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Alexa can control your home security system
It's now decidedly easier to control your home security system if you have an Echo speaker or another Alexa-powered gadget. Amazon has enabled a Security Panel Controller framework that lets you control security systems with your voice. You can arm or disarm them, specify certain modes (home, away and night) and simply check in. And yes, Amazon is well aware of the security implications. You have to manually enable disarming by voice, and you can specify an Alexa-specific voice code instead of shouting your PIN code to everyone within earshot.
Amazon Echo now supports shared Google calendars
Amazon's odd but intriguing Echo personal assistant / speaker has received a number of useful updates throughout its short lifespan, and today Amazon announced a few more tweaks to the device. If you're a Google Calendar user, the Echo now supports shared calendars, whereas before it could only pull in details from calendars that were owned by your personal account. In the Amazon Alexa app, you enter your Google Calendar details; from there, you can pick specific shared calendars to add to the Echo. That way, when you ask the Echo what's on your schedule, it'll only tell you things that are on the calendars you selected.
Scout sensors, app jump start your home protection
There's a rather nifty crowdfunded project that aims to deliver a "roll-your-own" home security system this August. Using the Selfstarter code available on Github, the Scout Alarm project has so far pulled in almost 800 backers and more than $211,000 in funding. The project is designed to "make the latest home security technology affordable for everyone with no required monthly fees." The hardware starts with a US$80 base station complete with WiFi, a 3G cellular chip and a backup battery. At each door where homeowners want to be able to arm or disarm the system, there's an arm / disarm panel ($40) that uses RFID reader technology to avoid the need for keypads and codes. Windows and doors are equipped with $20 open / close sensors, and there are $40 motion sensors available for those locations where intruders could smash a glass window to enter the home. Tying all of the hardware together is a Zigbee chipset creating a mesh network for the sensors and allowing integration with other Zigbee-powered security devices. The security system can be monitored, armed or disarmed from anywhere on Planet Earth through a smartphone, tablet or computer. Homeowners will get notifications for certain alarm situations and can make their own response (like calling the police), or they can choose to have their home monitored professionally for as little as $10 per month over the 3G connection built into the base station. As someone who has spent much more than $10 per month for the last 29 years to have professional home security monitoring, the Scout system looks very attractive to me. My only wish for the system is that they'd add a deafeningly loud alert siren like the one that came with my system, as well as fire, smoke, CO2 and water sensors. Readers interested in the Scout alarm system can pre-order the components on the company's website.
Daily Update for April 2, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
