IKEA
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IKEA promises zero-emissions delivery in five cities by 2020
IKEA doesn't just want to take the pain out of assembling furniture... it wants to eliminate the environmental impact of receiving that furniture. The company recently pledged to offer emissions-free home delivery in five major inner cities (Amsterdam, Los Angeles, New York City, Paris and Shanghai) by 2020. Order an EKTORP sofa and an electric vehicle or a similarly Earth-friendly machine will roll up to your door. IKEA had already hoped to transition to zero-emissions delivery, but it's picking up the pace to set a "strong example" for urban transport.
IKEA and Sonos show off their first smart speaker prototype
Nearly six months after IKEA and Sonos announced their plans to "democratize" music together, the partnership has revealed a teaser of the forthcoming SYMFONISK speaker range. However, the above image -- which doesn't look unlike a stage projection light -- is said to be a non-functional prototype, so the final product may look nothing like this (fingers crossed).
The best smart LED light bulbs
By Grant Clauser This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here. We considered more than 20 smart-light-bulb systems and then spent eight weeks testing 10 contenders, confounding a family of four by constantly changing how their lights worked. After all that, we determined that the Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance A19 is the best all-around smart LED bulb. Hue lets you change your lighting color easily and does everything other smart light bulbs do, and it's also part of a larger product and app ecosystem, allowing for more flexibility and creativity than any other smart bulb we tested. Plus, it's compatible with the widest variety of smart-home systems, including Apple's HomeKit, Samsung's SmartThings hub, Amazon's Alexa, and Google Home. It's not the cheapest bulb we tested, but its reliable performance and wide compatibility make it a solid choice for any smart-home enthusiast or newbie.
TaskRabbit returns following data breach it can't account for
Handyman-for-hire app TaskRabbit was the target of a data breach on Monday, resulting in both the app and website being taken offline while the company investigated the apparently intentional attack. Both are now back up and running, although the company has not said how the breach occurred or what information had been compromised.
IKEA's first Bluetooth speakers don't need assembly
IKEA's team-up with Sonos might not bear fruit until 2019, but that doesn't mean you'll have to go without distinctly Swedish speakers in the meantime -- in the wake of launches in Sweden and mainland Europe, the furniture giant has brought its inaugural ENEBY speakers to the US and UK. To no one's surprise, they're built to blend into IKEA's minimalist decor. The two sizes (8 x 8 inches and 12 x 12 inches) conveniently fit into the company's latest shelving, while the black or gray polyester fabric on the front makes them a tad friendlier than usual. Naturally, there are stands and wall brackets to help them fit. And in case you're wondering: no, you won't need to spend half an hour assembling the speakers with an Allen wrench.
Ikea's Place app is now out for the latest Android phones
Ikea's Place app is heading to Android. The augmented reality application gives you access to 3,200 items from Ikea's inventory and allows to see what they'd look like in your home by placing their 3D versions over your phone's live view. Think Pokémon Go, but instead of flinging Poké balls, you position couches in the living room. Place used to be an Apple exclusive, because it was powered by Cupertino's augmented reality platform for mobile devices called ARKit. Google's version of the app runs on ARCore, its answer to ARKit that gives Android devices the power to run apps that can superimpose objects over live images even without special sensors or software.
IKEA puts TaskRabbit to work assembling your FLOTTEBO and FÄRLÖV
Last fall, IKEA bought TaskRabbit with the obvious goal to offer customers help building its notoriously tough-to-construct furniture. Today, the company started allowing customers in select US markets to schedule a worker straight from the IKEA app to come by and assemble their stuff.
IKEA and Teenage Engineering preview their collaboration on Instagram
Teenage Engineering is known for its wonky-looking yet functional synths and speakers, while IKEA furniture fills college (and folks who still live like it's college) apartments. Their powers combined has produced...some neat, boldly-colored speakers, actually. On its Instagram, Ikea just posted a sneak peek at their upcoming line of collaborated products built "so that you can host your party, wherever you may be."
IKEA and Sonos are collaborating on a new range of products
Whether it's turning the heating on via a smartphone app or charging said smartphone by simply flinging it onto a table, home automation has a lot of appeal -- it's convenient, fun to play with and makes it a lot easier to be lazy. The main barriers to take-up, however, have been price and accessibility. Gear can be expensive and sometimes complicated. But furniture retailer IKEA -- arguably the antithesis of cost and complexity -- has slowly been bringing home automation to the masses with its Home Smart range, and is now turning its attention to sound products, in collaboration with Sonos.
IKEA’s smart lighting officially supports HomeKit
After what seems like an eternity (for IKEA and HomeKit fans, at least), the Swedish furniture maker has added support for Apple's smart home platform. As 9to5Mac notes, so long as you have the company's Tradfri hub installed at your house, you'll be able to start controlling the lighting via your iOS device. It's worth noting that, this will only work with smart lightbulbs at this time; dimmer switches aren't online just yet. More than that, the hub integrates with Amazon's Alexa so if you aren't all-in on HomeKit, you can still use voice commands to turn your lights on and off. Google Assistant support isn't included in this update, however.
IKEA buys TaskRabbit to help you build furniture
In yet another surprising union of traditional retail and the tech world, IKEA has reportedly snapped up the on-demand service TaskRabbit, Recode reports. The deal makes a lot of sense. TaskRabbit has made a name for itself as the go-to service for random tasks -- and that often involves moving and building furniture. An acquisition is just the next step for the two companies: IKEA is already relying on TaskRabbit as a partner in the UK, and it's advertising the service for customers who need installation help in the US and the rest of the world.
IKEA's Place app for iOS previews furniture in your home
Now that Apple's augmented reality platform is nearly here, developers are ready to show off what it can do... and one of the first examples will be particularly handy if you're updating your living room. IKEA has unveiled IKEA Place, an iOS app that uses ARKit to preview how furniture will look at home. As hinted at back in June, the software is smart enough to not only show off furniture at the proper scale (98 percent accuracy, IKEA says), but with the right kind of lighting and shadows. You'll know if that couch is too large for your apartment, or whether or not that reading chair would be too gauche for the room. Naturally, you can share images to ask for your friends' advice and jump straight to the IKEA website to buy your selections.
IKEA smart lights will play nicely with Apple HomeKit this fall (update)
IKEA's Tradfri smart lighting line is an impressive system at a relatively affordable price point, and it just got even better. Earlier this year, IKEA announced that it would be integrating Tradfri with Apple's HomeKit. Today, the Swedish furniture company pushed an update to all existing hubs that does just that. What's more, Ikea bulbs will now work with Philips devices, meaning you don't have to buy an IKEA hub if you have a Hue Bridge compatible with HomeKit. Bulbs will come in multiple colors starting in October.
IKEA’s selling home storage batteries for its solar panels
A rooftop of solar panels generating clean energy is great and all, but having somewhere to squirrel away that free juice is even better. After stepping into the shade for a good few months, IKEA began selling solar panels again last year with new teammate Solarcentury (a company that specialises in solar stuff). Today, the meatball-mad retailer is adding another piece of the off-grid puzzle to its shelves: A home storage battery.
IKEA plans to improve AR shopping tools with help from Apple
Apple and IKEA are creating an AR app that will let customers preview how an item will look in their home. Michael Valdsgaard, IKEA's digital transformation manager, told Swedish website Digital.di, "This will be the first augmented reality app that allows you to make reliable buying decisions."
IKEA designers will live in a Mars simulator to seek inspiration
If you need a laugh today, get ready for IKEA's latest news: The Swedish furniture giant has sent a group of its designers to live in a Mars simulator. They'll live there for seven days, and the project will culminate with the Curious Collection on Space, launching in 2019.
IKEA's affordable smart lights will dim with your voice
Last month, IKEA launched its own line of low-cost smart lighting, called TRÅDFRI, and up until now, users have had to rely on a remote control or a proprietary app to use the product. But no longer. Today, the Swedish retailer announced that their IKEA Home Smart products will respond to voice commands from Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant starting this summer. Additionally, the product line will integrate with Apple's HomeKit. "With IKEA Home Smart we challenge everything that is complicated and expensive with the connected home. Making our products work with others on the market takes us one step closer to meet people's needs, making it easier to interact with your smart home products," said IKEA Home Smart's business leader Björn Block.
IKEA launches its own low-cost smart lighting range
For many people, their first foray into the world of home automation begins with lighting. There's a good reason for this: smart bulbs easily fit into existing furnishings and can be operated using just a smartphone, which (mostly) everybody now owns. Philips, with its Hue range, is perhaps the most well known smart bulb maker, but that could soon change thanks to a new entrant: IKEA. That's right, the world's biggest furniture chain is today debuting its own smart lighting range in the UK. As you'd expect, the prices are a lot easier on the wallet.
An all-electric supercar, and more in the week that was
In a major win for clean energy, Tesla just unveiled the biggest battery storage facility on the planet. It's made from 396 Powerpacks, and it can store 80 megawatt-hours of electricity -- enough to power 2,500 households for an entire day. Meanwhile, the world's most powerful wind turbine shattered the world record for energy produced in 24 hours. Researchers in Scotland developed a groundbreaking system that uses sunlight to purify water in rural India. And SunGlacier developed a solar machine that harvests fresh H2O from thin air.
Volkswagen's modern Microbus remake, and more in the week that was
The Volkswagen microbus is one of the most iconic vehicles of all time, and now the automaker is set to revive the classic for the modern era. Meet the I.D. Buzz: VW's all-electric, self-driving microbus of the future. In other auto news, Nissan debuted a stylish Vmotion 2.0 sedan packed with self-driving technology, and the Chevrolet Bolt was named the 2017 North American Car of the Year. IKEA is known for its flat-pack furniture, but it's branching out into urban mobility by launching its very first bike. The Sladda is a chainless aluminum cycle that can be kitted out with front and rear racks, panniers and even a towable cart.
