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New Bluetooth devices will connect directly to the internet
For all the talk of an Internet of Things, many Bluetooth devices aren't very internet-savvy; they usually have to rely on WiFi (or another gadget entirely) to hop online. That's going to change very shortly with the advent of Bluetooth's new 4.2 spec. If a sensor, smart light bulb or other low-power device supports the new technology, it can connect directly to the internet (through a router or other access point, at least) without needing a go-between. That's potentially huge for home automation -- you could control all your appliances and light fixture from anywhere in the world without requiring special hubs.
Drop's internet-savvy kitchen scale is now available
If you're already fretting over getting a holiday dinner just right, you'll be glad to hear that Drop's smart kitchen scale is at last available. Plunk down $100 (£80) and you can both weigh ingredients as well as walk through app-based recipes that tell you when you have enough of a given foodstuff to move on. The scale also includes a few thoughtful touches, such as a "next step" button (to keep dirty fingers off your device screen) and its own timer. Drop won't guarantee that guests like your choice of dessert, but it'll at least make sure that you get the meal you were expecting.
Nest's smart thermostat now shows much more info at a glance
For all of the things Nest's smart thermostat has learned to do, its interface hasn't made a lot of progress; you frequently have to dig to see more than just the basics. You'll have a much easier time of it after today, though. Nest is now rolling out a version 4.3 update that includes Quick View, a reworked interface that gives you more info at a glance. Push in the ring and you can quickly check both the outdoor temperature and humidity before you leave home -- handy if you're unsure about bringing your jacket. Spinning the ring, meanwhile, shows you a summary of everything associated with a given category. You can see the next scheduled temperature change, fan settings and other nice-to-know facts without wading into the menus.
These LED bulbs are brighter despite fewer diodes and a lower price
One of the toughest parts to swallow of LED lighting technology is just how costly it can be. Well, the folks at Cree have taken umbrage with that and developed a bulb that'll retail for around $5 per 40- and 60-watt-equivalent bulb -- less than some standard CFL lamps by a few bucks. How's it doing that? In part by changing the bulbs' design and eliminating the need for heat sinks. As IEEE Spectrum reports, instead of the collar that more or less does double-duty holding the LEDs in place and dissipating heat, the new models get rid of hot air via convection. Meaning, as diodes get warmer, they naturally draw cool air in from outside the bulb as the higher temperature rises upward and outward.
Smart microwave suggests meals based on your cooking habits
It's not hard to find microwave-friendly recipes, but it's another matter to both find the right recipes and cook them properly. However, SectorQube may just take care of all of those challenges at once if its crowdfunded MAID (Make All Incredible Dishes) smart microwave takes off. The 1.3 cubic foot oven gives you access to a crowdsourced recipe store and will automatically prepare many dishes at the right time and temperature, but its real highlight is a recommendation feature that suggests meals and activities based on your cooking habits and fitness. It may offer a dinner that complements your diet, or suggest a run if you've been indulging in a lot of calorie-rich food. There will be gesture and voice commands if you'd rather not touch the 6-inch screen with sticky fingers, and a smartphone app will let you know when the cooking is done.
Nest owns Revolv's home automation tech now, too
Google's adding another member to its household family that includes Nest and Dropcam, and this time its home automation outfit Revolv. The firm's website lists it as "a Nest company" now, and goes on to to assure existing customers that they're still taken care of and that their year-long warranties will be honored. The thing is, it isn't accepting any new users for its services that tie everything from Sonos wireless speakers, WeMo light switches and Hue lightbulbs from Philips together, as VentureBeat points out. For the privacy minded, Revolv is keen to note that its user data will stay separate from that of Nest's thermostats and smoke detectors, and Google as a whole. What's it all mean? That Mountain View has a new toy in an old box that its hoping will compete with challengers like Apple's HomeKit and Samsung + SmartThings. Whenever those fully launch, of course.
Drop it like it's hot with Illumibowl's disco toilet light
Does your lack of cat-like night vision mean you make a mess when hitting the bathroom at 2 a.m.? Thanks to Kickstarter, that could become a thing of the past. The Illumibowl is an LED light that sticks onto the outside of your toilet and casts a beam of colored light into the commode. No, not a yellow one. The gizmo's motion sensor activates the light when you walk into your powder room and turns off after about a minute of inactivity. Why would you even need one of these? Because temporary blindness to empty your bladder isn't ideal.
Stack's smart light bulb responds to the world around you
Many smart light bulbs... well, aren't. You can control them, but they're often blissfully unaware of what's going on in your home. Stack aims to change that with its recently unveiled Alba bulb. This sensor-packed illuminator changes brightness and color based on the time of day, location and who's present in the room. It'll start with cooler, more natural white hues when you're just waking up, but will switch to relaxing warm colors when it's late. It will also dim or shut off the lights when there's a lot of ambient light, or if you've left for work; alternately, it will come to life when there's a big commotion. There's a mobile app if you need to tweak settings, but the goal is to avoid using it as much as possible. Much like a Nest thermostat, Alba will learn appropriate behavior and (hopefully) let you keep your phone in your pocket.
Ecobee's smart thermostat knows conditions throughout your home
As clever as smart thermostats can be, they usually have only a limited sense of what's going on in your home. They may know that it's cool in the hallway, but not that it's roasting in the living room. Ecobee may have a better, more holistic approach with its third-generation climate controller, the Ecobee 3. Rather than gradually learn what conditions work best over time, it uses remote sensors to determine which rooms are occupied and whether or not they're at the right temperature. The more detectors you add, the more cozy you're likely to be -- you can have up to 32, if you're determined to warm up your mansion.
Nest devices now talk to the rest of your automated home
Nest's thermostat and Protect smoke detector may help automate your home, but they haven't actually talked directly to home automation systems so far -- a bit of a discrepancy, don't you think? All should be well now, though, since the Works with Nest program has just expanded to support the whole-home automation gear from Control4, Crestron, RTI and URC. If you're fortunate enough to have one of those systems, you can now integrate Nest equipment with home theaters, lighting and anything else that talks to one of the supported control hubs.
Estimote's stickers let you add tiny sensors to just about anything
The problem with the internet of things is that you often have to buy expensive add-ons or replacements to get all those clever sensors; you may not want to buy a bike computer just to track your rides. If Estimote has its way, you won't have to. Its new Sticker beacons let you graft wireless sensors on to nearly any object, giving it location, motion and temperature data that you can check through apps. You can figure out the length of your last bike trip just by slapping a sticker on the frame, or find out when your flowers need watering by using an augmented pot. Estimote even pictures stores using the tags to automatically cue up product info on a nearby screen, so you could find out whether some hot new shoes come in your size just by taking them off the shelf.
ADT wants to automate your home with the help of IFTTT
Now that home automation is all the rage, household security outfit ADT is looking to dive further into the fray with a hand from If This Then That (IFTTT). Using the home alarm company's Pulse system and the appropriate channel from the recipe-based app, you'll be able to leverage automated chores from IFTTT's library of tasks including disarming the alarm when your wearable switches out of sleep mode. You can also set a coffee maker in your kitchen to start brewing when your phone alarm wakes you and get a real-time video clip when the doorbell rings. ADT Pulse allows for remote control of a home security system from a mobile app, sending alerts and sorting remote video monitoring, too. It can the wrangle the connected thermostat and outlets for lighting and small appliances as well. Right now, the cooperative effort is looking to enter beta testing shortly with plans to open up a channel to the public afterwards that's full of pre-made recipes alongside the ability to create your own.
Lightfreq is like the lovechild of Jambox and Hue
Since the death of the incandescent bulb we've seen light-emitting oddities of all kinds pop up, but for the most part, they've been rather, well, silent. LightFreq is aiming to change that, however, with a smart lightbulb that has a built-in speaker and customizable color output. The speaker connects to an app on your phone via Bluetooth 4.0 and WiFi, as does the light itself, allowing you to beam your music from room to room and even have your tunes and lights follow you, automatically turning them off after you pass by and illuminating the next before entering. The LightFreq also acts as an intercom system, wherein you can broadcast voice messages from your device to an individual unit in another room or all bulbs at once. The features don't stop there, as you can even set individual colors for specific push notifications and alerts on your phone; a flashing red-to-blue pulse when your police-officer dad calls, for instance.
Whirlpool's new machine freshens your clothes in 10 minutes flat
Odds are that you're used to ironing some of your clothes to keep them wrinkle-free, or taking them to the dry cleaners when you can't (or just won't) put them through a washing machine. No great shakes, right? Well, Procter & Gamble and Whirlpool apparently believe that these are terrible burdens -- the two have unveiled Swash, an appliance that freshens your clothing one piece at a time. The device uses the combination of heat and a special solution (held in "Swash pods") to eliminate wrinkles and smells in your apparel without either damaging it or requiring time-consuming care; your duds should be (almost) as good as new in roughly 10 minutes. It doesn't require water, and it can handle delicate materials like cashmere and lace. At first blush, it looks like a good way to save a favorite coat or sweater from the ravages of time.
SYNEK's countertop tap puts your kegerator out to pasture
There's no question that draft beer is the best beer, but the cost of getting fresh from the tap brews at home can be substantial. Purchasing a kegerator (along with all of its accessories), CO2 and the kegs of whatever varieties you prefer can add up quickly. But what if supplying a tap system was as easy as getting one of those reusable growlers filled? And what if the dispensing device took up minimal space on your kitchen counter? Well, that's what SYNEK is hoping to do. The draft system hinges on refillable bags that rest inside it's toaster oven-sized unit with adjustable temperature and pressure settings and easy-to-use hose connections. In the future, WiFi connectivity could be built in for monitoring supply levels and making the whole thing social amongst fellow imbibers. So what's the catch? Well, SYNEK offers a cost-effective solution for keeping a fresh beer supply around, but it'll need to convince breweries to allow bag fills before its project is ready for widespread adoption. For now though, this will resolve the headaches homebrewers face of individually topping off dozens of bottles when a five gallon batch is ready. And that's certainly worth the $349 ($299 for early adopters) retail price.
GE promises smart light bulbs without the usual steep prices
Many smartphone-controlled light bulbs cost a pretty penny, even if you're not interested in mood-setting colors or other elaborate tricks. How are you supposed to afford enough bulbs to illuminate your entire abode? That's where GE's new Link bulbs could save the day. While you'll need a hub ($30 by itself) to get everything connected, the LED-based white lights cost just $15 to $25 each -- in contrast, Philips' upcoming Lux models are $40 a pop. There's also a kit that includes two 60W-equivalent bulbs and a hub for $50, or half as much as you'd pay for an equivalent Lux bundle.
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.
Edyn's smart gardening system gives your plants exactly what they need
Smart home gardening devices frequently tell you that your plants need a little TLC, but they don't always deliver it; you frequently have to bring out a hose or watering can. If Edyn successfully funds its smart garden system, you may not have to trudge out to the backyard quite so often. The core is a WiFi-connected sensor that detects both the soil quality and ambient conditions, cross-checking those against your choice of greenery. If the sensor decides that your plants need some hydration, Edyn's iOS app automatically tells an optional smart valve to deliver just the right amount of water-- yes, you can be waste-free and lazy. Both the sensor and valve combine solar power with lithium-ion batteries, so you don't have to worry about watering on cloudy days.
Keurig's coffee copy protection should take just months to crack
Much like printer makers barring cheap ink, Keurig is using elaborate methods to block third-party coffee pods; its upcoming Keurig 2.0 machine will have cameras that read tags and limit you to official brews. Think of it as K-cup copy protection. Unfortunately for the company, those added measures may be for naught. TreeHouse Foods, which sued Keurig for allegedly abusing a monopoly with its 2.0 system, now estimates that it should take just a "matter of months" to replicate the K-cup technology. The discovery should keep TreeHouse selling unofficial pods that cost significantly less than Keurig's, and it could also thwart similar protection schemes in other companies' coffee makers.
Build your own robotic bartender with Arduino and a 3D printer
You can certainly buy a ready-made drink mixing robot if you're flush with cash, but wouldn't you rather spend that money on the drinks themselves? Yu Jiang Tham thinks so -- he recently designed Bar Mixvah, a robotic bartender you can build yourself with $180 in parts. The key ingredient is an Arduino Nano microcontroller that takes your requests through a web-based interface. After that, it's mostly a matter of 3D printing the frame and wiring up the pumps that will make your beverage a reality.
