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The gear you need for your dorm room
Our back-to-school guide wouldn't be complete without a section on dorm living. After all, you're going to be spending a lot of the year there (though hopefully not too much time). To really trick out a dorm room in 2019, we needed to focus on both comfort and convenience. Oh, and space savings, too. We think smart displays make a lot of sense, given how versatile they are. In particular, we opted for products that use Google Assistant over Amazon's Alexa because we think most people already tend to use Google for most services. We also suggested cooking gear that would be allowed in most dorms, including an electric kettle and the multifunctional Instant Pot. And to brighten up your new place a bit, we've also listed a couple different lighting options. From a high-tech smart clock to a basic coffee dripper, we think this is a solid shortlist for making your tiny abode feel like home away from home.
The best smart LED light bulbs
By Grant Clauser This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here. We considered more than 20 smart-light-bulb systems and then spent eight weeks testing 10 contenders, confounding a family of four by constantly changing how their lights worked. After all that, we determined that the Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance A19 is the best all-around smart LED bulb. Hue lets you change your lighting color easily and does everything other smart light bulbs do, and it's also part of a larger product and app ecosystem, allowing for more flexibility and creativity than any other smart bulb we tested. Plus, it's compatible with the widest variety of smart-home systems, including Apple's HomeKit, Samsung's SmartThings hub, Amazon's Alexa, and Google Home. It's not the cheapest bulb we tested, but its reliable performance and wide compatibility make it a solid choice for any smart-home enthusiast or newbie.
Alexa can finally set specific smart bulb colors
Alexa has been able to control Philips Hue, TP-Link and other smart lights for a while, but control was limited to on/off and dimming, not color -- a bummer, since the bulbs also emit up to 16 million hues. However, Amazon has now added the ability to change colors to Philips, TP-Link Kasa and LiFi Labs LIFX bulbs, giving you full voice control of your lighting at last.
Engadget giveaway: Win a smart home package courtesy of Stringify!
If you've been piecing together a smart home setup one connected device at a time, you'll be happy to know that Stringify can help you create smart sequences at the tap of a button or at just the right time of day. While you can link smart devices and even wearables, the app's abilities also tie in to online services such as Google Drive, RSS feeds and push notifications. If you have a Withings connected scale, you can set up a "flow" that automatically populates a spreadsheet with new weight readings. Want to set the mood for bedtime? You can have the lights dim slowly once it gets to a certain hour, with the temperature lowered and even have some snoozy jams playing on your connected speaker -- automatically. This week, Stringify has provided us with a respectable smart home starter kit for one lucky reader, including a Sonos Play:1, LIFX bulbs, a Samsung SmartThings Hub with sensors and an Echo Dot. All you need to do is head to the Rafflecopter widget below for up to three chances at winning. Already have some devices you'd like to tie together? The Stringify app is free on iOS and Android if you want to check it out. Winner: Congratulations to Mitch B. of Brooklyn, NY!
Nest devices start talking to Google, washing machines and your car
Nest's Learning Thermostat and Protect smoke detector are now part of a much, much larger universe. The company has just launched a developer program that lets third-party apps and devices talk to Nest hardware, making it do things that aren't possible through official software. The initiative is kicking off with a whole host of partnerships in place, in many cases with feature updates either available now or due in the near future. Chamberlain's garage doors can now tell your Nest thermostat when you're home, while Mercedes-Benz lets you check the temperature on the road; Logitech's Harmony Ultimate remote can lower the heat in mid-movie, and Jawbone's Up24 fitness tracker can tell Nest when you wake up.
Feedback Loop: 30 years of Mac, mechanical keyboards, Bitcoin alternatives and more!
Welcome to Feedback Loop, a weekly roundup of the most interesting discussions happening within the Engadget community. There's so much technology to talk about and so little time to enjoy it, but you have a lot of great ideas and opinions that need to be shared! Join us every Saturday as we highlight some of the most interesting discussions that happened during the past week. This week, the Macintosh turned 30, so naturally, we had to share our fondest memories of our first Mac. We also dove into the complex world of mechanical keyboards, examined the potential health benefits of WiFi-connected LED lightbulbs, discussed the viability of Bitcoin alternatives and asked about the best laptops for software development. Click past the break and read what fellow Engadget users like you have to say.
