Tag: smart home

Rocco Super Smart Fridge Review: A Cool Conversation Piece

[ad_1]

Similarly, there’s Smart Mode, which makes it work more like a thermostat when the fridge is sitting in a warmer temperature. There’s also Party Mode, which prioritizes keeping the drinks cold more so than making less noise. After a few minutes, I did hear the compressor get a little louder. I opened it a few minutes later, and it was definitely colder in there. (Rocco gives the temperature range as 37 to 64 degrees Fahrenheit.)

But if I want the drinks to stay colder while I’m having a party where people are opening it often, I could just lower the temperature to where I want it myself. I really don’t see much of a need for all of these modes. Using a wireless Bluetooth thermometer, I tested the temperature changes inside the fridge for each mode to make sure they work properly. I gave each of them 10 minutes to change and tested each shelf on both ends of the fridge. I was pleased to find these were all within just a few degrees difference of what the fridge read.

The other primary feature of the app is the vision system. When you first set up the app, sensors in the fridge scan everything you’re storing in it. Every beverage then shows up on your app, organized by drawer. I’m storing some pretty obscure drinks, like OoMee algae-infused beverage and Yaté yerba mate, and it recognized most of them, so I was impressed, although some, like my Dolin vermouth, which is one of the most popular vermouth brands, were not recognized.

Nutrition facts also pop up for each drink, although many of them are incomplete. In theory, you could go to the grocery store and see which drinks you’re running low on just by looking at the app. I found that I didn’t do this much, although I was curious if I was running low on LaCroix once and checked the app to see that I certainly was. So it came in handy.

However, the system is not perfect. Right now it’s showing that I still have one LaCroix remaining, although I haven’t had one in there in a couple of weeks. I would love it if I could purchase something I’m running low on directly from the app.

The dual-temperature system also allows you to make half of the fridge one temperature and the other half another, which you can adjust manually or through the app. While this is important so that I can keep seltzers and wines at different temperatures, this is the one feature that’s on many wine fridges, so it’s not unique to the Rocco Fridge.

Timeless Design

The Rocco has a kind of mid-century vibe but also feels contemporary. I love the fluted glass door, which looks stunning when it’s nighttime and the lights inside are peeking through it. Any time someone comes to my apartment it becomes a topic of conversation. You can turn the light on and off and adjust the brightness from the app.

The top surface of the fridge is flat and sturdy, so it doubles as a bar cart. The raised lip on the sides also helps so that bottles I’m placing on it have less of a chance of falling off. I have a bar cart that’s overflowing with bottles, so it’s nice to have this right next to it for some overflow.

[ad_2]

Source link

August 17, 2024
Google 4th-Gen Nest Learning Thermostat and Google TV Streamer: Specs, Features, Price, Release Date

[ad_1]

(left) Smart Schedule on Pixel-8 (center) Smart Ventilation on Pixel 8 Pro (right) System Health Monitor Pixel 8

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

Finally, the Nest Learning Thermostat has a new System Health Monitor to flag potential maintenance needs by tracking your HVAC system’s behavior, such as when your air conditioner suddenly isn’t cooling rooms as efficiently as it used to. In addition, a new Smart Ventilation feature checks outdoor air quality before pulling air into your home, especially helpful if the air quality in your area is poor.

The new Nest Learning Thermostat (plus the included sensor) is available for preorder and costs $280. It goes on sale August 20.

The Future of Google Assistant

Google has been integrating its Gemini chatbot and large language models into its products and services over the past year, but what does that mean for Google Assistant? The Alexa and Siri competitor has been a mainstay for years but wasn’t mentioned once during Google’s developer conference in May. You’d think this spelled the end of Google Assistant, and that it’d eventually end up in the Google Graveyard, right? Think again.

Kattukaran says Gemini’s large language models will power Google Assistant, allowing it to “redefine the next era of the smart home.” The most immediate change? Google Assistant’s voice will sound much more natural and human-like, with improved pacing and rhythm. It’ll offer a more conversational experience and can maintain the context of your conversation as you string together multiple commands and queries.

This Gemini-powered experience will also improve existing features. For example, motion alerts from your security cameras will be much more detailed, allowing you to know exactly what’s transpiring without opening the camera feed. You can even ask the Assistant for information from your camera feeds, like if a FedEx delivery person showed up. Google wants people to ask Assistant to set up home automation too without getting bogged down in menus in the app.

None of this helps Gemini’s branding problem—there are so many variations with different capabilities, like Gemini Nano, Gemini Ultra, Gemini Flash, and more recently, Gemini Live. Google Assistant, on the other hand, was one neat AI umbrella that handled everything. But now with Assistant getting an assist from Gemini, the company is not yet ready to replace it anytime soon, meaning we have to live with two assistants even longer.

The new Google Assistant experience is available for select Nest Aware subscribers as a part of a public preview and is expected to roll out in 2025.

[ad_2]

Source link

August 6, 2024
Echo Spot Review (2024): Small and Surprisingly Helpful

[ad_1]

Amazon added onscreen ads to the Echo Show slideshows and even the weather report on my Echo Show 8, and they’re almost impossible to turn off. The Echo Spot, so far, is ad-free. There’s a chance Amazon could add these in the future, but I’m crossing my fingers this screen is too small to make it worth it. I would’ve said the same about the tiny real estate available on the Show 8’s weather page, though, so I know it’s not a guarantee.

The Echo Spot can also display your calendar when you ask, scrolling through your four upcoming events in a little list while talking you through it. Again, it’s a nice visual companion to the voice assistant, without a large cluttered screen. It is a small screen, so you can’t read it from super far away, but I found it handy to read while at my desk or listen to while I got dressed.

Photograph: Nena Farrell

Photograph: Nena Farrell

The only thing missing is smart home control. Unlike regular smart displays or the newer Hub (8/10, WIRED Recommends), the Echo Spot doesn’t have a smart home control area on the menu, and I can access rooms or devices only via voice request. It does pull up a little power button onscreen when you ask to control a specific room or device, like “turn on my kitchen,” which you can then tap on and off. But there’s no way to access devices or rooms without first using your voice.

While I like seeing the widgets and having smart home control on my larger smart displays, I don’t love how distracting a smart display can be in my office or my living room. The scrolling screen is constantly catching my eye when I’d rather not look at it, and often isn’t showing me something I need to see right then. The Echo Spot’s balance of screen info without rolling clutter makes it a great addition almost anywhere in the house.

Sound Off

Photograph: Nena Farrell

The only thing that the Echo Spot lacks is, unfortunately, good sound.

[ad_2]

Source link

August 2, 2024
I’m a New Homeowner, and Here’s How to BYO Smart Home

[ad_1]

I was surprised how many smart home products were included. My builder gave us the option to install even more devices during the building process, which would’ve cost almost $2,000 for a handful of door sensors, two motion sensors, a siren, and two control panels. We opted out. I figured I could easily rig those up for less than half that price with a couple of Echo Hubs (8/10, WIRED Recommends).

I was pleasantly surprised to find out we got so much smart home gear included without any extra fees. Of course, our builder didn’t mention this, nor did he offer any devices that I wanted, like a smart doorbell. But while I like some of the gear that came with my home, I would’ve liked a chance to shop around or say no to some of the products they chose.

Garage Greatness

My favorite device is easy: the MyQ Smart Garage Door Opener ($289). The only reason I didn’t set this up on day one was I had to wait for my Eeros to get turned on (my builder included a service to do it, but I should have done it myself). I needed a strong-enough Wi-Fi signal in the garage. The MyQ is great because it doesn’t need a hub, either, and had a handy little QR code to direct you to the app download. There’s a built-in camera that you can use for security (though there’s also subscription fees for video storage and better notifications).

Photograph: Nena Farrell

If you have multiple users, one person will need to set up the MyQ and then invite other family members to it via an email. My husband was faster than me as we raced to finish the setup, so the MyQ is under his name, and he invited me within the app. Boom, it was ready. We were both able to easily control the garage without any further steps or issues. The app shows us whether the garage is open or closed, and we can both control it from anywhere.

Front Door Woes

On the other side of my house, I have a gadget that I hate: a Kwikset smart lock. It has me missing my old Abode Smart Lock (8/10, WIRED Recommends) dearly.

My Kwikset smart lock has been a pain since the second we got the keys. It’s a Kwikset Smartkey, so it should be easy to rekey the door, but neither my husband nor I could get it to work. No matter, you should always get new locks and keys when you get a new home. We figured we’d ignore the key problem and just use the smart features in the meantime.

[ad_2]

Source link

June 14, 2024
What Is Matter? We Explain the New Smart Home Standard (2024)

[ad_1]

The ideal smart home seamlessly anticipates your needs and instantly responds to commands. You shouldn’t have to open a specific app for each appliance or remember the precise voice command and voice assistant combination that starts the latest episode of your favorite podcast on the nearest speaker. Competing smart home standards make operating your devices needlessly complicated. It’s just not very … well, smart.

Tech giants try to straddle standards by offering their voice assistants as a controlling layer on top, but Alexa can’t talk to Google Assistant or Siri or control Google or Apple devices, and vice versa. (And so far, no single ecosystem has created all the best devices.) But these interoperability woes may soon be remedied. Formerly called Project CHIP (Connected Home over IP), the open source interoperability standard known as Matter arrived in 2022. With some of the biggest tech names, like Amazon, Apple, and Google, on board, seamless integration may finally be within reach.

Updated May 2024: Added news of the Matter 1.3 specification release, progress with the major players, a section on what you can do with Matter, and more details on potential functions.

If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more.

Table of Contents

What Is Matter?

Matter enables different devices and ecosystems to play nicely. Device manufacturers must comply with the Matter standard to ensure their devices are compatible with smart home and voice services such as Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, Google’s Assistant, and others. For folks building a smart home, Matter theoretically lets you buy any device and use the voice assistant or platform you prefer to control it. (Yes, you can use different voice assistants to talk to the same product.)

For example, you can buy a Matter-supported smart bulb and set it up with Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, or Amazon Alexa—without having to worry about compatibility. Right now, some devices already support multiple platforms (like Alexa or Google Assistant), but Matter will expand that platform support and make setting up your new devices faster and easier.

The first protocol runs on Wi-Fi and Thread network layers and uses Bluetooth Low Energy for device setup. While it supports various platforms, you must choose the voice assistants and apps you want to use—there is no central Matter app or assistant. Because Matter works on your local network, you can expect your smart home devices to be more responsive to you, and they should continue to work even when your internet goes down.

What Makes Matter Different?

The Connectivity Standards Alliance (or CSA, formerly the Zigbee Alliance) maintains the Matter standard. What sets it apart is the breadth of its membership (more than 550 tech companies), the willingness to adopt and merge disparate technologies, and the fact that it is an open source project. Interested companies can use the software development kit (SDK) royalty-free to incorporate their devices into the Matter ecosystem. This is much simpler than certifying devices individually with each smart home platform.

Growing out of the Zigbee Alliance gives Matter a firm foundation. Bringing the main smart home platforms (Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings) to the same table is an achievement. It is optimistic to imagine a seamless adoption of Matter across the board, but it has enjoyed a rush of enthusiasm with many smart home brands jumping aboard, including August, Schlage, and Yale in smart locks; Belkin, Cync, GE Lighting, Sengled, Signify (Philips Hue), and Nanoleaf in smart lighting; and others like Arlo, Comcast, Eve, TP-Link, and LG.

When Did Matter Arrive?

Matter has been in the works for years. The first release of Project CHIP was due in late 2020, but it was delayed to the following year, rebranded as Matter, and then touted for a summer release. After another delay, the Matter 1.0 specification and certification program opened in 2022. The SDK, tools, and test cases were made available, and eight authorized test labs opened for product certification.

The first wave of Matter-supported smart home gadgets went on sale in the fall of 2022, and we have seen a steady trickle since then. The first update to the specification, Matter 1.1, arrived in May 2023 and consisted largely of bug fixes. Announced in October 2023, Matter 1.2 added support for nine new device types, including refrigerators, robot vacuums, and air purifiers, alongside improvements to existing categories.

The Matter 1.3 specification was published in May 2024, adding energy management, EV charging, and water management alongside support for new devices, including ovens, cooktops, and laundry dryers. It also brought improvements to Matter Casting, so on top of being able to cast from your phone to your TV, other smart devices—like your robot vacuum—can send messages to your TV to warn you if they’re stuck, for example.

[ad_2]

Source link

June 9, 2024
Oral-B Sold a $230 Alexa Toothbrush—and Then Pulled the Plug

[ad_1]

As we’re currently seeing with AI, when a new technology becomes buzzy, companies will do almost anything to cram that tech into their products. Trends fade, however, and corporate priorities shift—resulting in bricked gadgets and buyer’s remorse.

That’s what’s happening to some who bought Oral-B toothbrushes with Amazon Alexa built in. Oral-B released the Guide for $230 in August 2020 but bricked the ability to set up or reconfigure Alexa on the product this February. As of this writing, the Guide is still available through a third-party Amazon seller.

The Guide toothbrush’s charging base was able to connect to the internet and work like an Alexa speaker that you could speak to and from which Alexa could respond. Owners could “ask to play music, hear the news, check weather, control smart home devices, and even order more brush heads by saying ‘Alexa, order Oral-B brush head replacements,’” per Procter & Gamble’s 2020 announcement.

Oral-B also bragged at the time that, in partnering with Alexa, the Guide ushered in “the truly connected bathroom.”

Oral-B Discontinued App for Setting Up Alexa

On February 15, Oral-B bricked the Guide’s ability to set up Alexa by discontinuing the Oral-B Connect app required to complete the process. Guide owners can still use the Oral-B App for other features; however, the ability to use the charging base like an Alexa smart speaker—a big draw in the product’s announcement and advertising—is seriously limited.

The device should still work with Alexa if users set it up before Oral-B shuttered Connect, but setting up a new Wi-Fi connection or reestablishing a lost one doesn’t work without Connect.

That’s a problem for Patrick Hubley, who learned that Oral-B discontinued Connect when his base inadvertently disconnected from the Wi-Fi and he tried using Connect to fix it. He told Ars Technica that when he tries using the Alexa wake word now, the speaker says, “I’m having trouble connecting to the internet. For help, go to your device’s companion app.”

Hubley attempted but failed to get a refund or replacement brush through Oral-B’s support avenues. He says he will no longer buy Oral-B or Alexa products.

I only purchased this toothbrush from Amazon because that was the only way to get the water-resistant Alexa speaker that I wanted for the bathroom … I’m ready to be done with Alexa and Oral-B both.

Connect no longer works on devices on which it’s already installed. A few users have also stated on Amazon that they can no longer set Guide up to use Alexa. However, the Guide is still available on Amazon as of this writing, with images of its box saying “Alexa built-in” and the product’s title reading “Alexa Built-In” and “Amazon Dash Replenishment Enabled.” The listing is from a third-party seller, but since Oral-B released the Guide exclusively through Amazon, shoppers could easily not realize that Alexa setup is borked.

I reached out to Amazon about this, and spokesperson Connor Rice told me:

The Oral-B Guide still has Alexa built-in and customers can keep using the Alexa experience on devices that were set up through the Oral-B Connect app. The Oral-B Guide is currently sold by an independent seller on Amazon.com. Please contact Oral-B for any further questions about their app.

Oral-B’s Response

Oral-B discontinued the Guide about two years ago and now only has one mobile app, called Oral-B. If a toothbrush brand is going to have any apps at all, one seems like the maximum reasonable number. It’s unclear why Alexa capabilities weren’t integrated into the still-standing Oral-B app.

When I reached out to Procter & Gamble, a company spokesperson said:

[ad_2]

Source link

June 6, 2024
Touch Controls on Stoves Suck. Knobs Are Way Better

[ad_1]

Ya know what would fix this? What would make the problem go away and remove this needless barrier to entry for induction stoves with a twist of the wrist? Knobs.

Yes, the simple, old-fashioned knob. That thing you twist to turn on and adjust the temperature on a gas or electric burner. The thing that did not need reinventing. The thing that, without a doubt, works better than its modern, smooth-topped successor and would likely speed induction adoption. Those knobs. Let’s “regress” back to knobs.

This idea crystallized at a recent cooking class I took in Oaxaca City, Mexico, where the stove we used was a four-burner, smooth—and thus knobless—induction cooktop. Over the next few hours, people had all of the “hard to turn on, hard to adjust” problems. A couple of times, I overheard someone say, “Hey, why’d it go to zero?” Someone also burned their finger trying to turn it down because the heat had spread from the nearest burner to the touch pad. Later, a pan slid over the main power button, turning everything off and bringing cooking to a standstill, something nobody realized for five minutes. Yet the moment that took the cake was when someone approached the stove, looked down at the instrument panel, and asked “How do I do this?” This was not ineptitude on their part; the person asking had been cooking for their whole life. This would never happen with knobs.

“I don’t like this,” said fellow cooking class student Pablo Scasso from Montevideo, Uruguay. Scasso studied product design before becoming a software engineer, and the difficulty controlling the stove reminded him of the way many car manufacturers have migrated away from dashboard knobs and buttons to the detriment of the driving experience (and potentially safety).

As he said this, he mimed driving while adjusting a knob on the dashboard with his right hand, all while looking straight ahead.

“I want to keep my eyes on the road. If I need to change the air conditioning with a touchscreen, I have to look at it. With a knob, I know right where it is.”

This is not a nostalgic plea for the good old days. A knob is a direct, dedicated connection, an instant response to the twist of your wrist. It’s still the best technology out there. Once you’re used to using it, you can turn it on blindfolded. The touchscreen always needs you to look at it.

Remember those years when the MacBook keyboards sucked so bad that Taika Waititi took time to make fun of them on the same night he won an Oscar? And how, after being repeatedly called out by tech journalists—Casey Johnston in particular went at the issue hard in a series of stories—Apple relented and reverted to the old keyboard style? Going back to knobs could be like that.

Yet change will likely be slow to come.

While I’ve read a few reviews that imply these “fully digital” induction-stove controls are something to get accustomed to, after close to a decade of use on my stove and other peoples’ stoves, I am fully accustomed to them and they do not work as well as knobs.

Casey? Taika? Are you out there? Can you save us?

This inspired me to write a three-line poem:

Call it a dial, call it a knob,
your life would be better
with one on your hob.

Induction-burner manufacturers may be getting the hint. A handful of them, like Samsung and Fisher & Paykel, now incorporate burners with knobs in their lineups. Impulse Labs has a promising-looking model slated to come out in late 2024. Breville makes an incredible, expensive standalone burner with buttons and knobs that make it easy to control.

The lack of knobs on induction stoves around the world isn’t a problem in the grand scheme of things, though making them more common would make people’s lives easier and speed adoption. There are certainly bigger fish to fry, but it would be nicer and easier to fry them on a stove with knobs.

[ad_2]

Source link

May 31, 2024
6 Best Nanoleaf Smart Lights (2024): Shapes, 4D Kit, and Installation Tips

[ad_1]

Here are some tips and tricks we’ve learned from testing Nanoleaf products over the years,

Prepare before you install. Decide and map out what you want to do in advance. Nanoleaf’s lights attach to the wall with adhesive, so it’s possible to remove them without taking the paint off, but it’s easier to have your design already planned and set. Be sure to use a level to make sure they’re straight, since the geometric shapes will make it obvious if they aren’t.

Plan for power. Don’t just plan your design, but make sure your panels will end close enough to an outlet. You can also try to design your lights to hide the power cord behind something, like a nearby bookshelf or plant.

Scheduling ability might vary. If you’re using the Essentials bulbs, you can only set up schedules with Apple HomeKit or Google Assistant.

You’ll need the Alexa Skill. If you’re an Alexa user, some smart devices can easily connect with your Alexa speakers, but you’ll need to add the Nanoleaf Skill to start using your Nanoleaf lights. (Even after adding it, I found it didn’t work 100 percent of the time.)

Be careful where you click in the app. In the app, your Nanoleaf products will be listed by room, and they pop up as little squares with an icon and the name of the product. You need to click on the written name to go into the device and peruse the colors, scenes, and other options (like 4D if you’re using the 4D Kit) for the specific product. If you click anywhere else on the product’s box, you’ll just turn the device on and off over and over.

Find more color options. The app includes a variety of scenes you can use, but you can click on the Discover tab—a cloud and downward arrow symbol—to find more lighting designs and download them onto your app.

[ad_2]

Source link

May 16, 2024
Neakasa M1 Self-Cleaning Litter Box Review: Automated No-Scoop Cleaning

[ad_1]

The biggest selling point to an automatic litter box is its ability to separate clumps and therefore contain odors until you’re ready to empty it. All of the ones I tried did this remarkably well, so much so that when you open the waste drawer, you are hit with a wall of intense stench. Neakasa created a unique drawer to help this a bit, as long as you use drawstring bags. When you put a new bag in, gently pull one end of the drawstring through a hook near the front of the drawer. When it’s time to empty, open it just slightly to reveal that hook and pull the string to tighten the bag before opening the drawer all the way. It doesn’t contain every bit of odor, but it reduces it a ton. One thing I could do without is the shrill beep the machine lets out when you open it.

This bag system is inventive, but it does present one issue. Your cat’s bathroom habits need to be monitored (more on that below), but actually seeing the pee and poo is helpful too. If there’s an issue you need to know: Is it runny, is there blood, are urine clumps too small? The Cat Daddy himself, Jackson Galaxy, explains that this is one reason he does not recommend automatic boxes. It’s something to keep in mind. A few seconds of odor isn’t that bad if it means your cat gets help if necessary.

Photograph: Medea Giordano

App Connection

In my reviews, I’ve stressed the importance of keeping an eye on your cat’s litter habits, because it gives you extremely important insight into their health. Cats are unfortunately prone to bladder blockages that can be fatal, which is why automatic litter boxes have not been recommended by experts in the past. Now, all the trusted brands connect their boxes to apps, which include a list view of visits and weights so you know who went when and can quickly notice if someone’s habits are off—I like the Petivity that sits under any standard box, because not only does it monitor when cats go, but it tells you if they went number one or number two.

Neakasa’s app is easy to use, but it needs work. You set up profiles for each cat with their weight, so it can automatically add their names to the records. Sometimes it knew who went and other times it didn’t, even when it was the same cat as the last time. When that happens, it reverts the weight to kilograms instead of my selected pounds.

The weight changes slightly often, too, even when the box is correctly calibrated. According to this, my cat Eely-Rue goes from 4.40 pounds to 4.84 to 5.06 in the same day and then weighs 3.74 the next morning. She’s particularly small and light, so that could be presenting an issue, but my other two cats simply didn’t use this one enough for me to track if it was happening with them too. Yep, even if you spend several hundred dollars on a box, you should still have another, basic box somewhere else—at least until you know your cat actually wants to use a fancy one.

[ad_2]

Source link

May 14, 2024
The Dyson WashG1 Is an All-in-One Wet Floor Cleaner That Doesn’t Use Suction

[ad_1]

There’s also only one roller head on the Submarine, but it already has a debris tray you can no-touch rinse and empty. It’s also easy to take apart the Submarine head to rinse it and let it air dry at my laundry room sink. After six months of use, the roller head still doesn’t smell. If you’re wondering why Dyson is releasing a new wet floor cleaner when the Submarine just came out, you’re not the only one. The WashG1 doesn’t clean with suction and doesn’t have a separate dustbin.

In a briefing, a reporter asked whether one can use the WashG1 to handle common household messes, like broken glass. Dyson representatives suggested first sweeping or vacuuming the shards separately—a two-step process that seems to defeat the purpose of an all-in-one floor cleaner. This holds especially true in a market crowded with competitors like the much more affordable Bissell CrossWave OmniForce ($380) I’m currently testing.

Dyson’s killer app, so to speak, has long been its ability to move air in new, beautiful, and sometimes frighteningly forceful ways, whether that’s in a high-end air purifier, in a vacuum, or a hair styler that spins the strands of your hair up and around a hot barrel for effortless curls. However, despite reporting consistent revenue increases, the company has had a few pretty notable flops in the past few years.

The Zone, Dyson’s venture into high-end audio, was kind of silly. There is still no sign of the new battery technology that prompted the construction of a new facility in Singapore. The company must still be searching for new robotics and software developers to hire because our reviewer found the new Vis Nav robot vacuum’s ability to make its way around table legs lackluster.

Still, with a few notable exceptions, we have all underestimated the allure and the efficacy of Dyson’s premium designs at one time or another, and home cleaning is one of Dyson’s core strengths. Am I a little skeptical? Yes. Am I still going to test it eagerly? Also, yes.

[ad_2]

Source link

May 14, 2024