Everything's internet-connected these days, be it toothbrushes, thermostats, fridges, lights, CO detectors... or a shower. Yep, that's right: Moen, in partnership with GridConnect (smart home specialists), has released a smart shower, the U, which is controllable via a panel inset into the wall, or via an app on your phone.

The shower is currently being exhibited at CES 2017 in Las Vegas, and our own Zach Anderson got a look at it. Judging from the video, it seems, as you might expect, pretty upper class, and utterly ridiculous, but also kind of cool, in a futuristic way. There is a digital valve in the wall that controls a precise, thermostatic temperature gauge and the WiFi connection, which needs A/C power to run. The controller is a 5-inch, non-touch screen that lets the user set exactly what temperature they want for their shower. The shower can pause once it reaches the initial pre-set temperature, wait for you to get in, then start automatically. 12 presets, such as name, greeting, temperature, pressure, and timer are able to be tweaked and adjusted exactly for your liking. As well as the wall panel, all this can be done on a phone as well, via an app available in the Play Store. With this in mind, imagine the following: wake up at 7am for work. You turn your pre-set shower on from your bed, via phone, then trudge half asleep to the bathroom, where the shower is ready and waiting for you. You undress, get in, and it turns on automatically. After five minutes, in order to save water, the shower turns off as the timer has expired. This, dear readers, is what you must expect from 2017 - it is, after all, the future.

The U by Moen does not come cheap, however. For the two outlet system, and the panel controller, the list price is $1,160. For the more advanced, four outlet model, the price is $2,200. This would need installing as well, although it's not clear if that's included in the price, but I'm erring on the side of caution as there needs to be a lot of behind the wall work to connect it all up. The representative in Zach's video says that the shower could be installed by a 'standard plumber,' so that's good news. The app, meanwhile, will be a free download from Google Play, although I couldn't find it in the Store when I looked. If it appears, we'll let you know.

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