Google smart routers gets even smarter

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Google's OnHub series of wireless router gets even smarter today with If This Then That (IFTTT) integration. Users can now set up "receipes" to have the router automate simple tasks.

For example, if you want to know when someone is home, you can create an IFTTT recipe to send you an email when a certain phone connects to the OnHub router. Google also showed off how you could change the color of your Philips Hue lights when more and more people connect to the OnHub.

Another demonstration showed how you could set your connected door locks to automatically engage when your phone disconnects from the OnHub. You'll never have to worry about you or one of your kids leaving the door unlocked again.

Want even more security features? IFTTT can alert you to when your Nest Cam picks up movement when you're not home. The recipe will disable itself when a trusted device connects to the network.

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Center of the Internet of Things

The OnHub isn't cheap, coming in at $199, but it may be worth it for users who want simplicity and who trust Google to keep updating it with new features. Before today's IFTTT integration, Google launched a second OnHub router made by Asus, and added the ability to recognize gestures.

Google wants OnHub to be at the center of your smarthome, pulling the strings on every internet connected device you hook up. The good news is that Google isn't locking you into its own hardware ecosystem, as IFTTT works with tons of other devices.

OnHub is the first router to support IFTTT but there's no reason other router manufacturers couldn't (or shouldn't) integrate the service into their software.

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