Doorman
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On-demand package delivery service 'Doorman' goes live in Chicago
Doorman, a San Francisco startup founded in 2013, is bad news for whoever makes those "Sorry we missed you!" sticky notes. Doorman allows subscribers to schedule deliveries for times that fit their own schedules, for $4 per package or up to $30 per month, and it's live in Chicago right now with a New York roll-out incoming. The service attempts to eliminate missed or stolen packages for people who don't have doormen themselves -- send your order to a personal Doorman address (a spot in the service's warehouse) and schedule a convenient time for it to be delivered, any day between 6PM and midnight. Doorman sends a push notification to users when their packages have arrived and are ready for scheduling. It's "ding" rather than "ding-dong." [Image credit: Shutterstock]
August unveils a Homekit-enabled lock, keypad and doorbell camera
August Home Inc, makers of the August Smart Lock, announced the forthcoming release of three new products as well as a new service at a press event in San Francisco today. The new product lineup includes a second-generation Smart Lock, a Smart Keypad and a Smart Doorbell Camera. The lock itself offers a number of design improvements over its predecessor including a magnetic faceplate that won't pop off every time you manually engage the lock as well as a stainless steel indicator on the lock sleeve. Plus, being Homekit-enabled, the new Smart Lock will allow users to issue voice commands through Siri rather than opening the app itself. It's available for order today and will retail for $230. The older generation locks will be discounted to $200.
Virtual doormen becoming more ubiquitous
Amazingly enough, virtual doormen aren't exactly new, but it seems that they're becoming entirely more ubiquitous (and accepted) in today's society. Increasingly, more and more apartment dwellers are coming home to voices in the wall rather than a physical life form, but virtual doormen can still let tenants into their room, allow deliveries to be made and keep disgruntled in-laws out. As you'd expect, these firms rely primarily on an internet connection, a webcam and a couple of microphones, and while typical services can range from "$10,000 to $70,000 for installation and $6,000 to $30,000 in annual maintenance," that still beats the $250,000 or so it would purportedly take for a small building to be staffed with full-time, on-site doormen. The next evolutionary step? Androids answering the buzz, and subsequent hacks to gain entry into any room you please.[Via ChipChick]
