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Acer is making an air quality monitor
Acer's next project is a different type of monitor than you might expect from the company. It's an air quality monitor, actually. No, wait; where are you going? "The Acer Air Monitor features a sleek and simple design, the device allows real-time monitoring of key air quality indicators through a dedicated app for smartphones, and by the changing colors of a breathing LED light embedded on the chassis," the company said in a press release. It all sounds very exciting.
Louisville turns your smart lights red when air quality suffers
Citizens of Louisville, Kentucky just got a way to make their smart homes even smarter, thanks to IFTTT and the local city government. According to an announcement from Mayor Greg Fischer, the city has launched its own IFTTT channel that can tie public air quality data directly to smart home devices and other connected gadgets. With the city's home-baked applets, residents can get push notifications for days when the air quality reaches a certain level or, if it gets particularly bad, the air quality can actually be displayed in the colors of a Philips Hue connected lightbulb.
IFTTT makes Amazon's Echo the center of UK smart homes
Now that the Amazon Echo is available in the UK, lots of brands and services have been working on introducing their own Alexa Skills. Owners can ask the intelligent digital assistant for news updates, to hail an Uber and even re-order their favourite takeaway, but one important feature has been missing: IFTTT integration. US owners have enjoyed IFTTT integration for over a year, but the recipe-based service has finally confirmed the launch of its Alexa channel in the UK.
Sphero's Force Band can now control your home over IFTTT
Sphero's motion-tracking Force Band can now control more than a tiny (and utterly adorable) BB-8 droid. The company has teamed up with If This Then That (IFTT) to integrate the "force" with countless apps and smart home devices. IFTTT, if you need a reminder, is a service that lets you automate pretty much anything with "triggers" and "actions." You can use it to turn on your Hue lights as soon as you walk through the front door, or tweet your Instagrams as native photos on Twitter. With the Force Band, you can now activate these same actions with a force push, pull or stop.
Microsoft Flow and PowerApps get a public launch November 1st
Flow, Microsoft's in-house version of IFTTT, has been in preview mode since April, but the folks at Redmond are finally ready to open the service up to the general public. Starting November 1, Flow will be available in 42 languages worldwide, alongside PowerApps -- Microsoft's code-free app-building service.
Google's Assistant just got even smarter thanks to IFTTT
Between a chat app, two new smartphones and a new in-home avatar, Google's new Assistant is really getting around. While that slow march toward ubiquity continues, it keeps getting smarter, too -- Android Police points out you can now hook up Google Assistant to dozens of new IFTTT recipes, perfect for when you get tired of playing that emoji movies game. Just know this: you can only set up Assistant-enabled IFTTT recipes if you're using a Pixel phone or the (as yet unreleased) Google Home.
Kello trains your sleeping habits without using sensors
While there are already a handful of devices that claim to improve our sleep quality, one little startup from Hong Kong's Brinc IoT accelerator thinks that it can do a better job. Kello is a sleep trainer that comes in the form of an internet radio alarm slash Bluetooth speaker slash home automation hub, and unlike some of the competition, it doesn't use any bed sensor, clip-on device nor wearable to track the user's sleep activity. Instead, it's all about leveraging "simple, effective and scientifically proven techniques" from specialists to help us sleep faster, wake up better and ultimately change our lifestyle.
Microsoft's IFTTT competitor arrives on Android
Microsoft Flow, the company's answer to IFTTT, has landed on Android. The service debuted on the desktop back in April and was quickly ported to iOS devices. Flow works much the same way as IFTTT but focuses more heavily on integrating Microsoft's own products like Office 365 with other enterprise tools like Mailchimp and Salesforce. So if you want to get a text alert when you receive an important email or automatically post every tweet containing a specific hashtag to a specific Slack channel, you totally can.
Hive's smart thermostat gets IFTTT's recipe-based automation
If you own one of Hive's smart thermostats and are looking to get more from the connected appliance, today is your lucky day. The British Gas-owned company today announced that it's teamed up with IFTTT to provide recipe-based automation for the thermostat, allowing you to connect it to 300 other products and services.
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.
Big-I is a smart home robot that will stalk your family
Siri, Alexa and Cortana are helpful around the house, but can their respective tech follow you around the house like something out of a science fiction movie? Big-I, the personal robot, can do just that.
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.
Microsoft's 'internet mash-up' service Flow gets a mobile app
Microsoft introduced the world to its online automation service just last month, but now it's announcing Flow mobile for iOS. If you missed it, the service allows you to join up myriad online apps and services (including Microsoft's own), For example, it lets your Instagram account magically post pictures, not links, to Twitter, or you could program it to automatically save all your Tweets to a single OneDrive file. Like IFTTT, there's a whole lot of permutations to try -- and now you can test 'em from your phone.
Roger app puts Amazon Alexa in your phone for free
Roger, a voice app brought to you by former Spotify engineers and Facebook executives, is relaunching soon as a voice platform with support from third-party services. Among them is Amazon's Alexa, the virtual assistant that ties into Amazon's Echo device.
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.
'Robotic fingers' make your dumb appliances smarter
Naran, a South Korean startup, has developed a series novel devices that transforms analog, push-button devices into internet-connected tools for your smart home. The devices, dubbed "Microbot Push" are low-power Bluetooth gadgets that pull commands from an internet hub and physically push analog buttons on, say, your old blender or the toaster oven. That's a radically different functionality than conventional "wall wart" IoT-enablers -- like the Brio or Nyrius -- which simply control the electrical circuits that power your appliances. Additionally, the Microbots can either be manually activated through the associated smartphone app or be automated in much the same way that IFTTT works. Naran plans to launch an Indiegogo campaign for the devices on November 9th.
IFTTT brings one-touch app control to Android Wear devices
The recipe-based automation software IFTTT delivered its one-button control app to phones back in February, and now it's putting it on your wrist. Android Wear gadgets can now employ the DO Button to complete any number of tasks that you assign to it. Rather than waiting for certain criteria to be met in order to trigger an action or swiping over to the requisite app, a single button push handles the chore. We're talking about things like setting your Nest thermostat to 68 degrees or turning off those Phillips Hue lights. Looking to take the DO Button for a spin? Grab the app from Google Pay and you'll be able to do just that.
You can use your Pinterest account to log into other apps
It's now easier to "pin" images you like from Instagram, Etsy and Polyvore, thanks to the first fruits of Pinterests' developer platform released back in May. The app/website now features IFTTT and Polyvore integration, letting you log into those services with a Pinterest account and do some serious cross-posting. For instance, if you link it with IFTTT, you can easily pin any photo straight from Instagram or Etsy (among other websites) and take advantage of Pinterest recipes, such as the one that automatically tweets photos you pin.
