What these "smart home" terms really mean?

So you are still wondering what these terms really mean. You will see these terms in various articles online, product descriptions, and instructions. You also hear them on various videos on YouTube.

Let’s start with their basic definitions:

IoT: is a system of mesh-like computer and mechanical devices provided with unique identifiers (UIDs) that have the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.

Smart Home: a home equipped with lighting, heating, and electronic devices that can be controlled remotely by phone, tablet or computer.

Home Automation: refers to the automatic and electronic control of household features, activity, and appliances like controlling power or functions for appliances and electronics.

Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi is the name of a wireless networking technology that uses radio waves to provide high-speed network and Internet connections.

DLNA: stands for “Digital Living Network Alliance” it is a non-profit trade organization that was started by Sony in 2003. DLNA is a technology that enables devices to share stuff like photos, video, music with each other wirelessly using Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) to discover each other on the network.

Bluetooth LE: is a wireless (PAN) personal area network technology created by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (Bluetooth SIG) aimed at providing a more efficient and lower energy-consuming connection wirelessly via Bluetooth for devices like cell phones, laptops and other small battery-operated devices.

Airplay: AirPlay is a proprietary technology created by Apple Inc. that allows wireless streaming of audio, video, and photos between devices.

Casting: is a technology that allows you to display whatever is visible on your device's screen on another screen, mostly wirelessly using WiFi for the connection. 

Geofencing: Is the practice of using a geofence which is a virtual perimeter used by devices of a real-world geographic area to create a virtual boundary.

Hub: A smart home hub is a piece of hardware (most common in this case context) or software that connects devices on a home automation network.

IFTTT: also known as IFTTT, is a freeware web-based service that creates chains of simple conditional statements, called applets. An applet is triggered by changes that occur within other web services such as Gmail, Facebook, Telegram, Instagram, or Pinterest.

Z-Wave and Zigbee: is a wireless communications protocol used primarily for home automation. It is a mesh network using low-energy radio waves to communicate from appliance to appliance, allowing for wireless control of residential appliances and other devices, such as lighting control, security systems, thermostats, windows, locks, swimming pools, and garage door openers.

Just remember these terms and their definitions can appear in a few different forms depending on the company using them but for the most part, the core definitions are the same.