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Keep your pets from wandering off with Tagg and Alarm.com
You let the dog out into the garden while you pop back inside to get something. Next thing you know, she's gone. You knew you should have fixed up that gap in the fence. Too bad, huh? With Tagg, no longer would you have the anxiety of losing a pet. This "wearable" for pets claims to be able to locate your pooch (or cat) in almost all of America. How so? Well, there's GPS and connectivity through Verizon. That's how. So, as long as your mutt doesn't stray out of coverage, you'll be able to pinpoint his or her location. But Tagg's not just a one-trick pony/dog/cat. It's partnered with Alarm.com (makers of a full suite of smart home equipment) to add a bunch more functionality, or what the two companies are calling "smart pet tracking."
D-Link's latest smart home hub lets you add devices with a scan
How cheap is too cheap? D-Link has found the sweet spot between low-priced, but low-quality smart home systems (from the likes of Archos) and pricey security systems. It's now planning on opening up its system to many more accessories, judging by the DCH-G020 connected home hub that just passed through the FCC. The system will likely bow next month at CES 2015, but the US wireless regulator has revealed quite a bit, including manuals and photos. The hub will control Z-Wave (low-power RF) as well as WiFi devices, meaning it'll work with third-party alarms, detectors and cameras on top of existing D-Link WiFi cameras and accessories.
Misfit eyes the connected home in addition to new wearables
Misfit debuted a new (and more budget-friendly) activity tracker back in the fall, but the company has plans to tackle more than just wearables. The outfit will keeping working on its existing line of gadgets, but in the months to come, the connected home will garner attention as well -- in addition to some "advanced wearables" that move beyond those worn on the wrist. CEO Sonny Vu wasn't ready to offer up specifics, but he did note that a number of products in the household space were on tap for the immediate future. "If you actually have to wear something 24/7 to get data, it's kind of a disadvantage," Vu said during a chat with Re/code. "But if you can just buy something that you plug into the wall, and it works, it can really add value."
60 seconds with a simple but smart home monitoring device
There are already plenty of ways to keep an eye on your abode from afar, so any new home monitoring product better have a fresh approach if it wants to stand out from the competition. For start-up Form Devices, the goal wasn't to create an elaborate, connected home security system that did more than existing products, but to make something simple, affordable and user-friendly. And, it must've done something right with its Point home monitoring device, which cruised past its $50,000 Kickstarter goal just two days after the campaign went live, and is now participating in our Insert Coin competition at Engadget Expand. The plain white, palm-sized puck hosts sound, humidity, temperature, air quality and particle sensors, but no camera. This was a very intentional omission, not just because Point is supposed to be small and inconspicuous, but so users have peace of mind that nobody will ever be watching them.
Apple TV update displays smart device info through HomeKit
Apple TV may soon be the defacto HomeKit smart home hub, judging release notes for the latest beta spotted by AppleInsider. The Software beta 2 release can now be "used for testing AirPlay and HomeKit with your iOS apps," letting you set the devices as a remote HomeKit peer by connecting to iCloud. After that, info from smart devices like bulbs and thermostats will be automatically synced to Apple TV. Apple announced 18 partners at HomeKit's launch, including Philips and Honeywell (but not Google-owned Nest) and has added several more recently. Though functionality seems limited for now, it looks like Cupertino is thinking ahead to the day when Apple TV could serve as a HomeKit mission control center. The set-top device is long overdue for a software overhall, so hopefully it's the start of Tim Cook's "grand vision" for Apple TV. If you'd like to try, you'll need access to the developer portal and a dose of gumption.
The Piper smart hub monitors and manages your home for £119
"Connected home" gadgets are all about giving you greater awareness and control over what's happening in your crib. Most "internet of things" products for the home at targeted to specific uses, such as remote surveillance or heating control. Piper is slightly different, in that it attempts to tie all types home automation and security together into the one control centre. The device initially launched on Indiegogo where it achieved its funding goal three times over. Now, almost a year later, it's ready for a European retail release.
Super cheap Smart Home kit brings automation to the masses
If you're wondering when home automation might tip into the Walmart-level mainstream, here's a sign: Archos' Smart Home starter kit is now on sale. Along with two cameras, two movement tags and two weather tags, they're throwing in a controlling tablet, all for $250 -- or $25 each for the cameras and sensors. Considering the tablet, that's even cheaper than SmartThings' low-end kit. Archos says it's the first to use the Bluetooth Smart tech in connected homes and engineered it to work at double the normal distance (65 instead of 32 feet) with up to 13 devices. That'll permit it to take a photo when a movement-tagged door is opened, for instance, using its scenario editor and the Tasker Android app. Archos also has controllable plug sockets, alarm sirens, motion-detectors and even a pet tracker planned for the future. The kit should hit its online shop soon, but fair warning -- Archos is known for low-priced, but not exactly high-end goods.
My connected home turned me into a spy and an addict
Like any responsible New Yorker, I've entrusted a copy of my apartment keys to a close friend. This is done mostly to ensure that, should I die home alone, my body won't be left to rot undiscovered for days. It's also primarily done so that my mail is collected and my "children" (what you would call plants) are watered and sung to every other day when I'm travelling for work. And I travel often. My apartment is also wired to the gills with SmartThings. These little, white, swappable sensors monitor temperature, motion, moisture, power and presence, and relay that data to me via an app -- a crucial fact I'd neglected to tell my house-sitting friend many months ago. A small, yet ultimately fortunate, oversight that led me to uncover my house sitter's true comings and goings. Or, should I say, the lack thereof.
Quirky and GE cook up a smarter, prettier air conditioner
Quirky is more than just bendy power strips these days -- recently, it's been pushing its vision of the connected home thanks to a multi-million dollar partnership with GE. So far their deal has yielded stuff like intelligent egg trays (seriously) and clocks, but they're unveiling something much cooler today: the Aros, an 8,000 BTU smart air conditioner. Yes, really.
Home automation is the future and Archos knows it
Yes, this is another post about the internet of things blorg -- you know, that terrible buzz phrase for this new and actually exciting era of connected gadgets. Except this time, it's brought to you by Archos. The French outfit's branching out from its traditional portfolio of Android smartphones and tablets with a new Smart Home solution -- an ecosystem that's similar to Smart Things. The platform, which Archos announced just prior to the new year, incorporates a tablet-like gateway and various sensors that users can place in and around their homes for remote monitoring. Archos is gearing this whole system more toward convenience than security and its array of Bluetooth sensors proves this point. Smart Home revolves around Archos' gateway, a 7-inch tablet that gathers and manages a feed of all the data from its various Bluetooth sensors; sensors designed to monitor video, motion, weather and electricity. Though the initial $200 kit comes with just the gateway, one video camera and one motion sensor, users can go out and buy additional sensors piecemeal for anywhere from $14 - $50 (e.g., the weather sensor costs $30).
Nest reportedly working on smart smoke detector dubbed Protect
Now that Nest has rolled out its second-gen smart thermostat, it looks like it's gearing up to reveal its next project: an intelligent smoke detector dubbed Protect. Jessica Lessin, formerly of the Wall Street Journal, first broke word of the device and now AllThingsD is chiming in to confirm its existence. Specifics are slim, but it's said Protect will connect to the outfit's existing A/C hardware (presumably over Bluetooth), lending it long battery life since it won't need a WiFi chip. Lessin notes that a subscription-based monitoring service and the ability to sense carbon monoxide have been considered, but ATD's sources say the contraption won't be tied to a monthly fee. An official unveiling is expected to occur soon, and retail availability could come by year's end. Now that intelligent smoke detectors appear poised to head into homes soon, we can only hope they're as charming as Gilbert Gottfried. [Image credit: Katy Warner, Flickr]
Revolv shows how you could control a connected home with Google Glass (video)
Hasta la vista, switches.
Technicolor's Qeo software aims to let connected devices speak the same lingo
The idea of the "internet of things" is fine and well, but when was the last time your smartphone had a chat with the fridge? Technicolor is aiming to solve those communication breakdowns with Qeo, a software system to bridge connected devices of all types and brands. While you may be thinking, "Technicolor? That company at the end of the movie credits?" it turns out that the post-production outfit also does items like set-top boxes and DSLR routers through its acquisition of Thomson. Qeo will allow those types of devices, along with smartphones, computers, tablets and even "dumb" systems like intercoms or appliances to all communicate, regardless of the OS or protocol used by each. That'll create scenarios where your doorbell can notify your smartphone that someone's waiting to be let in, or allow you to switch a video call from your Android tablet to a Qeo-enabled TV screen, according to Technicolor -- providing the right manufacturers, software developers or network operators are using the protocol, of course. Fortunately, the company claims that it's already signed up a bevy of companies in all those categories, meaning a device-agnostic connected home may be soon within your grasp. You can check the PR after the jump for now, but we'll have even more details soon in glorious, er, Technicolor, so stay tuned.
Apple patent application could make you Master and Commander of the iHome
Apple wants to be master of the house -- yours, in particular. At least that's the vision put forth by this latest patent application, filed back in March of this year, that would give iOS-wielding homeowners control of virtually all Cupertino-sanctioned gadgetry within the confines of domesticity. It's really as basic as that, given that the doc clearly outlines a method for discovering, selecting and operating a multitude of tech from a handheld device (insert your iGadget of choice here) over WiFi. Could this connected (and likely, Siri-voiced) home network in the making streamline remote manipulation of everyday household items, like setting refrigerators to make ice from the comfort of your couch, DVRs to record while you work in the garage or thermostats to lower as you laze about under the bedsheets? As always, only time and the combined ingenuity of designers and engineers hiding out in R&D bunkers somewhere beneath One Infinite Loop will tell.
iSpeech intros voice recognition platform for connected homes, enables vocal control of TVs and appliances
We've been seeing the growing trend of peculiar services like Cupertino's Siri, Samsung's S Voice and Google Now on mobile devices, but up until now, we have yet to spot something similar in the world of connected homes. Having previous experience in the text-to-speech department, iSpeech is hoping to be able to do just that with the world debut of its voice recognition platform for smart households. With iSpeech Home, the company's aiming to give OEMs and manufacturers a canvas where they can implement voice recognition software into TVs, home entertainment systems, lighting, refrigerators and even washers and dryers -- which would, according to iSpeech, open the doors to natural language commands such as "Watch ESPN" or "Turn off the lights in the living room." As exciting as it all sounds, the company's COO Yaron Oren did tell us there aren't any official partners on board at the moment, but that he does expect to have iSpeech Home-powered products within the next 6-12 months.
Amazon becomes the latest retailer to sell the trendy Nest Learning Thermostat
Frankly, we all knew it was only a matter of time before the renowned online retailer, Amazon, would start offering the trendiest thermostat known to man. Joining the likes of Apple, Lowe's and, naturally, Nest's official site, Amazon is the latest shop to welcome the famed Learning Thermostat onto its shelves, with availability expected as soon as tomorrow (June 8th). As for pricing, that won't be changing much, which means you'll still have to shell out $249 -- though, you could see it hit your doorstep sooner without paying extra if you have one of those fancy Prime accounts. In any case, folks looking to grab one of these notorious Nest thermos can do so from either of the source links below.
Apple Store now selling Nest Thermostat: automated toastiness to cost $250
Apple liked it so much, it's decided to let the Nest Thermostat share shelf-space in its bricks-and-mortar stores and online. Following rumors that Tony Fadell's latest project would appear at his former employer's store, it's now been confirmed with an online listing. Following some brief downtime on the Cupertino corp's retail site, the unit is set to retail for $250. Aside from sharing some design DNA, the thermostat unit can also be controlled from iPhones, iPads, iPods and Macs -- we presume that Android functionality is still there. Those that like their summers extra comfortable can hit the store link below.
Motorola Connected Home Gateway tour (video)
When we first told you about Motorola's Connected Home Gateway, it was little more than a picture of a cool looking router. Thankfully, however, the company has been giving tours of the technology on the floor of CES, showing off the way it brings together such things as climate control, home security and automation. Of course, it's not really a real world use case here -- for one thing, the wireless in the Las Vegas Convention Center WiFi isn't all hot the week of CES, with ten billion gadgets being shown off at the same time. Still, the walkthrough we got was pretty cool, shutting off lights and the like from the comfort of your handy Motorola smartphone. Check out the demo, after the break.
iPod fathers unveil their next project, the Nest Learning Thermostat (hands-on)
Over the summer, we got word that a couple of unnamed ex-Apple engineers were getting ready to unveil an unnamed product, under the guise of an unnamed startup. As it turns out, that startup was Nest Labs, and those Apple alums were none other than Tony Fadell, longtime SVP of Apple's iPod division, and lead engineer Matt Rogers. And yes, the product they had to share makes fine use of a click wheel. But if you thought they'd be cooking up a next-gen music player, you'd be wrong. Instead, the pair have been designing a thermostat, of all things, dubbed the Nest. In addition to being the most stylish model ever to grace a dining room wall, it promises the kind of intelligence we've come to expect in other household appliances -- just not thermostats, per se. It'll go on sale next month for $249 in places like Best Buy, but we managed to snag an early sneak peek. Find some photos below and when you're done, join us past the break where we'll explain how it works. %Gallery-137451% %Gallery-137452%
Siemens shows off iPad-controlled homeConnect appliances
You use your mobile device for pretty much everything these days, right? So why not the kitchen? That was part of Siemens' pitch today at IFA -- the ability to control your cooking and dish washing from afar. The company debuted homeConnect, a "networked kitchen," which lets homeowners check on their energy consumption, shut down appliances remotely, receive notifications when the washing is done and view the contents of their fridges in real time -- with the help of internal cameras trained at the food. By downloading recipes from the internet, users can also import temperature and cooking times. This isn't the first time we've seen some kitchen-based connectivity, of course -- LG debuted the similar smartphone-based Thinq line at CES earlier this year. %Gallery-132133%
