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IFTTT's recipe-based automation is coming to other apps
IFTTT's recipes are great for getting apps and devices that you use on the regular to interact with each other without being prompted to do so. Before now, you had to download the IFTTT app or visit its website to get everything setup, input your account details and more. That's about to change. Over the course of the last year, the company has been working with other companies to integrate those formulas inside their own apps rather than relying on IFTTT to handle the coordination elsewhere. The result is easy access to expanded features for companies beyond the standard tools their services provide.
The Internet of Things is coming to your hydroponic garden
It was only a matter of time. The Internet of Things has already come for our vaporizers; now it is back for our hydroponic grow ops. Behold the Gro.io, an all-inclusive hydro system that's nearly fully automated. The brains behind this system is the Gro.hub. This central computing tower runs an embedded Linux OS on a 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 Processor and processes signals from ten separate remote sensors. These monitor things like water temperature, level, pH and flow.
Flow is Microsoft's take on IFTTT automation (updated)
Microsoft is about to release its take on the automation service IFTTT called Flow, according to a blog post published and removed by the company. (Update: the service is now live!)
Google's OnHub router uses IFTTT to automate your life
Google's $200 OnHub router arrived last year, delivering fast WiFi in a device that touted an easy setup and automatic security updates. In the months following its arrival, the company has also added features like guest mode and band steering. Today, OnHub became even more useful as Google announced that the device now supports automated recipes from IFTTT. For the uninitiated, IFTTT uses formulas called recipes to automate certain behaviors based on things like a device's location, time of day or some activity.
Tesco now lets you automate your shopping with IFTTT
Now we're at the point where shopping for groceries no longer requires you to trudge down to the local supermarket, retailers are constantly working on new ways to make filling our baskets a little bit easier. For its latest trial, Tesco -- still the UK's largest supermarket despite mega financial setbacks -- has launched a new platform that lets you automate some of your shopping. It's teamed up with task-managing service IFTTT to roll out a bunch of new "recipes" that can automatically add items to your basket when prices drop or even when the weather is unexpectedly favourable.
Robot home can anticipate and cater to your needs
Ashutosh Saxena, the founder of a startup called Brain of Things, believes an automated home might make more sense than automated cars in the long run. We spend more time inside our houses, after all. That's the reason his company is building "robot homes" in three locations in California. They don't exactly come with a Rosie that can vacuum your carpet or a Pepper that can entertain your guests, but they're loaded with sensors and automated appliances that can learn your habits. "The house knows the context, whether [its occupants] were watching a movie or sleeping or whatever," Saxena told MIT's Technology Review.
Robots could replace 5 million jobs by 2020, report claims
It's no secret that robots are replacing humans in factories, and both the retail and service industries are set to take a hit, too. Just how bad will things get? Well, the World Economic Forum says its research indicates that over 5 million jobs will be lost to automation by 2020. The WEF claims white-collar workers -- administrative and office jobs -- are at the highest risk of being replaced.
Amazon Echo owners can create custom voice commands with IFTTT
Telling Amazon's Alexa to play some music or add an item to your shopping list is pretty cool, but there comes a point where you start to feel the limits of the Echo's pre-programmed voice commands. It doesn't have to be that way anymore: Amazon and the automation wizards at IFTTT just announced a new feature that allows you to create custom voice phrases to make Alexa do whatever you want. Unfortunately, there's a catch: every command has to start with the word "trigger."
The After Math: On the road again
Forget robot chauffeurs, our future ground transports won't even need drivers to start with. Between their LIDAR arrays and digital mapping technology, autonomous vehicles are getting safer, more capable and -- dare we say it -- more attractive by the day.
Tracking glitch grounds over 100 US flights
Hopefully, you weren't flying to or from the US East coast this weekend -- if you were, there's a real chance that a technical glitch ruined your trip. The Federal Aviation Administration reports that airlines cancelled legions of flights (around 134 in Baltimore and Washington DC, according to Flightaware) after an automated tracking system in Virginia went haywire. It's not yet certain exactly what went wrong, but the incident triggered a ripple effect that delayed several hundred flights. One thing's for sure: between this and United Airlines' network chaos, technology is becoming an ever-larger factor in your ability to travel on time. [Image credit: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin]
Apple HomeKit now supports more sensors and security systems
It's been just over a year since Apple announced HomeKit, its plan to allow you to control your smart home with an iOS device. Compatible products have only just started trickling onto shelves, and there's been some confusion about how exactly the company is going to turn this idea into a coherent experience. That's still not entirely clear, but Apple has at least given us a little more information with the addition of support for new category types including security systems, smart locks and carbon monoxide detectors. It also announced that you'll be able to control devices remotely using iCloud.
Humanoids, showoffs and other machines ready to do our dirty work
If you've developed a not-so-irrational fear of losing work opportunities to robots, you'd probably mistake RoboUniverse as a job fair. And you wouldn't be too far off. It's the first year for the three-day expo, which wraps up the New York portion of its tour today. The event was organized as a buyer/seller conference to show off progressive technology in the service robotics industry. We're a sucker for any event advertising "robots," so we decided to swing by to see what was bubbling up from industry, capturing a few photos along the way.
R/C trains haul ore in extreme heat so humans don't have to
It gets hot in the Australian outback; like, really hot. We're talking "130 degrees fahrenheit in the shade" sort of hot -- definitely not the sort of place that many people would want to even visit, much less work in on a daily basis. But this inhospitable environment is also extremely well-endowed with iron ore deposits. So how does one extract this valuable mineral from the Earth -- and then transport it more than 200 miles, no less -- without baking legions of miners? If you're the Roy Hill mining company, you just install a 21-locomotive fleet of GE's remote controlled heavy-haul trains. "We don't run a locomotive anywhere in the world that's hotter than here," Fraser Borden from GE Transportation said in a statement.
This factory robot is small, precise and human-friendly
Picture a typical factory robot in your head and you'll probably see a cold, unsympathetic arm performing relatively simple tasks. You may want to shake that image soon, though. Rethink Robotics has taken the wraps off of Sawyer, a smaller sibling to its earlier Baxter model that's built for handling high-precision tasks that most machines can't tackle, such as testing circuit boards. The one-armed robot is designed to be as people-friendly as its predecessor, with a touchscreen for a face and software that lets you teach it by guiding it with your hands. The big improvements are in the arm itself. Sawyer is using new actuators and joints that make it smaller, faster and more precise, which should help with assembling or verifying lots of tiny parts.
The Associated Press is automating college sports news, too
In an effort to bring the masses more sports news, the Associated Press plans to use automated tech for stories it wouldn't normally cover. The AP is working with the NCAA this spring to produce game reports across Division I baseball, Division I women's basketball and both Division II and III football. In the months to come, coverage will extend to Division II and III men's basketball -- probably just in time for next season. While the NCAA will provide the game stats, stories will leverage the tech that the AP already uses to automate thousands of earnings reports each quarter. "This will mean thousands of more stories on the AP wire, which will remain unmatched in the industry," said Barry Bedlan, the AP's deputy director of sports products. "Every college sports town will have some level of coverage." Local news outlets will certainly tap into the new feed, so hopefully small town beat reporters won't have to find a new niche. [Image credit: Ethan Hyman/Raleigh News & Observer/MCT via Getty Images]
Recommended Reading: A closer look at the 2015 Oscar nominations
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. Breaking Down the Oscar Nominations: What the Hell Happened to 'Selma'? by Mark Harris Unless you took a week off from the internet, you're well aware that this year's Oscar nominations were announced a few days ago. While Selma did earn nominations for Best Picture and Best Song, the film that depicts Martin Luther King Jr.'s marches from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery in 1965 was mentioned only twice. Grantland's Mark Harris takes a closer look at the full list to see what other categories should've included Ava DuVernay's picture.
Mr. Coffee just released an iPhone-controllable 'Smart Coffee Maker'
The list of "Things That We Probably Don't Need Smart Versions Of But We Got Them Anyway" gets a little bit longer today with the announcement and release of the Mr. Coffee Smart Coffee Maker, an iPhone-controllable appliance that lets you initiate the brewing of a fresh pot of bean juice from anywhere you can get a data signal. The completely unnecessary -- but pretty cool, nonetheless -- coffee maker uses Belkin's WeMo technology and is controllable via the WeMo app. The app lets you program brewing schedules or start up the device and produce 10 cups of java any time you want, though you'll obviously have to have the maker pre-loaded with fresh grounds or there isn't much point. Speaking of which, the first company that comes up with a coffee maker that lets me load roasted beans in bulk, and then grinds, reloads the filter, and brews it all on its own will score at least one order from me. If you're even slightly curious about Mr. Coffee's new smart coffee contraption, our own review guru Steve "Mr. Jitters" Sande has one in-hand and is currently caffeinating and re-caffeinating himself repeatedly in order to bring you an accurate picture of the machine's capabilities, so keep an eye out for that. [via iMore]
Feedback Loop: Bad Apple, app automation and more!
In this week's edition of Feedback Loop, we discuss Apple's rough September, share our favorite tools for automating tasks and talk about Google's Project Ara. Head past the break to find out what Engadget readers like you have to say.
The future of IFTTT includes paid plans and hardware harmony
Several of us here at Engadget HQ employ If This Then That's (IFTTT) recipe-based automation chops to keep app-driven tasks in order. The software outfit has been keen on adding new functionality often, with channels opening up recently for Nike+, Eyefi, Square and more. So what's down the road for the handy add-on? Paid plans. The New York Times reports that the upcoming options will cater to users who want more than what the regular free version offers, and of course, generating some revenue to help pay the bills. The example given in the report is a social media manager linking various Twitter accounts to the service in order to automate tasks for each. What's more, the company is aims to create "an operating system" for the so-called Internet of Things that weaves together mounting pile of connected gadgets introduced on the regular. With a recently raised $30 million in funding, doubling staff to focus on both design and business development is the first step towards more automated living for us all.
The marriage of Eyefi Cloud and IFTTT is a very fruitful one
Eyefi SD/WiFi cards are a great solution for anyone who wants to shoot photos and immediately have those images sent from a DSLR or point-and-shoot camera to a Mac, iOS device, or even a cloud storage alternative like Dropbox, Flickr and especially Eyefi's own Eyefi Cloud service. Now the Eyefi team has created an If This Then That (IFTTT.com) channel for creating automatic scripts or "recipes" that run whenever other actions take place, adding an entirely new level of usefulness to Eyefi cards and Eyefi Cloud. To make use of the new channel, you'll need to have an Eyefi Cloud subscription (US$49.99/year), which many Eyefi owners find useful anyway because of its ability to grab photos from your DSLR and back them up in the cloud immediately. Once you have the subscription and a free IFTTT account, the magic begins. Activate the new Eyefi Channel, and you'll find a number of pre-tested recipes all ready to do wonders with your photos. There are currently two triggers for the Eyefi Channel – Photo Uploaded and Photo Tagged. With the first trigger, any time you shoot a picture with your DSLR and it's uploaded by that Eyefi Mobi card to Eyefi Cloud, you'll be able to launch another action. That action can be something as fun as sending copies of photos you upload to Eyefi Cloud to friends via Gmail – perfect for keeping in touch with buddies while you're on vacation. You can also send all your photos to Tumblr, or just those photos that you tag with 'tumblr'. Of course, IFTTT can go the other way as well. Let's say you have photos that you shoot with your iPhone or iPad and send to Instagram. You can have IFTTT move those Instagram moments to your Eyefi Cloud account, a sure way of instantly backing up those photos. It's easy to use an IFTTT recipe to send those images – or any photos you take – to Google Drive, Microsoft OneNote, or even Facebook for posterity. Best of all, all of this power available through IFTTT is free for you to use... of course, you will need to have that all-important Eyefi Cloud subscription, but IFTTT – at least at this time – is still free to use. And now, TUAW readers, what do YOU use IFTTT for? I tend to use it for all sorts of important things, like keeping a spreadsheet toting up all the time that I spend at my favorite pizza joint or keeping an eye on what other Apple websites are writing about. Leave your favorite uses for IFTTT in the comments.
