You may own a car that unlocks the door for you as you approach it with the key in your pocket.  How about your house doing the same thing?

CEPro, the trade magazine for the consumer electronics industry, just did a story about a "smart lock" by Goji.  In place of the round brass deadbolt lock we're all familiar with would instead be a circular disc of  a brushed metal finish with a blue LED display.  The Goji Smart Lock is a smartphone-connected electronic security deadbolt with a built-in camera that sends real-time picture alerts and emails for visual confirmation of who is opening the door.

The device replaces a key with a smartphone, activating the deadbolt lock when the homeowner approaches the door. Homeowners can grant day- and time-specific access privileges to people, for example, to visiting friends and family; service professionals such as contractors, house cleaners and dog walkers; and to short-term renters who use services such as Airbnb. Goji digital keys are encrypted using bank-level encryption and cannot be transferred, stolen or copied like a mechanical key can. In case the homeowner misplaces his phone, Goji offers 24/7 customer service to provide assistance.

To learn more about additional features and safeguards, you will want to check out their brief video that you can access by clicking here.

Homeowners can install it themselves in the place of an existing deadbolt and includes four digital keys and two conventional keys. Programmable fobs are also available.

If you're in "getting in shape" mode, you might be interested in learning about the help you can get from technology and the internet.

Bathroom Scales

This is the first and most basic tool for any weight-loss program--measuring where you are currently and helping you decide where you need to go.  But now scales are Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth compatible.  There are so many of these products on the market that the easiest way for you to check many of them out is to simply click here to link to Amazon.com to give you a good starter list and prices of some that are available. They don't just measure weight!  Depending upon the model (and what you're willing to pay) you can learn your degree of body fat, bone mass, muscle mass, hydration and more.  And you don't need to keep record.  The scale will send your results to your computer or smartphone and log it for you through software and/or phone apps they provide!

Activity Monitors

Light activity is where you want to start?  Then all the experts say you should have a walking regimen.  Again, LOTS of products available and they start with the technology version of pedometers and advance to handle other forms of exercise.  This blogger covers six different devices that may be of interest to you.  In short, these devices will do such things as total up your activity level, monitor your heart rate, measure your blood pressure, calculate calories burned, etc.  Of course, most of them will do the recording for you in your health/fitness program on your computer or phone.

Rest is Important Too

Getting proper rest is important to an overall fitness program and, yes, there is even technology to help with that!  One of those is Zeo.  Whole clinics are now devoted to sleep assessment because having your eyes closed at night doesn't equate to sleep.  So most people don't know why they're fatigued when they awake thinking they've had a good night's sleep.  One product Zeo offers is a headband you wear while you sleep.  The information the headband downloads shows you how restful or else restless you sleep, measures the amount of REM sleep you got and scores your night.  You'll even get recommendations on how to improve your sleep.

Weight loss and fitness management is about about measurable results.  These products and SO many more can help you keep that New Year resolution.

by Bryan Naquin.  Follow Bryan on Twitter @ACIexperts.  And you can always contact him at 225.906.2589 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Bryan Naquin is president of Acadian Home Theater and Automation based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  CEPro Magazine has ranked Acadian in the top 100 consumer electronic companies in the U.S. for the third year in a row.

Nothing helps "get you home" from your day in the trenches better than by filling your home with the music you love.  But whether you're in an apartment or even a dorm room, you need portability while getting major impact from a simple system.

For simplified sound with robust tones, we want to recommend to you the SoundLink by Bose.  This little beauty is a mobile speaker which delivers amazing sound quality while weighing in at a mere 2.9 lbs!  Not even the size of a textbook, SoundLink is Bluetooth compatible meaning you can wirelessly connect to this handy delivery system from your phone, computer, tablet or other Bluetooth device from up to 30 feet away!  Cnet.com calls it "the best portable Bluetooth speaker on the market."  Click here to see how they get such LOUD, distortion-free sound in such a small package!

Open the cover to turn it on and continue folding it back to serve as its own stand.  And because its battery holds a charge up to 8 hours, you can fold it up and carry it with you to enjoy outdoors as well!  For $299.95 you get the fantastic technology you expect from a Bose product.  Click here for a one-minute video to see it for yourself.  If you order from us, you save on the shipping charges plus get local, dealer support for it and all your Bose products or upgrades.

Our next recommendation from Bose is a beefy package for the apartment when you're looking to have a complete entertainment center that you can handily take with you later.  Its the Bose VideoWave Entertainment System.  It begins with a 46-inch flatscreen HD TV.  What's truly incredible about this TV is that it delivers cinematic sound while it eliminates the need for extra speakers.  The speakers are BUILT-IN BEHIND the screen!  The Bose technology fills the room throwing sound more deftly than a ventriloquist.  Its practically eery to have sound coming at you even from behind!  So your "surround sound system" is compressed right into the flatscreen.  Watching the big game or your favorite movies doesn't get more exhilarating!  Click here for a look "under the hood."

Now to that, add your portable music via the dock included in the package to launch from your iPod or iPhone.  That wrap-around sound is now bathing your home in your favorite tunes.  So when its time to have the friends over, you're ready!  And what a great time awaits when you bring out your Xbox or Wii.  Check out this review of a VideoWave set up in an apartment.