Tag: IoT

CES 2015: Apple’s HomeKit Holds The Key To Smart Home

Posted on by Lab Team

Apple may have grown too big to grace an industry trade show like CES, but its presence is still felt this year as many smart home devices supporting their HomeKit smart home platform. Here are the top three highlights:

Switch by iDevices

Switch from iOS accessory maker iDevices debuts at CES 2015 as the world’s first HomeKit-certified products. It is a smart power switch makes it easy to control the connected home appliance using your voice, no hub required. It does, however, need the companion iDevices Connected app to personalize the device with Siri voice commands.

iHome SmartPlug

Simiarly, iHome’s first Apple HomeKit product, SmartPlug, will enable iOS users to control any connected device using Siri. A companion app called iHome Control tied into HomeKit will let you turn devices on and off just by speaking into your iPhone or iPad.

Elgato Eve

Eve is a complete line of products and sensors from IoT maker Elgato that will enable users to monitor your home and provide control with a Siri voice command. Two products, a HomeKit-enabled switch named Eve Energy and the Eve Door & Window Sensors are slated for release in following months.

Update 2015/01/08: two more devices added.

GridConnect ConnectSense Smart Outlet

This GridConnect ConnectSense links to iOS devices via HomeKit, features its own rule-based software, and speaks the ZigBee Wi-Fi wireless protocol.

Chamberlain MyQ Smart Garage

Another piece of hardware on the Apple HomeKit nice list is the MyQ Smart Garage. It lets you open and close your garage door from anywhere with an Internet connection, set custom alerts and remotely monitor whether your garage door is open.

CES 2015: LG Launches ThinQ Series Of Connected Home Appliances

Posted on by Lab Team

Read  original story on: VentureBeat

Internet of things is undoubtedly a hot topic at this year’s CES, and LG is one of the many companies trying to bring the connected things home.

Announced earlier today at its CES press event, the South Korean company is launching a series of ThinQ-branded home appliances, including smart refrigerators, dishwashers, laundry machines, and ovens. The new washer, for example, comes with NFC and WiFi connectivity, allowing users to upload special washing cycles, monitor those cycles, and receive alerts when the load is finished.

 

Header image taken from www.lg.com

CES 2015 Preview: Nine Areas To Watch

Posted on by Lab Team
With less than a month to go before CES 2015, rumors are starting to swirl about what products will be shown and which will be this year’s standouts. We’ve started sifting through coverage and will be paying particular attention to the following areas when we attend next month:
  1. Automotive. This is the year the car finally takes over CES. With a record 11 manufacturers present, the convention will feature keynotes from Mercedes chairman Dieter Zetsche and Ford CEO Mark Fields. Everyone’s talking about a new concept car — an autonomous “mobile living room.” Meanwhile, Audi will also announce two “world debuts.” Watch for press events from Chevrolet, Volkswagen, Toyota, and more.
  2. Smart Home. The automated home will have its own marketplace at the Sands, though the entire city will seemingly be dedicated to Smart Home: expect large presentations from Belkin and Philips, and dozens upon dozens of home automation products — including iDevices’ first-ever Homekit-enabled device.
  3. Wearables. LG will reportedly release its successor to the G Watch, which could also incorporate 4G. Breaking into the market for the first time, HTC will debut a not-smartwatch wearable, but no details are out yet; it’s potentially something in the line of a fitness band. Lenovo has a watch on the docket, but we are holding our breath for the not-gonna-be-at-CES Apple Watch.
  4. Smart Garments. Technically a division within “wearables,” but expect the connected clothing market to get interesting, with shirts, jackets, sports bras, and even socks delivering fitness data with embedded sensors.
  5. 3D Printers. Doubling in size from 2014, the dedicated 3D Printing Marketplace will feature over 30 exhibitors stretching over 14,000 square feet. Watch the space for big moves from players like Makerbot and Autodesk, and expect that the crowd-pleasers will host interactive demonstrations just like last year.
  6. Phones. There are many rumors about Xiaomi debuting a Mi5 smartphone as it tries to take on the American market. Expect to hear buzz on LG’s flexible G Flex 2. No Samsung Galaxy S6 this year.
  7. Virtual Reality. With Oculus Rift, Project Morpheus from Sony, and Samsung Gear VR, the augmented reality space is (finally! Really, this time!) set to erupt. Expect to see VR-themed games, apps, and more interesting experiences.
  8. Drones. Expect to see dozens of flying cameras in the dedicated Unmanned Systems Marketplace. GoPro will even debut their own.
  9. Big Shiny Televisions. Finally, the big screens: joining the rapidly expanding, horribly expensive pack of 4K TVs may be LG’s 55-inch 8K display. Codenamed “Mabinogion,” it will have a resolution of 7680×4320 pixels. 

Keep watching ipglab.com as we continue to cover CES 2015.

 

These IoT Gadgets Offer A Fun Way To Visualize Weather

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: PSFK

Checking weather just got a lot more fun. Made by UK creative agency Uniform, Weather Systems is a set of three charmingly designed gadgets that display real-time weather information wirelessly transmitted via the Internet. The three gadgets showcased include a block of pins that movs as it rains, a wheel that changes color depending on temperature, and a weather vane that spins according to wind direction.

 

Apple To Open Up Lightning Port Access To Accessory Makers

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: The Verge

Apple will soon allow third-party manufacturers to integrate its Lightning port directly into their Apple accessories. Apple has already opened up the Lightning connection to headphone makers for better audio quality, but it will be very interesting to see what this newfound connectivity can bring to Apple devices in areas like the connected car or the Internet of Things.

 

TechWreck: What To Do With All That Wearable-Generated Data

Posted on by Richard Yao

As The Verge writer David Pierce pointed out in his Microsoft Band review, the newly launched fitness tracker—like dozens of other wearables currently available—generates a boatload of biometric data, providing users with a heightened sense of the quantified self. But beyond that, it doesn’t do really much, leaving users bewildered and lacking insights they can act on. In his own words:

That’s the thing about all fitness trackers: even the most powerful ones are only measuring internal data, data about me. …  If the Band knows my heart rate and my sleep stage, why can’t it wake me up at the perfect moment in my sleep cycle?

Indeed, “what am I supposed to do with all that data” has become a question frequently asked by the early adopters of wearable tech. Wearable makers need to go beyond basic functions such as tracking, syncing and data-gathering. Only by fully exploring the actionable insights the data can provide, or by building a rich narrative for the users to engage with, will wearables find a mass audience.

Header image taken from the linked review on The Verge

Meet Onyx, The Star Trek-Inspired, Futuristic Walkie-Talkie

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: Business Insider

OnBeep, a year-old startup based in San Francisco, just unveiled its first hardware product – a real-time wearable communicator named Onyx. Inspired by the futuristic walkie-talkie featured in Star Trek, it pairs to a smartphone via Bluetooth and works with Wi-Fi or data service. Sporting a slightly bulky but lightweight circular design, Onyx can support up to 15 people in real-time group conversations—an interesting take on bringing group messaging into the physical world.

Amazon Surprises With Echo, A Smart Speaker With A Built-in Virtual Assistant

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: The Verge

Out of nowhere, Amazon announced a new product named Echo, the world’s first smart speaker that comes with an always-on, Siri-like virtual assistant. Connected to the cloud via Wi-Fi, the AI assistant, dubbed “Alexa,” can provide you with news, weather, and even Wikipedia-generated answers to random questions. When connected with your mobile device, it can also perform tasks such as setting alarm clocks and managing to-do lists, all handsfree via voice command.

Of course, the wireless speaker also serves its traditional purpose: playing music. It has built-in support for Amazon Prime Music, iHeartRadio, and TuneIn, it’s also fully Bluetooth compatible, making playback from Spotify, Pandora, and other audio apps from other devices possible.

 

The Smartphone-Enabled Hotel Room Keys Have Arrived

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: 9to5Mac

Starting today, guests staying at ten selected Starwood hotels will be able to use their iPhone (and, in the spring, Apple Watch) to unlock their hotel doors with the new SPG Keyless service. Based on Bluetooth LE (instead of NFC), the virtual keys will work with all iPhones from the 4S onward. Similarly, Hilton Worldwide has announced that it will be introducing its own smartphone key system next year as well. More Internet of Things could be expected to be applied in the hospitality industry in the near future.

Lowe’s Introduces Beacon-Sensing Robot For Customer Service

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: Wall Street Journal

Lowe’s department store has started testing a new connected device program called OSHbots that provides customer service with a robotic assistant. The robots use beacon technology to know what aisle the customers are in and where to go. This also allows the robots to provide inventory support to the store, as well as to display location-specific ads or promos. With more connected devices being implemented in retail, customer experience inside physical stores are about to change forever.