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ReviewsThis Pet Camera Confused My Dog and Busted My Naughty Landlord
My dog started to get anxious about my recent move as soon as he saw me packing boxes. So when Furbo, an Indiegogo success, offered us its new pet camera with a built in treat dispenser, it seemed like a great way to keep an eye on him and keep him happy. Naturally, I wanted … Continued
By Alex Cranz -
Tech NewsPrivacy & SecuritySamsung’s Smart Home Platform Is Full of Security Holes
The “smart home” is a Jetsonian future concept in which all our domestic needs are automated. As it stands today, however, smart devices are buggy and often very easy to hack. The latest scary example of a security failure comes from a team of researchers at the University of Michigan who managed to hack one … Continued
By Darren Orf -
Tech NewsAfter Bricking Their Devices, Google Will Help Revolv Owners ‘Case by Case’
Yesterday, news broke that Google will be discontinuing services for Revolv smart hubs, rendering a lot of people’s smart homes anything but. Following some (highly justified) backlash, the company has said it will help individual owners, possibly including compensation. In statements posted to Twitter and given out by Nest’s PR, the Google-owned company is encouraging … Continued
By Chris Mills -
Tech News
If You Use Revolv’s Smart Hub, You Are Officially Screwed (Thanks Nest!)
After Nest was bought by Google in the summer of 2014, it went on a acquisition spree, snapping up connected home products. The haul included Revolv, a kind of pre-Nest smarthome hub. Now Revolv is being shut down. This is inherently good for anyone who wants better Nest-type products for their home—and really shitty for … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgets
How to Turn an Old Smartphone Into a Home Security Camera
Devices like Nest Cam and Canary can keep an eye on your home while you’re away, but all you really need to set up your own home security system is an old phone or tablet you’re not using, an internet connection, and the right app. Here’s how to get started and what you should know. … Continued
By David Nield -
Tech NewsGadgets
Everything You Can Say to Your Amazon Echo
Voice control is one of the core capabilities of the Amazon Echo: the tall, black cylinder comes with a basic remote and some on-board buttons, but speaking commands and questions is the most intuitive way of interacting with it. If you’re wondering just what your Echo can do and which commands it responds to, here’s … Continued
By David Nield -
Tech NewsGadgets
Everything You Can Say to Siri on the New Apple TV
Siri is a big part of the next-generation Apple TV. You can use the personal assistant app to choose content, identify movie actors, skip songs and more. If you own one of the latest puck-shaped boxes, then here are just about all the things you can say to Siri—just press and hold the microphone button … Continued
By David Nield -
Tech News
GE Will Stop Making CFL Lightbulbs Because LEDs Are Better
GE just announced that it no longer make or sell compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) lightbulbs in the US. The company will wind down the manufacturing of CFL bulbs by the end of 2016, and it will begin to shift its focus on making the newest and most energy-efficient lightbulbs, LEDs. This is good news for … Continued
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Tech NewsPrivacy & SecurityNest Thermostats Leaked User Data But Don’t Freak Out Quite Yet
It’s no secret that connected home devices are riddled with security concerns. A recent investigation into Nest thermostats leaking user data onto the internet seemed especially anxiety-inducing, given how incredibly popular the gadgets are. But the story’s not as scary as some reports might lead you to believe. The new research comes out of Princeton’s … Continued
By Bryan Lufkin -
Tech NewsCommerceHow Connected Cars Will Transform Our Lives at Home
Let me put this bluntly: Smart homes are pretty dumb. Or at least historically, connected devices for the everyman’s house have seemed gimmicky at best. This week at CES, however, we saw new technology that stands to reform our very conception of how homes work. But the gamechanging device we saw isn’t really a device … Continued
By Bryan Lufkin -
Tech News
Nest Thermostats Are Having Battery Problems and There’s No Fix Yet
If you own a Nest smart thermostat, you may be experiencing problems with the battery. Big problems with the battery. As in, the battery keeps draining and leaving you in the literal freezing cold. A Gizmodo reader told us that his Nest had a software bug that caused his battery to drain—which caused Nest to … Continued
By Kate Knibbs -
Tech NewsGadgets
A Smarthome-Connected Febreze Dispenser Makes Me Appreciate My Dumb Home
For $49, if you pre-order at CES, Procter & Gamble will sell you what is probably one of the least essential smart home devices announced at the show this year: a wi-fi connected scent dispenser that lets you make any room smell like a Yankee Candle store right from your phone or tablet. Through the … Continued
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Tech NewsCommerce
A Gift Guide for Making Any Dumb Home Smarter
Do you or someone you love (or at least give enough of a damn about to buy a holiday gift for) want to explore this whole “smart home” idea without buying into a whole ecosystem? There are plenty of ways to get started, but these gadgets seamlessly integrate into your current, IQ-challenged abode. Best of … Continued
By Darren Orf -
Reviews
Can a $35 Battery Beat Smart Smoke Alarms At Their Own Game?
Here is a truth: There’s no such thing as having too many smoke alarms. There’s also no such thing as having too many companies trying to make smoke alarms smarter–which is why Roost, a $35 battery that connects any old smoke alarm to the web, is so interesting. What Is It? A 9-Volt battery that … Continued
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Tech News
Savant Takes a Simple but Elegant Approach to Home Automation
Unless you’re super rich, you’ve probably never heard of Savant. The home automation company brags about catering to “the one percent of the one percent.” But now that the internet of things is all the rage, Savant is offering a slick smart home system for the everyman. Savant’s new home automation system is wonderfully simple. … Continued
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Tech News
Philips New Hue 2.0 Hub Lets Siri Control Your Home Lighting
Today, Philips announced the newest incarnation of its smart light system, Hue. While the hub may have changed from a circle to a more rounded square, much is still the same—with one key exception—HomeKit. Hue 2.0 is now Apple HomeKit certified, which allows the lighting system to work within Apple’s Internet of Things framework. You … Continued
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Tech News
Quirky Just Filed for Bankruptcy
A bad year just got worse for Quirky. The crowdsourced design company just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Quirky will also sell assets related to Wink, its home automation hub, to a company called Flextronics. This is a bummer. Quirky was always a cool idea. Bouyed by $170 million in venture capital funds, the … Continued
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Tech News
Google’s OnHub Is a Mysterious and Slightly Terrible Device
The OnHub is Google’s latest weird experiment. It’s a $200 router stuffed with fourteen antennas that’s being marketed as a cure-all for people who have a zillion wireless devices with different network needs. But what does that actually mean? I tore down my OnHub with the hardware hackers at iFixit to find out. For those … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgets
Amazon Echo takes one more step to becoming the benevolent central hub (or Hal 9000) to your future smart home. After connecting with Belkin’s WeMo smart devices this past May, a web-cached blogpost shows Amazon’s Echo now controlling SmartThings devices, Samsung’s acquired smart home division. Neat. [TechCrunch]
By Darren Orf -
Tech NewsAmazing Video Tour of a 1985 Home Automation System
YouTuber Avboden has a home automation system from 1985, and he recently created this video to show people how it worked. It actually has a pretty great UI, with touchscreen — and it even allows you to give commands from your 1980s ultra-modern, push-button phone. Watching this actually begs the question of why we haven’t … Continued