Wink
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Wink's home automation service has been down for a whole day
The company says the issue does not affect local control.
Wink's smart home platform faces a days-long outage
Wink's smart home platform has been suffering outages for days.
Wink's delayed smart home subscription plan kicks in July 27th
Those who want to keep using their Wink hubs and devices as usual will have to visit the company’s official subscription page to sign up.
Owlcam's new owner more than doubles the price of its annual LTE dashcam fee
Owlcam users will have to pay more than double their subscription fee to continue accessing LTE services.
Wink smart home users have one week to subscribe or be shut off
Wink is moving its smart home technology to a subscription, and owners aren't thrilled.
How to make your smart home more secure
Making your house "smart" is an exciting process but you also want to make sure you're keeping your home (and everything and everyone in it) protected. We talked to a security expert about the best ways to keep your smart home secure.
Do you need a smart home hub?
When life gets chaotic, it can be convenient to have all your smart home devices operating on the same wavelength. Achieving this sort of harmony sometimes requires a hub to consolidate the myriad gadgets in your house. But not everyone needs a dedicated smart hub to make their setup run smoothly. A smart speaker like the Amazon Echo or the Google Home can serve a similar purpose, with each device's respective apps acting as central command. Manufacturers have even begun bundling hubs into other devices like security systems and mesh WiFi routers, making home automation simpler for beginners.
Will.i.am’s tech company bought headphone maker Earin
Will.i.am's tech company i.am+ revealed to TechCrunch at CES today it had recently purchased headphone maker Earin. The company didn't disclose how much it paid for Earin and Earin's name might not make it through the acquisition, but Earin's products fit with those of i.am+ for the most part, and the purchase seems to be a more logical move than others recently made by the company.
Velco's smart handlebars use lights to guide you home
Smartphones are great for getting you where you want to go. But when you're on two wheels, it can be tough to keep track of your progress. You either have to pull over, or attach your device to the handlebars. Velco's "Wink" smart handlebar solves that issue while also adding additional security to any bike it's attached too.
Wink pairs with Sonos to auto-tune your smart home
Sonos announced it was opening up its ecosystem a couple months back and, sure enough, controls for Tidal and Pandora followed, with Airplay 2 support also inbound. Unsurprisingly, its upcoming Alexa integration hogged the limelight, but the smart speaker-maker also promised smart home partnerships with the likes of Wink and Alarm.com, among others. Fast forward more than two months, and the Wink team-up is now a reality, courtesy of the Wink Hub 2's compatibility with all Sonos products.
Wink's $200 home security bundle includes three sensors and a hub
Wink's mission (before and after getting bought by Will.i.am) has been to make smart product networks work simply and easily with its proprietary hub, and added Google Home and Alexa integration to boot. Accordingly, most of its earlier bundles, like its smart light bulb home safety package, have included other companies' products. But its latest is a collection linking its hub with three new Wink sensors for a holistic security bundle.
Will.i.am hopes buying a smart home platform will get it started
Will.I.Am is at the point of his career where he has the disposable income to throw at basically whatever he wants. Be it a terrible smartwatch (or two) or an insipid iPhone case, he's thrown cash at a variety of money pits. Now, he has another one to add to his list: A smart home platform. His i.am+ company has acquired Wink, which makes hubs for connected household devices.
Wink promises home security with its $119 smart bulb bundle
Wink's goal is to demystify the internet of things with a single hub and a single app that talks to all manner of smart home devices from other companies, and plays nice with Google's assistant and Alexa too. Knowing that most people are still unsure of where to start modernizing, Wink has today announced a new basic smart lighting bundle for $119 that includes its latest smart home hub and two dimmable, connected bulbs from Sylvania. The "Wink Bright" proposition is two-fold, however, as the company is also updating its mobile app to add a few no-nonsense features to show there's more to smart bulbs than not having to move from the sofa to set the mood.
Google conquers more of your smart home with Logitech and Wink
A number of connected home devices already work with Google's smart speaker and today a few more are being added to the fold. Logitech's Harmony line and Wink's lighting gear and thermostats can now be controlled with voice commands from Google Home. "Ok Google, ask Harmony to..." can control your connected speakers, fire up a specific app on Roku, skip forward/backward on content and more for devices that work with Logitech's smart home platform.
Wink's connected home tech uses Alexa to lock your doors
You can already use Alexa to control Wink-compatible connected lights, switches and thermostats, but now the IoT company is letting you use the virtual assistant to lock your doors. Wink announced today that you can employ those handy voice commands to make sure your doors are locked. The company says that smart locks from the likes of Schlage, Kwikset, and Yale that are compatible with its tech are privy to the update.
Wink's new smart home hub is slimmer and more powerful
Every person who's tried to smarten up their home knows the woes of dealing with multiple hubs -- one for each brand's products. Wink tried to solve that problem two years ago with its original Hub, and is now launching a successor that not only looks sleeker and is 25 percent slimmer, but also offers a simplified setup and pairing process, thanks to a new app. The Wink Hub 2, basically a control panel for all your connected devices, will be available for $99 in late October at Amazon, The Home Depot and Walmart.
Wink's smart home controller can hail an Uber car
Wink's Relay controller is about to do a lot more than tie your smart home together. The company is rolling out third-party service support that accomplishes tasks you wouldn't normally expect from the device controlling your light bulbs. For one thing, you can order a ride through Uber -- it'll even show a ride you've ordered on your phone, in case you need a heads-up that your driver is nearly there. You can also get updates on your Fitbit progress from the Relay's sleep screen, or use the controller's two physical buttons to trigger automated IFTTT tasks. Will you use these often? Probably not, but they'll beat walking across the house to get your phone.
ICYMI: Cameras on Cops, VR beam onto Enterprise and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-467571{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-467571, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-467571{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-467571").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: The Department of Justice just announced it will give $23 million to 32 states to help buy more body cameras for police officers. A virtual reality tour that would create all 42 decks of the Starship Enterprise is being crowdfunded. And an overfunded IndieGoGo campaign for a lamp that is exactly modeled on the moon is still available for your bedtime with tots enjoyment.
Quirky will sell its Wink smart home tech after going bankrupt
Quirky hinted that things weren't going so well when it stopped building its namesake oddball gadgets, and it's now extra-clear that the company has hit a rough patch. It's filing for bankruptcy in a bid to get its house back in order, and the restructuring effort will include selling off Wink, the firm behind its relatively popular smart home platform. The contract manufacturing outfit Flextronics is making a "stalking horse" offer for Wink to set a baseline price, but the hope is that another company will pony up a greater amount. So how does this affect you, then?
Amazon's Echo speaker can control your Wink-powered smart home
If you've filled up your home with Wink-based lighting and similar smart appliances, you're about to get an easy (and official) way to manage it all with your voice. As of now, you can tell Amazon's Echo speaker to control Wink devices -- so long as they're paired, you only have to ask Alexa to "turn on the light" or "turn off the fan." Range limits will likely prevent you from using Echo's new trick around the whole house (you won't be putting on backyard light shows, for example), but this could still save you some hassles when you just want to relax after a hard day.
