One of the trends seen at the recent IFA exhibition, held in Berlin Germany, was the move towards a smart home. Connected devices are big business as the Internet of Things (IoT) is making its way into the living room, kitchen and bedroom. Lenovo is joining the party, with the introduction of a new smart lightbulb, plug and home camera. These form part of the Lenovo Smart Home Essentials, which the company punts as the “one-stop shop to a smarter home”.

All three work via the Lenovo Link app and can be controlled from there. Alternatively, users can also control these via voice, since Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa are onboard.

Starting with the Smart Bulb ($30), the app can be used to dim or brighten rooms remotely, while it can also be programmed to automatically turn on or off, or be set to different colour temperatures.

If room safety and security is a concern, the Lenovo Smart Camera ($100) should help, since it’s able to record at 30 fps 1920 x 1080 (1080p). While you can view what its wide-angle lens records remotely, you can also talk to people inside the room, since it contains a built-in microphone and speaker. Other control functions are remote manual pan and tilt controls via the mobile app, a motion sensor detector and night vision.

Unfortunately not everything revealed was as exciting, and this is where the Smart Plug ($30) comes in. Connecting via wi-fi, this can be turned on and off remotely, which we suppose can be good to get the percolator started in the morning.

These three products join the recently launched Lenovo Smart Display, which works with Google Assistant, while Lenovo noted that they will expand the Lenovo Smart Home Essentials range as time goes by. There is no word yet on local availability yet.