Furniture giant IKEA is making its new low-cost smart home fixtures voice-controllable can connect with ease to systems including Google Home, Apple HomeKit and Amazon Alexa.

The company has been pushing in the direction of making homes smarter for some time, with furnishings able to wirelessly charge phones, for instance. But with TRADFRI, they are taking the next step, providing low-cost options that can be operated through a variety existing connected-home systems.

“With IKEA Home Smart we challenge everything that is complicated and expensive with the connected home. Making our products work with others on the market takes us one step closer to meet people’s needs, making it easier to interact with your smart home products,” says Björn Block, Business Leader for IKEA Home Smart.

Smart lights, motion sensors, dimmers, door locks, all with additional layers of remote control, are slowly transforming everyday interiors into interactive design spaces. The barrier to entry is also intentionally low: the cost is one factor, but the solutions are also plug-and-play, requiring no complex knowledge or specialized coding. Their latest releases are set to be in stores later this summer or early this fall.

A series of roads and public buses in Israel are being retrofitted to test an electromagnetic induction system designed to recharge vehicles on the go, eliminating the cost, time, emissions and waste associated with conventional fuel and refueling stops.

Electroad, an Israeli startup, boasts a relatively straightforward and fast-deploying system compared to competitors. Their copper and rubber chargers can be rolled out at a rate of a close to a half a mile per day into shallow trenches just a few inches deep. The ease of retrofitting is one of the striking advantages of the system — more involved variants can require ripping up substantial sections of pavement, taking longer and costing more to implement.

Their technology has already been tested in controlled settings (small sections of test track outside Electroad’s lab) but will now be demonstrated at scale under real-world conditions along public transit routes. Like other induction technologies, no connection is needed between the vehicle and the road — a radiation-shielded coil simply picks up energy from the lines below, tied into the grid at intervals along the way.

To deploy the system, an asphalt scraper digs a trench while a second vehicle unrolls the the rubber-and-plastic strips. Electric buses following the revamped route will be able to store a charge for any jumps off the invisible grid. That may not sound like much, but the reduced storage capacity means the bus can travel lighter, using less energy and requiring a cheaper battery. Ultimately, the cost and power saved upfront will help pay back for the system installation more rapidly.

Stripping away all non-essential functionality, these sleek audio accessories are tiny enough to be effectively invisible and entirely wire-free. No need to worry about charging, either – their small carrying case lets you power them back up on the go.

Earin just finished raising £972,594 on Kickstarter, over 5 times its original funding goal, reflecting how much so many of us wish to get rid of those pesky wires when listening to music on the move.

Beyond long battery life, ergonomic comfort, snug sport-friendly casing other essential considerations, stretch goals for the project include waterproofing, phone adapters and battery monitors.

From its creators: “No unnecessary functionality has been added. No sensors, no lights and no microphone, that’s right – no microphone! Not because we couldn’t but because we wouldn’t! We use balanced armature speakers, used in professional in-ear-monitors and hearing-aids to deliver the best possible sound and to keep power-consumption at its minimal. High-density rechargeable batteries are used to keep playback time up and size down.”

Much of the technical specs on their Kickstarter page will be of interest to audiophiles (and show just how much these makers have thought about their project), but in summary: “The architecture of the earbud is based on two main covers which are ultrasonically welded to create a water-tight seal, protecting the electrical components. The materials are carefully selected to withstand both climate and impact testing. As all project members have extensive experience of creating similar consumer products, we know what works and what does [not].”