Estimated reading time: 8 minutes Smart home and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies are revolutionising the way we approach managing our homes, providing new opportunities for accessible, convenient ways to conserve energy and minimise our carbon footprints. In this blog, we’ll take you through some of the key benefits of adopting smart home technologies, typical use cases, some things to consider when it comes to data management and the potential negative impacts. What are the environmental benefits of smart home technologies? The primary benefit is digitising the control systems to allow ..read more

Throughout the year Opportunity North East have been showcasing the work of innovative businesses from across the North East of Scotland. We were delighted to be chosen for the last tech showcase event of the year at the ONE Tech Hub and as you can see from the event round-up we really made the most of the opportunity! Day 1: Set-up and Student Insights The week kicked off with a flurry of activity as we prepared for the exciting days ahead. Amidst the bustle of setting up tech and displays, we had the pleasure of collaborating with three enthusiastic students from North East Scotland College ..read more

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes It was an exciting week in the world of Amazon Alexa last week. Want to know about the latest Alexa updates? What does this mean for the smart home and Alexa voice applications (aka Skills)? Read on to find out more. We got the news that Alexa will be upgraded to include Large Language Model (LLM) capability. This is a huge leap forward and will enable experiences like our Kindspace and My Scottish Community apps to become more intuitive and less transactional options-based. It’s particularly exciting for apps like this that have been built on a proprietary da ..read more

It’s back-to-school season! If you are anything like us getting back into a routine can be hard. There is always so much to organise and new timings to get used to. We’re here to help you set yourself and your kids up for success this school year and smarten up your back-to-school routine. In this blog, we’ll show you how smart home tech like voice assistants, smart lights, and smart plugs can help make your days run smoother and get the whole family out the door on time. This is the perfect mini guide if you’ve ever wondered, how can I get Alexa to help me be more organised. 1. Morning Alarm ..read more

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes June is flying by and soon we will be off for the summer. We’ve been busy working on some new ideas and excited to let you know more about our plans. Find out what happens behind the scenes at our family run smart home business. This month is all about podcasts and widgets! Fife Family Fun Day This was such a good event, great to see so many visitors interested in STEM and having fun. It was a also very busy day for us as we had two stalls, one about smart homes and another about Chemical Engineering. European Chatbot and Conversational AI Summit I’m super exc ..read more

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes At TL Tech we’ve been on quite a journey when it comes to supporting technology adoption, going from installing tech in people’s houses to creating DIY resources to empower people to have a go themselves setting up tech solutions like the Amazon Alexa smart speakers. We’ve also had the pleasure of collaborating with organisations on their tech journeys and we’re really excited to see momentum growing in the consumer electronics space, promoting its use as a tool in providing people with greater agency and independence. For us, technology shouldn’t be about mon ..read more

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes It has been rather a long time since we shared any updates. This is actually a good sign as we’ve been really busy working on user research for Kindspace looking at how effective it is at reducing feelings of worry and based on the feedback from the participants we’ve also taken the opportunity to refresh some of the wellness activities, plus we now have a whole new library of short bedtime stories brought to you in collaboration with an amazing writer called Neil Bebber. to help you destress at the end of the day. We had to take a break from posting on social ..read more

Introducing a new Amazon Alexa app designed to make community support information accessible to all Estimated reading time: 3 minutes A new voice in the emerging voice technology space is ALISS. Powered by Amazon Alexa, ALISS (A Local Information System for Scotland) is the first voice application of its kind. ALISS is a national digital system designed to help people find and share information on services, groups, activities, and resources in their local communities across Scotland. The ALLIANCE has partnered with TL Tech Ltd to provide a new vision for ALISS to make it more accessi ..read more

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes In the latest instalment of our blog series, we interview Phoebe Pearson to find out more about how she got into Music Technology and what she likes to do outside of work. I am a big believer in serendipity and Phoebe ending up coming to work for us was definitely meant to be. We applied for the government Kickstart programme last year. Originally, we were thinking we’d hire someone closer to Aberdeen, but Phoebe, who’s based just South of Glasgow, saw our advert and applied literally the day before her 25th birthday. Age 25 was the cut off for the scheme. We ..read more

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes The single biggest thing that influences our wellbeing is our habits.  We all have set things that we do, some of which serve us well and other things we do even though deep down we know they aren’t good for us.  Our habits are unique to us as individuals and just because you’ve done things a certain way for some time, it doesn’t mean that you can’t change your habits. The choices we make today have an impact through compounding effects on our future and if we want to be healthy and enjoy our later years we need to take good care of our bodies and m ..read more