Convert your house to a 'smart home' for £130

A DIY kit that can turn a property into a “smart home” for only about £130 is being promoted as ideal for Londoners living in tiny flats.

Iris, revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, lets users control heating, lights and security via a smartphone while out of the house.

The system, which can also be used to unlock doors, can be uninstalled and taken to another property — making it ideal for renters frequently moving.

A £90 “home automation” pack, not yet available in the UK, includes a motion sensor to detect intruders and a plug that can be remotely turned off. Their control hub costs about £40.

US firm Lowe’s, which created Iris, built a show home at the CES, the world’s biggest tech show, to show off the kit. Product manager Robbie Falls said: “People in cities such as London would really benefit from Iris because of how well it works in compact apartments.”

A number of firms, including Samsung, are creating more interconnected devices for use in smart homes.

Mark Blunden flew as a guest of low-cost carrier Norwegian, which flies the 787-9 Dreamliner weekly from Gatwick to Los Angeles (norwegian.com)

200mph car that’s all-electric

A futuristic electric supercar that can reach speeds of up 200mph has been unveiled.

The single-seat FFZERO1, which has a smartphone dock in its steering wheel, made its debut at CES.

California-based Faraday Future said it had no plans to sell the FFZERO1, but would start building a different model.

A teaser video has been watched almost one million times on YouTube.