This smart thermometer keeps baby healthy - CNET

The Kinsa Ear Thermometer helps track your child's health without sacrificing convenience.

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Be Afraid, Very Afraid of the Internet of Things

What hackers can do to your computer, they can do to any connected device. They can kill your lighting system by turning it on and off 10 times per second, unlock and start your car, access your baby monitor, even tamper with the drug-infusion pump next to your hospital bed. But it would take some pretty slick moves for a hacker to find these devices on the Internet, right?

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Bang & Olufsen BeoLab 90 Intelligent Wireless

On the Webpage dedicated to its most ambitious speaker system ever, Bang & Olufsen delivers the perfect, if not poetic setup:

It will not be for everybody. But it will be for the right somebody. Three years in the making, BeoLab 90 is the culmination of the wildest dreams of our acoustics department: creating the future of sound.

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How to defend your home from bugs this summer - CNET

Easy, earth-friendly alternatives to bug sprays.

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Take Amazon Alexa for a test drive in your browser - CNET

If you're unsure how an Amazon Alexa speaker might fit into your life, you can now try it out for free using Amazon's new site Echosim.io.

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5 Ways an Automation System can Enhance the Appearance of your Home

There’s a real art that goes into designing and installing an automation system into a home. Sure, all those electrical circuits and processing power are important to the overall functionality of the technology—it’s what enables a system to keep the lights, thermostats, A/V equipment, and more running like a well-oiled machine. But there’s also something beautiful about bringing order to your house. When things work well, operate flawlessly, and are well integrated, your house exudes a certain elegance that makes everything about it look better. The architecture, the furnishing, the artwork, even the technologies themselves are able to reveal their true beauty. Here’s how:

1. Curb Appeal: You’ve spent a lot of time and money on the landscaping. Show it off by automating the exterior lights. It helps to hire a lighting professional to show you how to position and angle the fixtures to accentuate the limbs of trees, the stonework, shrubs, and flowers, but once the lights are installed, an automation system can ensure that they turn on every day promptly at dusk. Sure, a regular old timer can do this, but an automation system can also turn the lights on and off in a predetermined sequence, illuminate different areas of the yard depending on the time of year, and brighten and dim to certain intensity levels for special occasions (soft to welcome guest to a dinner party; bright for a festive birthday party, for example).

2. Artistic Rendering: If you own even a few pieces of art, you can use an automation system to showcase your collection. Lighting, of course, can be programmed to activate at just the right intensity levels at the touch of a button on your smartphone, tablet, remote, or keypad. Classical music can complement the effect.

3. True Colors: This isn’t exactly a function of an automation system, but those bulbs that brighten and dim automatically, can alter the colors of wall paint, furnishings, and other finishes—and in a bad way. Reds can look pink, greens can be mistaken for blue, and so on. You spent a lot of money on your furnishings, so color accuracy is important, and this boils down to the color rendering index (CRI) of the light bulb. Color rendering describes how a light source make the color of an object appear to the human eye. Bulbs are rated from 1 to 100, the highest offering the most accurate rendering of colors. According to Topbulb, an online supplier of all types of light bulbs, light sources with a CRI of 85 to 90 are considered good at color rendering.

4. Curtain Calls: Windows have become an increasingly popular architectural feature, with homeowners using them not just to provide a view of the outdoors but to add visual interest to a space. By attaching blinds, shades, curtain, and draperies (important for privacy and energy efficiency) to motorized tracks and rods, you’ll be able to admire your home’s windows easily at the touch of a button. Or, when linked to a home automation system, the window treatments can open and close automatically based on conditions like the time of day, the season, the position of the sun and other variables.

5. Less Wall Acne: Anything electronic device, component, or system that’s placed under the command of a home automation system can be controlled from a mobile app. For homeowners who feel comfortable with this approach, it eliminates the need to populate beautifully textured walls with switches, keypads, and control panels.

The post 5 Ways an Automation System can Enhance the Appearance of your Home appeared first on EH Network.

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7 Simple and Affordable Smart Home Additions

Just because your house is already built doesn’t mean its not a candidate for some great electronic systems. Wireless options are widely available in just about every category of smart home products, and most are simple enough for handy homeowners to install themselves. Plus, they are affordable. Here are a few ideas you can incorporate today.

There’s an app for that
Nearly every smart home device and system available today can be controlled from a mobile app. You probably already own a smartphone or a tablet, so save yourself the expensive of an expensive touchpanel or keypad for control by using the free app that most manufacturers offer with their systems.

Buy new bulbs
Sorry incandescent light bulbs, but your just plain dumb. A new generation of LED light bulbs are not only more energy efficient; many of them are built with technology that allows them to be controlled from yes … you guessed it … a smartphone app. Start your bulb rehab with one room. It shouldn’t cost more than $50 to do, and no more than a few minutes of your time.

Situate some sensors
You walk into the closet: the lights turn on. A guest leaves the powder room: the fan turns off. Hallway lights brighten as the kids approach for a midnight sprint to and from their bedrooms and the bathroom. A motion sensor can automate the lights in any area of your house whenever the notice that someone has walked into its detection zone. They are easy to install and most cost no more than $50

Detectors do damage control
One of the most damaging things that can happen to your home is flooding. Be it from a leaky pipe under the sink or a malfunctioning sump pump, water can wreak a huge amount of havoc on your homestead. Fortunately, there’s a simple, affordable way to minimize the damage. Smart battery operated water detectors sell for around $50-$70, and can ping your smartphone immediately, giving you time to react to and hopefully fix the problem before things turn ugly.

Survey the property
A favorite smart home feature among many people is the ability to see what’s happening at home while away. There are scads of Internet-connected surveillance cameras that support this capability, and most are designed to be installed by do-it-yourselfers. They deliver remarkable peace of mind, whether you want to check up on the kids when they’re home alone, see how much snow is on the driveway while you’re on a tropical vacation, or monitor the well-being of an elderly parent. You can find IP surveillance cameras for less than $100.

Under electronic lock and key
A nice complement to a surveillance camera is an electronic door lock. It retrofits onto an existing door, and like an IP camera, lets you monitor and control if from anywhere via a smartphone app. Most let you use the app to set up unique entry codes for a number of different people, review a log of who has entered and exited the house, and receive notifications whenever the door is unlocked. One of these handy door locks will set you back about $200 and a 30-minute’s worth of installation time.

Shady characters
Those shades you bought for the living room windows are have an IQ of a rock … and they always seem to be up when they should be down or vice versa. For less than $150 (check out rollertrol.com), you can rig the roller tube with a motor that can be controlled to raise and lower the shades on command from a handheld remote. It’ll take some a little tinkering to get the job done, so if your free time is limited, you can always spend an extra hundred dollars or so for a turnkey roller system with the motor preinstalled, like the Sivoia QS Wireless system from Lutron.

The post 7 Simple and Affordable Smart Home Additions appeared first on EH Network.

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Philips Hue White Light Ambiance Sets the Mood

We know that color can impact, mood, but as Philips proves with its connected Hue white ambiance light bulb, shades of shades of white light to support your day to day routines. It can gradually brighten to help you wake up more naturally, and gently dim to help you drift to sleep more peacefully. From cool daylight (6500k) to warm white (2200k), you can feel more energized during the day and more relaxed in the evening with easy access to the light recipes via the new Philips Hue app on your smart device or the Philips Hue dimmer switch included the starter kit.

“We know how important white light is in the home; it is similar to natural day light and can help us to focus, feel more alert as well as wind down at night” says Sridhar Kumaraswamy, business leader, Connected Home Systems at Philips Lighting. “With Philips Hue white ambiance, we are delivering a high quality connected light bulb that delivers the full spectrum of white light at the swipe of a finger, allowing consumers to fully benefit from the impact that white light can have on their wellbeing when at home.”

The bulb’s ‘Routines’ feature in the new Philips Hue app imitates the rise of the sun, the ‘Wake up’ routine gently increases in brightness to naturally wake you up in the morning on time. Replicating the sun setting, the ‘Go to sleep’ routine gradually dims the bulb until it is off, preparing your body for restful slumber. For those with young children who have to get up in the middle of the night, ‘Nightlight’ is a new light recipe that delivers a low level of light whilst also minimizing exposure to blue light, lessening the disturbance to your sleep cycle.

Through the new Philips Hue app, all Philips Hue dimmer switches connected to the bridge will now be able to recall scenes via the ‘ON/ I’ button. Simply press the ‘ON/ I’ button repeatedly to switch between the different light recipes designed to help you throughout the day to work, read, feel energized, relax or unwind at night. You can also reassign the selected scenes with up to five of your favorites through the new Philips Hue app. Simple go to ‘Settings’ in the new Philips Hue app, select ‘Switch setup’ and then choose your favorite scenes to work with the Philips Hue dimmer switch.

With Philips Hue white ambiance, you can also create striking and beautiful white light effects that impact the look of your home. If you have an open plan living and kitchen space, use these connected lights to subtly divide the space – opt for a crisp white light effect in the kitchen area and a warm white light in the living room area. Change the ambience of a hallway from practical when returning home to welcoming when guests arrive instantly through a subtly change in the shade of white light.

With more ways to control Philips Hue in the home than ever before, Philips Hue white ambiance starter kit comes with two Philips Hue white ambiance bulbs (800 lumens at 4000k), a bridge that supports Apple HomeKit, and a Philips Hue dimmer switch. This means that you can control all your Philips Hue lights via the Philips Hue app on your smart device, or by using Siri from your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Apple Watch. Anyone else, including children, can use the portable Philips Hue dimmer switch to turn your lights on, off, dim and access the light recipes or up to five of your favorite scenes.
The Philips Hue white ambiance starter kit sells for $129.95. A single Philips white ambiance bulb costs $29.95.

The post Philips Hue White Light Ambiance Sets the Mood appeared first on EH Network.

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Nest Inspires the Design of New Smart Water Heater Control System

Controlling and maintaining the home’s water heater just got infinitely easier, more convenient and smarter with the launch of the Aquanta Water Heater Controller, a first-of-its-kind system that enables remote and convenient control of a water heater via a smartphone or web-enabled device. As the Nest thermostat does for HVAC systems, Aquanta gives users a much more efficient, versatile way to use (or turn off and NOT use) their water heater, the 2nd largest consumer of home energy, while also saving money on their household energy bills.

“Until now, water heaters, despite their ubiquity and role as hub of the home’s plumbing network, have largely been stuck in the basement and excluded from the smart home trend. Aquanta is about to change all of that,” says Matt Carlson, CEO of Aquanta Inc.

From the smartphone app, a user can monitor and change the settings of the water heater, schedule on and off times, and receive maintenance alerts, including leak detection. These features are all very convenient, but what makes Aquanta truly smart it is its ability to learn a household’s hot water usage behavior.

Here’s how it works: The Aquanta controller installs onto a home’s existing water heater. Its enabling technology is its proprietary “Enthalpy Sensor,” which can accurately measure both energy going into a water heater as well the energy being used. Aquanta software uses this sensor data to “learn” and control the water heating according to a homeowner’s usage patterns.

Aquanta is designed for either easy professional installation or for self-installation by DIYers with basic plumbing skills. The device is compatible with nearly all electric water heaters and gas models that have electronic ignition controls (see Aquanta website for more details).

Aquanta is available for pre-purchase for $149 on its website. The first 1,000 pre-purchase customers will receive a free leak detection sensor ($25 value). Aquanta is projected to ship beginning in late July 2016.

The post Nest Inspires the Design of New Smart Water Heater Control System appeared first on EH Network.

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Whirlpool Vessi Beer Fermenter Release Date, Price and Specs - CNET

The appliance manufacturer wants to make it easier to brew your own beer at home.

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May 2016 Top Picks at a Glance

As we usher in June and count the days to summer, let’s pause a moment to take in May—a standout month for Top Pick posts. From a state-of-the-art amplifier/digital audio converter (DAC) to a new sonically transformative flagship AV receiver to the world’s first Ultra HD Blu-ray player, the pinnacle of home theater beckons. Read on and let us know if you’re adding any of these beauties to your collection.

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Review: Yuneec Typhoon H

How do you beat DJI at the quadcopter game? You build a hexacopter. The post Review: Yuneec Typhoon H appeared first on WIRED.

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Can I Route 4K Movies Through My Soundbar?

Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q I have a Vizio M70-C3 UHD TV, a Roku 4 streaming media device, and a Sony HT-XT1 Sound Base. My question is, can the Sony’s HDMI passthrough route 4K movies from the Roku to the HDMI 2.0/HDCP 2.2 input on the Vizio TV? — Damon J. Jackson / via email

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Overwatch Review

Blizzard has finally released their long-awaited online first-person shooter, Overwatch. It looks like a highly-stylized cross between a FPS and a MOBA (think Dota 2 or Heroes of the Storm).

We’ve been teased with screenshots and videos for what seems like ages.

So it’s finally here. Is it worth the $40?

Well, it’s Blizzard, so…

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Siri, are you scanning me? Apple's answer to Echo could include camera - CNET

Face-tracking cameras may be the next evolution of the smart home assistant, but will consumers be creeped out? Sources tell CNET Apple is working on smart home speaker that could have a camera.

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Everest

Picture
3D-Ness
Sound
Extras

The opening titles of Everest promise that this movie is based on a true story, but then we are led through what appears to be a standard Hollywood man-versus-nature tale, complete with distinct one-note characters to root for. There’s the super-climber who built a business around adventure tourism, complete with a pregnant wife at home. A former protégé,

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Straight Outta Compton

Picture
Sound
Extras

This is the true story of the rise of N.W.A., a Compton, California rap group who changed the musical landscape in the late 1980s with their blend of dope beats and hard-hitting lyrics about life in South Central L.A. Collaboration between Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and Easy-E led to the hit release of Boyz in the Hood, which caught the ear of music manager Jerry Heller, who helped the group sign with Priority Records. Their first studio album, Straight Outta Compton, featured their controversial song “F*** the Police,” describing the reality of being a black man in L.A. in the 1980s.

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Meet the Z4 Aurora Smart Projector

Chinese startup XGIMI is planning to ship its Z4 Aurora Smart LED Projector in June, having successfully funded the project on Indiegogo. Overfunding is actually a more apt description since the company raised more than $300,000, or 600 percent of its goal.

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Streaming 4K Video: What You Need to Know

Your new 4K, Ultra High Definition (UHD) TV is finally home and now you’re ready to start enjoying 8 million pixels of next-gen, ultra-video awesomeness. But that screen isn’t gonna just fill itself with UHD. Doing so is going to take a bit of planning and logistics to ensure you wring every bit of performance you can from it. Should you buy one of the new UHD Blu-ray players? If you care first about image quality, you probably should. But what about Ultra HD streaming from Netflix, Amazon, Vudu, and others—should you write them off? Negative!

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Review: Iris Smart Home Watering System

Don't want to install an underground irrigation system that talks to your phone? Try these low-cost connected gadgets. The post Review: Iris Smart Home Watering System appeared first on WIRED.

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Fisher-Price Newborn Rock 'n Play Sleeper with SmartConnect review - CNET

Fisher-Price offers polished design and strategic smarts in this affordable and indispensable SmartConnect Sleeper.

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TiVo Bolt Unified Entertainment System Review

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value

PRICE $300 (500 GB), $400 (1 TB)

AT A GLANCE
Plus
One-touch leapfrogging of any size commercial block
Four tuners
Can play shows 30 percent faster
Mobile device transfer
Integrated search functions
4K UHD compatible
Minus
On-demand cable may not be available
No component video output
No clock on front panel

THE VERDICT
TiVo Bolt is an indispensable tool for TV-obsessed viewers who hate commercials and value the ease of managing all their cable, online, and local-network-stored entertainment from one smartly designed receiver/recorder.

With 412 scripted TV series originating on broadcast, cable, and online channels last year, viewers face the twin challenges of finding shows that appeal to them and having enough waking hours to watch them. TiVo’s new flagship digital video recorder, Bolt, purports to help solve both problems. An admitted TV addict, I bolted for a Bolt to see if it could rekindle the excitement I felt when TiVo debuted in 1999.

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How Streaming and Pay TV Will Offer TV Shows in the Future

Representatives from traditional pay TV and from Over the Top (“OTT”—online streaming) companies gathered at the 20th Annual CONNECTIONS conference in South San Francisco to discuss TV and video content delivery. In a series of keynotes and panels, the conversation was centered on the future of home entertainment.

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Philips to Launch 4K/HDR TVs with Google Cast

P&F USA, the exclusive North American licensee for Philips TVs and video products, today announced plans to launch a line of Philips 4K/Ultra HD (UHD) TVs featuring high dynamic range (HDR) capability and Google Cast.

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Flashback to a Galaxy Far, Far Away

The week of May 23rd is a landmark week in the annals of Star Wars history. Return of the Jedi hit theaters on May 25, 1983, six years to the day after the original Star Wars (later retitled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope) forever altered the course of space-themed Sci-Fi in 1977, not to mention special effects and movie sound.

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This smart baby sleeper makes parenting seem easy video - CNET

The Editor's Choice-winning Fisher's Price SmartConnect Sleeper boasts quiet brilliance.

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How Can I Record Digital TV Broadcasts?

Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q I need some help connecting my old equipment to my new equipment. I own the following: Denon AVR-S900W AV receiver, Panasonic TC-P60ST60 plasma TV, a Roku box, and an over-the-air antenna for receiving local HDTV channels.  Here’s my question: How can I connect my Panasonic DMR-EH75VS combination DVD recorder/VCR to the system and record programming as I did back when I had a satellite TV subscription? —Tim Raab

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