Back in 2011, Nest did the impossible: It made thermostats sexy. Apple veterans Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers applied their iPod-designing expertise to the largely utilitarian world of home-climate control, creating the Learning Thermostat, an appliance aimed squarely at the gadget-obsessed citizens of the smartphone age. And then, earlier this year, Fadell and Rogers took on another traditionally banal (but utterly important) aspect of home life: the smoke detector. The conceit of theNest Protect was to bring some of the same aesthetics and smart features that made the company's first product a success.
The result is a smoke/carbon monoxide detector with mobile device connectivity and a range of expressions that go far beyond the old beeping alarms, as well as a unique gesture feature that lets you silence the device with the wave of a hand. Admittedly bummed at the inability to test the Learning Thermostat in my prewar New York City apartment building, I happily jumped at the opportunity to review the Protect. So Nest sent along two devices, a can of something called a "smoke detector tester" and, thankfully, thorough instructions on how one goes about testing smoke detectors without accidentally burning the house down.
HARDWARE
Given Nest's origins, it's not especially surprising that the company managed to make even the product's box a thing to behold. The message is pretty clear: If Apple ever saw fit to produce a smoke detector, it would look something like this. It's a well-designed bit of packaging that looks more suited for a Best Buy vending machine than a dusty hardware store shelf. Inside, you'll find a wall mount, a set of four screws embedded directly into the cardboard packaging and an awful lot of paperwork -- after all, making sure the device works properly could be a matter of life or death. As for the Protect itself, you've got two options, both at the same price point: a battery-operated model, and a wired version for those who want to tap into their home circuitry. Seeing as how I won't be using the detector permanently, I opted for the latter, which comes with six AA Energizer Lithiums pre-installed.
Like most current smartphones, the Protect comes in either black or white. Nest sent me two white devices, thankfully -- far better for blending in on my apartment walls. Perhaps some of you willing to drop $129 on this sort of product want to make the thing as conspicuous as possible, but personally, I'd prefer not to have to discuss my smoke detector with everyone who visits my apartment (that's what record collections, bookshelves and stuffed grizzlies are for). With that in mind, it's not surprising that the Protect has a much subtler aesthetic than the company's first device, though it's still unquestionably a much nicer object than the vast majority of smoke detectors I've encountered.
The Apple connection is pretty clear here, right out of the box. With the clean lines and rounded corners, a quick look at the Protect's profile invites comparisons to a flattened Mac mini or Apple TV. The front of the device, meanwhile, is almost all grille -- this is, after all, a product designed to wake you from deep sleep a couple of rooms away. A big, circular button sporting a Nest logo sits in the middle of the dotted plastic face. Mobile devices aside, this button will be your primary method for interacting with the Protect. You'll press it several times during setup, any time you want to test the detector and when you want to quiet the alarm.
There's a thin circle in the button, with faint, light gray text so befuddled houseguests know they're looking at a smoke and carbon monoxide detector. In this spot, you'll also see the light that emanates from behind the button, forming a glowing ring in the center of the smoke detector. This is how the Protect manages to communicate without always making noise. Nest opted not to include a display, likely because you won't find yourself physically interacting with a smoke detector nearly as often as a thermostat. The vast majority of the time, there's no light on at all, allowing it to blend in with its surroundings and conserve battery life.
Still, the light is pretty expressive. During the setup process and testing, it turns blue, letting you know it's working and connected. When you turn off the lights at night, it glows green for a moment to let you know everything is all right with the sensors and batteries (if there's an issue, it'll turn yellow and tell you what the matter is when you wave your hand in front of it). And if you so choose during the setup process, the pathlight will light up when it detects motion in the dark, a sort of beacon to help you navigate your way through a pitch-black room. The light turns yellow as an early warning sign of a problem and red when it's time to sound the alarm.
On the back of the Protect, you'll find detailed explanations about each of the light colors and the standard warnings that come with a product like this. There's a micro-USB port in the middle for "internal use only," according to Nest, and holes for attaching it to the wall dock, a process that just requires a simple twist. At the bottom are two screws you'll need to take out to remove the back while changing the batteries. When you first take the Protect out of the box, you'll also spot a light blue tag popping out the back -- this ensures that the batteries aren't in before you're ready for them. You'll need to yank that out to get started.
SETUP
Pull out the tab and press the button and the Protect will say, "Hi." The smoke detector has a soft-spoken, feminine voice, the sort of strangely calming robotic presence you'd like guiding you in a time of emergency. The voice follows the greeting by asking you to choose whether you'd like her to speak in Spanish or English. Next up, you'll be prompted to test the Protect, to make sure things are all right. "The alarm will sound," she explains. "The alarm is loud." She ain't lying. It's grating, ear-piercing and strikingly loud, and you'll hear a total of six beeps as the Protect checks the smoke and then carbon monoxide sensors. It's annoying when you're testing the thing, sure, but when it comes to smoke alarms, loud is good. "The test is finished," she adds, calm as ever. And, if all goes according to plan, "everything is okay."
Now it's time to download the app. Ahead of Protect's release, the company issued an app that monitors both its thermostats and smoke detectors, available for iOS and Android. Create an account through Nest's site (if you don't already have one); use your handset to scan the QR code on the Protect's back (or manually enter a key, if you're so inclined); and the app will take you through a simple process of connecting it to your wireless network. If you've ever connected anything like a Chromecast to your home WiFi, this should be a familiar process, though I did have to repeat it a few times as everything attempted to connect. I spoke to a Nest rep, and the company's not sure what happened there, but the problem resolved itself before I had to pull my hair out. When you're done, the voice will tell you that she's "connected to the internet" and everything's ready to go. If you've got a second Protect, you'll be prompted to connect that, as well. It's a similar process, albeit slightly shorter with some redundant steps removed.
Next, it's time to take the old smoke detector off the wall -- though the company suggested I not actually do that in my testing, as the review units weren't quite final. This part of the process is naturally a bit more involved, should you opt for the wired version. According to the included instructions, the ceiling is the best place your Protect -- or, failing that, high up on a wall. In either case, it's best to avoid obscuring any edge of the detector with a tight corner. Once you've found the right spot, screw the backplate into the wall and snap the Protect in place.
TESTING
And now the fun(?) part. If the beeping during setup didn't set off the neighbors, I assumed the testing would. No one came knocking, however, which should give you some idea of how much you can count on the people in your building in case of emergency. Good thing I have four smoke detectors in my apartment at the moment. Nest equipped me with the Smoke Sabre, a smoke-detector tester in an aerosol can. With a spritz (or with actual smoke or carbon monoxide, naturally), the ring of light will turn yellow, alerting you that something is up. The Protect gives you a window of a few seconds in yellow, dimming slightly when it spots you, letting you know that you're in the sweet spot and can reset the alarm with a wave -- just as you might wave away the smoke when overcooking something on the stove. The idea is to stop false alarms before they start -- so if you're in the kitchen and something starts smoking, you don't have to deal with emergency alerts during a non-emergency.
I had a bit of trouble getting the gesture-based override to work during the trial, in spite of some frantic waving. I contacted Nest about the issue, and a rep told me that, due to federal regulations, there are two versions of the alarm. The less serious of the two can be overridden by the user. The other just goes straight to alarm. Apparently I've been hitting the old Smoke Sabre a little too hard. The upside, however, is that I got to see the Nest spring into action (the downside, naturally, is that I got to hear it, too). This, it turns out, is why you installed that app -- like the smoke detector itself, it will sit around idly for the majority of the time, a subtle reminder that everything is copacetic.
When the Protect encounters an issue, however, you'll get a push notification on your mobile device (an optional, but highly recommended feature). The normally green ring in the center of the app will turn red, along with a quick indicator of what's wrong (in this case: "Smoke"). Tap on that and you'll get a breakdown of your alarms' statuses -- e.g., "Smoke" for the dining room and "All Clear" for the kitchen. Tap through to notes and the app gives you a full breakdown of what happened -- at 4:47 PM: "There is smoke. The alarm is sounding." I was eventually able to hush the sound by hitting the button, and the timeline mentions that as well. At the top of the page is a "What to Do" note, including the usual stop, drop and roll instructions (which you hopefully don't need to pick up a smartphone to remember). There's also a big red button at the bottom for dialing 911.
WRAP UP
I'll admit it's been a while since I've been in the market for a smoke detector. A cursory scan of Amazon, however, indicates an average price between $10 and $30, with combo smoke/carbon monoxide detectors landing at the higher end of that spectrum. In either case, it's a range the $129 Protect misses by a country mile. Of course, this isn't just any smoke detector. Like the Learning Thermostat before it, it's a bit of home electronics aimed at gadget nerds, and certainly Nest has managed to do a lot in an otherwise staid category.
It's a lovely object, so far as these things go, and its expressive center lighting and voice directions offer a lot more than the standard series of beeps: alerting you to emergencies, low batteries and even lighting your way at night. The gesture-based hush can save your eardrums and the smartphone alerts may well save some lives. For most, however, standard smoke detectors will likely still do the trick. Even though certain device idiosyncrasies can be a hassle, $129 still feels like a lot to pay, given the industry average. And for those living in larger homes, it's a price that'll add up fast.
Source : Engadget
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| iBall launches 'safety phone' for women in India. |
iBall's Andi Uddaan mobile device will be launched across India within 2 weeks, at an introductory price of just 8,999 Indian rupees (US$145). It also comes with free accessories such as a flip cover, extra back cover, scratch guard and even a little pink purse. So besides the incredible price and freebies, what really makes this device unique?
The iBall Andi Uddaan is the first mobile phone with a dedicated and exclusive SOS button on the back of the phone. In case of an emergency of any kind, simply pressing the SOS button will set off a loud alarm, alerting people nearby. Furthermore, calls and text messages are made automatically to five pre-defined emergency contacts.
The text messages provides the pre-defined contacts with the exact geographical location, in real time. Furthermore, the same message is also sent out automatically as an update to Facebook too.
In addition to the SOS button, the iBall Andi Udaan also has a pre-installed application: ICE, which stands for In Case of Emergency. The ICE feature allows users to enter vital information such as blood group, medical history, details of people to contact in case of emergency, and other features, thus triggering alert of an emergency situation.
Another feature, when enabled and activated, is a GPS tracking system by up to 10 people. The location of the user can again be viewed in real time or at pre-defined intervals, and this feature can also be used for business to track personnel in the field.
Under the hood, the iBall Andi Uddaan is powered by a 1.3 GHz Dual Core A7 processor with 512 MB of RAM and 4 GB of internal storage, expandable up to 32 GB, powered by the Google Android 4.2 Jellybean OS.
The display is a 5 inch IPS HD display, and also comes both a front 5 MP camera with auto focus and a rear 8 MP camera, also with auto focus and a dual LED flash.
Via: ZDNet
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dual-SIM 5-inch smartphones |
DataWind has forayed into the Indian smartphone market with the launch of PocketSurfer5, a new range of low-cost smartphones. All the three DataWind smartphones support dual-SIM, and are priced between Rs. 3,499 and Rs. 6,499.
The PocketSurfer 5x runs Linux OS and is powered by a Cortex A8 1GHz (cores unspecified) processor. It has a 5-inch TFT display and front VGA camera. For connectivity, the smartphone supports EDGE, Bluetooth and microUSB.
The second smartphone is the PocketSurfer 5C+, which runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS, and is powered by a Cortex A9 1GHz (cores unspecified) processor. The smartphone also has a 5-inch TFT display. It has 2MP rear camera, VGA front camera and supports microSD. In terms of connectivity, the smartphone supports EDGE, Bluetooth, and microUSB. It is priced at Rs. 4,999.
The Pocketsurfer 3G5 runs Android 4.2 OS and is powered by a Cortex A7 1.2GHz dual-core processor. It has 5-inch TFT display, 5MP rear camera and front VGA camera. In terms of connectivity, the smartphone supports 3G, EDGE, Bluetooth, and microUSB. It is priced at Rs. 6,499.
“On the 10th Anniversary of DataWind’sPocketSurfer - the fastest internet device operating through a GSM SIM beating all other internet devises at that time in speed, we’re very excited to introduce these amazing new devices at unbelievably low prices. Intended to again create benchmarks in the smart phone category, DataWind’s new products break the affordability barriers of smartphones and bandwidth constraints of cellular networks to deliver calling facility and internet access to anybody who can afford a simple mobile phone. Currently simple phones in the market cost as much as the smart phone on offer by DataWind,” says Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO of DataWind.
“Our primary focus is to bridge the digital divide and deliver an affordable means of accessing the internet. We want to be form-factor agnostic. Globally the massive shift from feature phones to smartphones is being driven by the appetite to get on the internet. We want to be the enabler.”
Source : ThinkDigit
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| Google could launch 'Nexus TV' Android |
Google isn't giving up its living room ambitions. The company is said to be working on a "Nexus TV" device that will run Android, stream video from services like Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube, and play a selection of video games. The rumor comes from The Information's Amir Efrati, who cites an anonymous Google employee. The device is said to be ready for launch as soon as the first half of next year, according to the report.
Rumors of a Google-made Android set top box go back to July of this year, when The Wall Street Journal reported that such a device was demoed by Andy Rubin behind closed doors at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Sources told the paper at the time that the box included a Kinect-like motion sensor and could be controlled with an Android smartphone. Today's report from The Information corroborates these details (though a motion sensor is not mentioned), and adds that a purpose-built touchpad remote could be included with the set-top box. Google reportedly showed off a version of the box to developers as recently as this fall.
It's said that the device will not support live broadcast, which would mean Google could avoid the hassle of trying to bring traditional content providers on board. That's a task that's so far proved impossible for other companies: Intel abandoned its efforts to launch an internet set-top box after failing to secure such deals, and it's rumored that an Apple television device has been delayed for similar reasons. If the Nexus TV reports are accurate, Google seems to be pursuing a similar strategy as Amazon, which is rumored to have a set-top box of its own set for next year.
Google has launched a number of products to attempt to gain a foothold in the living room, starting with the ill-fated (but still living) Google TV operating system that manufacturers built into smart TVs and other devices. It later announced the expensive Nexus Q (which never officially went on sale), and this year it began selling a small HDMI dongle called the Chromecast, which streams from just a few services and costs $35. The latter has seen some success, but it's a device with a simple feature set. A fully-fledged Nexus TV set-top box that runs Android would be in a different category — though today's report suggests it will be "aggressively priced."
Via: The Verge
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| smartphones outsell feature phones |
Research firm IDC is sharing its most recent smartphone sales data, numbers that show big gains for the top manufacturers from Korea and China, but only a modest jump for Apple. The entire mobile market grew by four percent year over year, says IDC, with companies combining to produce nearly 420 million handsets. Most interestingly, it notes that the past quarter is the first time that smartphones actually outshipped feature phones, garnering 51.6 percent of the market, but knowing how nebulously the industry defines "smartphone," we aren’t putting too much stock in the claim.
According to IDC, Samsung had by far the largest share of smartphone shipments last quarter — a total of 32.7 percent — nearly doubling second-place manufacturer Apple’s share. In comparison, LG, Huawei, and ZTE all shipped roughly the same number of devices — between 10.3 million units (LG) and 9.1 million units (ZTE) over the quarter, with both LG and Huawei growing by roughly 100 percent. In comparison, Samsung moved just over 70.7 million units, and Apple, 37.4 million. Every other manufacturer combined moved a total of 78.8 million smartphones — more than Samsung, which placed first with a 37 percent increase over last year.
Via: The Verge
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| Smartphones |
While consumers are obsessed with getting hold of the latest and greatest smartphone, businesses would be quite happy if the rate of innovation slowed down just a little bit.
That's because much of their effort is going into internal apps to improve business processes rather than to engage with customers.
Seven out of 10 organisations are putting money into creating business apps for employees, according to new research — outstripping the 59 percent making business software for customers.
Delivering a flexible workforce comes out far ahead of gaining a competitive advantage, with 83 percent of organisations citing staff flexibility as a main driver for mobility compared with 42 percent for business edge, the study of UK firms by enterprise apps company IFS also shows.
Integrated Water Services managing director Peter Aspley takes a firm line on setting goals for his company's mobile strategy.
"We look at it primarily from a business need perspective. So, 'What does the business need?' as opposed to 'What does the individual want?'," Aspley told an IFS mobility round-table in London.
"Our focus is very much on putting the kit out there that does the job the business needs it to. Without being too harsh, if someone needs an iPhone for their personal interaction with Facebook, they can buy one," he said.
Aspley's company provides services to the water industry, local authorities and hospitals, including managing plant and equipment on their behalf.
"Water industry, local authorities and government agencies are all feeling the squeeze, so we have to stay one step ahead of the game in trying to help to solve the client's problem." he said.
Integrated Water Services' work in Legionella control, for example, requires a lot of daily data collection, so the firm first developed a mobile strategy in 2005 to gather information and feed it back to customers and business systems via the web.
Aspley's mobile strategy takes account of a range of devices, from iPhones at the management level to access business data and Motorola ES400 smartphones for the field engineers.
"That's where the challenge is — with the device interfaces with those field workers. Because you don't want to be spending a disproportionate amount of money on a device that is going to get dropped down a borehole, dropped in a tank, run over by the van," Aspley said.
"The attrition rate with those field-based devices at the sharp end is far higher than you would see in the office and the managerial environment."
Three-quarters of firms have now invested in an enterprise mobility scheme. Of the 24 percent that haven't, three out of four say it's because it isn't business critical.
Security issues remain the top concern for companies without mobile strategies, cited by 86 percent of respondents, followed by data loss on 56 percent.
The cost of integration comes next, with a figure of 42 percent. However, software development is an issue even for companies that have been running a strategy for some time.
Aspley said keeping applications up to date in the face of the short life-spans and rapid development of mobile devices represents an ongoing problem.
"It's been a real challenge for us in terms of the iteration of devices that we've gone through. We've never had across all our operations one device that we've been able to standardise on," he said.
"Because as soon as you've deployed, by the time you've gone through that replacement cycle with all the staff, actually that [device] is no longer in production."
His company's IT team invests a lot of effort in trying to second-guess the longevity of devices.
"You try to put your application on the right platform that gives you the agility within the inherent system that you're operating to interface with as many devices as possible," Aspley said.
"We stick all our stuff at the moment in a SQL Server database, so we can interface with most things but you can't stand still. The device industry indicates, 'This is the future'. In 12 months' time, it's old hat. It's gathering dust."
Mark Austin, CIO at Bedford NHS Trust, said his route round issues created by the short life of mobile devices is to deliver services via a browser.
"We've strived towards getting applications to be more web front-ended, rather than leading on the device," Austin said.
"I don't profess that that will completely future-proof things but it gives us a little bit of longevity and then in the background we virtualise everything."
The IFS research study polled 200 CIOs and IT managers at UK-based companies with more than 1,000 employees.
Via: ZDNet
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| Android 4.4.1 update |
Google appears to be planning to extend screencasting capabilities in Chromecast to allow Android devices to mirror the screen to TVs.
Google released Android 4.4.1 last week, primarily to fix the camera in the Nexus 5, but as with many Android updates from Google, changes to the source code Google submits to the Android Open Source Project often contain clues as to what's in store.
Developers at Funky Android over the weekend released a list of changes that were included in the update, including hints that Google is planning to let Android devices mirror their screens with nearby TVs, via Google's Chromecast.
Chromecast is the company's $35 answer to Apple TV. The dongle plugs into the HDMI port of an HDTV, which in theory allows the Android device to share its display with a larger screen. However, at the moment, Chromecast only permits screencasting through supported apps — such as Chrome, Netflix, Hulu and a few others.
Koushik Dutta, co-founder of Cyanogen Inc, which makes its own Android firmware, found the reference to the feature in Funky Android's change logs for the latest Android release,noting: "From the patches I see in 4.4.1, they'll be adding Android mirroring to Chromecast very soon."
But, Dutta adds, the feature will be closed to third-party developers (besides OEMs), meaning it won't be able to support projects that aim to use the same Android screencasting functionality with non-Chromecast hardware. Android owners do have other means of screencasting, however, such as with several dongles that support Miracast.
Via: ZDNet
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| UEFA League Updates On Android With HTC FootballFeed |
The interface of the app, which is basically based on HTC’s BlinkFeed homescreen design that was introduced in HTC Sense 5, is fully customizable so that you may easily follow only the teams and games you want. Match schedules can be sent to your calendar so you don’t miss out on anything, and can keep up with the scores even when you’re on the road.
The landing screen comprises of a user friendly design, letting you swipe leftward and rightward to navigate among Highlights, Stats and Gallery. Likewise scrolling up and down reveals more content within the current section.
While Highlights and Gallery are mostly about news and photos, Stats gives you more forensic data about current standings, clubs and matches etc. There’s also a Promotion section in the app that, although empty as of this writing, will offer exclusive promotions and competitions for anyone using the app in the future.
Other features include details on all upcoming matches in both tournaments, club pages with relevant facts and stats, and squad line-ups for each match.
CLICK to install from Play Store
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