, maybe that's fortunate rather than unfortunate: it depends on the quality of your guests. And that, I am sorry to say, is one crucial factor that no amount of technology is going to help you with.
