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Top 10 Hacks for Automating Your Life

January 22nd, 2013 David No comments

xlarge Top 10 Hacks for Automating Your Life

What if you were a wizard that could bend the entire world to your will? chores would do themselves, bills would pay on time, and your appliances would obey your every thought. Well, you can’t do that exactly, but with a bit of ingenuity, you can automate a lot of your life so you don’t have to trudge through the boring stuff. Here are ten things you can automate right now.

10. Maintain Your computer Without the Work

No one likes to sit around and clean up their computer, but it’s something that has to get done. We’ve talked about what kind of maintenance you need to do on your Windows PC and Mac, and much of that you can automate—like running CCleaner on a schedule. You should also set up an automated backup program, so you never lose your data. Set it up once, and forget it.

9. Make Your Bills Pay Themselves

Paying bills and managing your budget sucks. Luckily, we live in an age where computers can do a lot of the work for us. Have your bills automatically pay themselves online, and set up an automatic budget that’s easy to stick to with Mint. check out our guide to automating your finances for more ideas, and be sure to check out when you shouldn’t automate your finances, too.

8. Create a Diet Without Thinking

Whether you’re trying to lose weight or just take the stress out of planning and cooking, you can automate what you eat with a number of tools. Gather all your recipes up in one place and plan your weekly meals ahead of time for stress-free Shopping and cooking. If you need to pay closer attention to your diet (like if you’re trying to lose weight), try a service like Eat This Much or Swole.me, which will plan your diet for you based on your goals. That way, you can keep an eye on what you eat and stay on track with minimal effort.

7. organize Important Documents and Files

We’ve all got stacks of papers lying around, not to mention a hard drive full of unorganized files. Luckily, you can automate just about anything with those files using a few tools. First, if you’re having trouble organizing that paper, go paperless so you can organize it digitally—it won’t take you much time. Ditch hard drive clutter by organizing your Home folder automatically. For everything else, you can use Actions on Windows or Automator on the Mac—they’ll let you automatically rename a bunch of files, crop a large number of images, or even extract text from a bunch of PDF files. Anything you can imagine, you can probably do—heck, I even put together a service that syncs iTunes with nearly any device.

6. Do Away with Shopping and Get Automatic Discounts

Whether you’re grocery shopping or trekking yourself to Home Depot, you can make shopping a lot easier by…well, not doing it. For example, Amazon Subscribe & Save will automatically send you everything you need on a schedule, and at a nice discount—heck, you can even use it to automate office lunches. Don’t like grocery shopping? Get what you can delivered, and plan your way through the store for the few things you can’t. While you’re at it, be sure to automate all your coupons so you don’t have to search for discounts—you’ll just get them automatically.

5. Make Your phone Read Your Mind

Smartphones can be useful, but sometimes it feels like it takes forever to perform the simplest of tasks. With a few tools, you can essentially make your phone read your mind, performing tasks in response to related actions. For example, you could tell your phone to automatically dim your screen at night, or go into silent mode when you put it face down. Android users should check out Tasker, while iPhone users will need to jailbreak and try out some of these tools to make it happen.

4. Integrate Your Favorite Apps and web Services

You probably have a few apps and tools that you absolutely couldn’t live without—like Dropbox, Gmail, a to-do list, or something else. That’s great, but you can make those services even better by automating tasks—and even making them talk to each other—with If This Then That, also known as IFTTT. Make job searches easier, save articles for later, fix Instagram pictures on Twitter, add to-dos with Siri, make app deals last forever, archive your life, get digital doubles of your photos, and much much more. There’s barely a limit to what it can do.

3. download Anything Without Even Searching for It

medium Top 10 Hacks for Automating Your LifeThe days of combing the net for good downloads is over. With a small collection of programs, you can have your computer automatically search for, download, and organize nearly any type of file in existence. You can even tell it the quality of videos you want to download, the file format of the music you want, or what program you want to use to download it. It takes a little work to set up, but you’ll never have to search for a file on the web again.

2. Put Your Chores on autopilot

Doing chores is boring, so why waste time doing them when you can put them on autopilot? You can’t make your broom come alive and clean the room for you (unless you’re Merlin), but you can create a schedule that breaks everything up into almost unnoticeable chunks. Do your cleaning in regular short bursts, speed up your laundry, and even maintain your home without batting an eyelash. It isn’t true automation, but it’ll sure feel like it when you have all that extra time in your day.photo by Maarten Takens.

1. Automate Everything In Your Home

Ever wish you could change the thermostat without getting up, or unlock your door without fumbling with your keys? Home automation can make it happen. We’ve shared tons of tricks over the years, from transforming your digs into a home of the future, controlling everything with Siri, turning stuff off with your phone, or even watering the plants and feeding the cat. Check out all our posts on home automation for even more ideas—the sky’s the limit!{Source lifehacker top 10}

Take iOS Gaming To The Next Level With iCade Mobile

September 6th, 2012 David No comments

BY TOMMY LY

 Take iOS Gaming To The Next Level With iCade Mobile

We caught our first glimpse of the iCade mobile at this year’s CES, and nowit’s finally here.

Like its big brother, the iCade, iCade Mobile aims to enhance your iOS Gaming sessions by providing you with a four-way directional pad, four front-facing buttons, and four shoulder buttons to play your games with. that sounds much better than obscuring your view with on-screen controls, doesn’t it?

After popping your iPhone or iPod touch into the cradle, the iCade Mobile uses Bluetooth to pair to your iDevice. After that, you’re good to go.

More features of the iCade Mobile include:

  • Fun and fast mobile gaming for your iPhone or iPod Touch
  • Adds physical buttons and d-pad to make your gaming experience better
  • Rotating cradle allows for landscape and portrait viewing
  • Connects using wireless Bluetooth technology (set up once and you’re good to go!)
  • Works with over 100 games and apps (search “iCade” in the app store)
  • Ergonomic design lets you play for hours in comfort
  • True control with eight action buttons and two-axis directional pad
  • Compatibility: iPod Touch (3rd & 4th Gen), iPhone 3/3G/3GS/4/4S
  • iPod Touch Insert included
  • Batteries: 2 x AA (included)
eeb9 icade mobile vert 300x198 Take iOS Gaming To The Next Level With iCade MobileiCade Mobile 

Not every game in the App Store supports the iCade, but there are over 100 games that do and we’ve picked out the best ones.

The iCade Mobile will set you back $69.99, plus the cost of the games you intend to play with it.

Would you spend this much on an iPhone gaming accessory? Perhaps it’s time for Apple to make that iController already …

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Lifehacker Faceoff: The Best Web Browsers for iPhone and iPad

August 29th, 2012 David No comments

<strong>the best web Browsers for iPhone and iPad

With the arrival of Chrome on iPhone and iPad, the browser wars for iOS have become a little more interesting. Here’s a rundown of our favorites.

Before we get into the best features of each browser, we have to address the factor of speed. mobile Safari will almost always be faster than Other browsers because it uses a special Javascript engine called Nitro (you find a full explanation of it over on Daring Fireball). Other apps, browsers included, are not allowed to use this built-in function. Therefore, by most accounts, Safari will always be faster, so we’re not going to take that into consideration here.

Speed isn’t everything, and the other top browsers bring more than enough to the table to make them relevant. We took a look Safari, Chrome, Dolphin, and Atomic Browser.

Safari

medium Lifehacker Faceoff: The Best Web Browsers for iPhone and iPad

Safari is your default browser and it’s easily the most used browser on the iPhone. Safari is the easiest to use and since it’s built into every function of iOS, it’s also the most convenient.

The Good: easy to Use, Ready Out of the box, Speedy

Safari’s strengths are pretty obvious. It’s your default browser, so it’s integrated well into every other app straight out of the box. As we mentioned above, it’s also probably the fastest of all your options.

If you’re a Safari desktop user you can sync bookmarks between the devices (and across your iPhone and iPad). It doesn’t transfer your history or anything else, but it keeps everything in line on all of your devices.

Safari is also integrated into everything you do. If you want to open a link in an email, on Twitter, or anywhere else, the default place for that to happen is Safari. As a functioning web browser, Safari does just fine even though it doesn’t have a lot of special features.

The Bad: It’s a Little Boring and Doesn’t Have a Lot of Options

Safari is fine for most things and you won’t find anything terribly wrong with it. That said, the syncing features are a moot point since Safari isn’t that popular of a browser on desktop. It also has a lot of limitations on the amount of tabs you can use, and the fact it forces you into the mobile version of websites is a bit annoying.

More than anything, it’s just a simple, somewhat boring browser. It doesn’t have many features for power users and you can’t add any functionality or change how it works. It also stuffs a lot of it’s most useful features, like Private Browsing, cache clearing, and password info, all the way back in the Settings app instead of inside Safari. This means you have to make a few extra and unnecessary steps just to change up simple settings. For most people, this is fine, but if you’re looking for a bit more from your web browser, Safari is a bit bland.

Who It’s Good For: Most Everyone Who Doesn’t Want to Play Around with Settings

If you’re a Safari user on desktop than Mobile Safari is great because of the bookmark syncing. It’s also the easiest and most accessible one to use. If you open up a lot of links in other apps, or you just don’t want to futz around with settings, Safari is the go-to browser.

Chrome

medium Lifehacker Faceoff: The Best Web Browsers for iPhone and iPad

Chrome is the newest player on the field, but the fact the desktop version is the number one browser means the iOS versions have a leg up on the competition. I’ve been using the mobile version of Chrome since it was released and have been mostly happy with the results.

The Good: Syncing, Incognito Mode, Speed Dial, and More

Chrome on iOS isn’t as fast as Safari, but it’s not slow by any means. That said, the best feature of mobile Chrome it is the fact it syncs across all your computers. Bookmarks, open tabs, and recently opened tabs on your computer can all be pulled up on the mobile version in an instant. You also get an Incognito mode for browsing privately, and an unlimited amount of tabs.

Chrome has a few subtle, but handy features as well. You get a speed dial page when you create a new tab, and you can open up the desktop version of any mobile site by selecting “Request Desktop Site” from the options menu. You even get some simple gesture browsing with the ability to swipe to the right to change out tabs. If you’d like to use it as to open URLs without jailbreaking, you can do so with a simple bookmarklet.

The Bad: Interface Takes Some Getting Used To, Crashes

The iPhone version of Chrome is smooth and responsive, but it takes a little while to get used to how the tabs and everything else works. Once you do it works like a charm, but unlike Safari you might not be able to hand it to a friend with the expectation they’ll know how to use it. It also has some issues with crashing when you load up more complicated sites. This only happened to me with the iPad version with consistency, but it was still annoying.

Chrome has its share of annoyances as well. For instance, the swipe gesture to change tabs (pull to the right) is easy to trigger on accident. The tabs work great on iPad, but they’re easy to lose track on the iPhone’s smaller screen and the card-stack layout of the tabsis a bit tricky to get the hang of.

Who It’s Good For: Desktop Chrome Browser Users

If you use Chrome as your primary desktop browser and you’re synced up with your Google account, then Chrome for iOS is a fantastic option. It’s fast enough, has lots of great features (seriously, the Desktop View is fantastic), and syncs everything across all of your devices immediately.

Dolphin

medium Lifehacker Faceoff: The Best Web Browsers for iPhone and iPadAs the name suggests, Dolphin is the most playful of the bunch. Its core principle is gesture based control and it offers a very different way to browse the web. It’s our pick for the best web browser on Android, and the iPhone version is just as strong.

The Good: Sidebars, fun Browsing Experience, Webzine Feature

Dolphin is easily the odd-man-out amongst browsers and it’s the only one trying to do something new. For the most part, this comes in the form of using gestures to quickly load up web pages (draw a “T” to go to Twitter, for instance), and browse the app. While that’s Dolphin’s main selling point, it still has a lot of other great features.

One of the the best is the webzine format that works similar to Flipboard and makes browsing your favorite sites a little more fun. It also has a great sidebar function where you can quickly glance at your bookmarks and history without fumbling around.

The Bad: No add-ons, a Little Confusing At first

One of the great things about the Android version of Dolphin is the add-ons. These mini-extensions can do the same sorts of things you do with extensions on your desktop, but on your mobile browser. The iPhone version doesn’t get these.

Dolphin is also a different looking browser that takes a little getting used to. Hand your phone over to a friend and they’ll probably be a bit confused if you give them Dolphin instead of Safari. Still, it doesn’t take long to get the hang of it and once you do it’s a fun way to browse the web.

Who It’s Good For: Anyone Looking for a Different Way to Browse

Dolphin has a lot of fun features and the gestures make it an enjoyable browser to use for pretty much anybody. That said, it doesn’t have a lot of really powerful features or options. It can do a lot of the things the other browsers can, and it’s certainly the most original on this list. If you want a new way to browse the web and interact with your web browser, Dolphin is for you.

Atomic Web Browser

medium Lifehacker Faceoff: The Best Web Browsers for iPhone and iPad

Atomic Web Browser has been our pick for the best web browser on iPhone for a while. It’s easily the most feature-rich browser on the iPhone, although it doesn’t come with a lot of design flare.

The Good: Tons of Options, Settings, Browsing Modes

Atomic has a ton of options and settings that we’re not going to list off here. Our favorites include ad block, Dropbox support, and the ability to download files. You can customize Atomic in a lot of ways as well. You can set up themes, turn features on or off, and even configure your own gestures.

It’s also a less weighty browser that doesn’t keep junk around you don’t want. You can automatically delete cookies, clear history, and clear out autofill directly from the app itself. Basically, you can make Atomic into your favorite browser if you’re willing to play around with the settings a bit.

The Bad: It’s a Little Ugly

We didn’t have a lot of complaints when we picked Atomic for our favorite iPhone browser and we still don’t now. It certainly isn’t the prettiest to look at of all the options, but the interface is functional and works well. It’s a little overwhelming to use at first because of all the various settings, but once you get used to Atomic it’s a terrific browser. You can grab a free version, but the full-featured Atomic Browser is $1, making it the only browser on this list you have to pay for.

Who It’s Good For: Power Users Who Like Options

Atomic is all about options. You can easily change nearly any setting, drop into private browsing, run in full screen, and even block ads. If you don’t care about syncing to your desktop browser, Atomic is a good bet.


One last thing we should note is if you’re jailbroken, you can set any of the above browsers as your default browser with the Browser Changer tweak available in the ModMyI repository. Once you set it up, every link you open from any app will be your browser of choice.

We couldn’t cover every single browser on the iPhone, so if you have an opinion about one we didn’t cover, tell us what you love (and hate) about it.

Contact Thorin Klosowski: 

 

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Tom Tom Powering Apple’s New Map App

July 24th, 2012 David No comments

BY BRYAN M. WOLFE on Tue June 12th, 2012 iOS 6maps app tomtom

maps 642x363 Tom Tom Powering Apples New Map App

Apple’s new Maps app in iOS 6 is powered by TomTom, according to a brief message left on the company’s website and first reported by Pocket Lint.

They explain:

TomTom has signed a global agreement with Apple® for maps and related information. No further details of the agreement will be provided.

As announced during yesterday’s WWDC keynote, Apple is ditching Google and will release a new Maps app with their next mobile OS. One of the main components of the new app is turn-by-turn capabilities.

Based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, TomTom is one of the leading providers of GPS navigation systems and apps. There is no word on whether the company’s line of iOS apps will be affected by their agreement with Apple.

are you excited about iOS 6.0? Which features are you looking forward to the most?

Source: TomTom
Via: Pocket Lint
Photo: Apple

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Bills, Bills, Bills … Bills For iPad, iPhone and Mac Get Major Updates

July 18th, 2012 David No comments

from app Advice by Aldrin Calimlim

Bills for iPad 642x468 Bills, Bills, Bills … Bills For iPad, iPhone and Mac Get Major Updates

Included in our “iPad Apps to Manage your Finances” AppGuide, bills for iPad is an app that makes use of familiar office-based visual cues to provide an elegant financial management solution. It uses a projector screen fitted with a month-view calendar and a flip board to show relevant dates and their corresponding bill transactions, respectively. Tappable drawers serve as filters, while office folders open auxiliary sections. Clearly, the app is invested in visuals. It’s only fitting, then, that it should have Retina display support. Fortunately, an update that was “billed” to the app just hours ago gave Bills for iPad just that, and then some. What’s more, Bills for iPhone, the app’s iPhone counterpart, got updated as well.

Bills for iPad and Bills for iPhone now have Retina support (About time!), but only partly (Eh?). Bills developer iBear says that some icons are not yet up to par, and that it plans to come out with an update containing Retina-quality icons just as soon as its house designer puts the finishing touches to them.

Also a long-overdue feature that has finally made its way to both versions of Bills is support for notification badges. With this new feature enabled, the number of overdue bills are displayed in real time over the app icon of either version. Especially if Bills is part of your iPhone or iPad’s main home screen, you never have to suffer the consequences of an unsettled bill.

Bills For iPhone Notification Badge Bills, Bills, Bills … Bills For iPad, iPhone and Mac Get Major UpdatesSupport for notification badges is just one of the update’s improvements.

The usual performance improvements and big fixes are also included in the update. In addition, there’s a new feedback and support section where you can suggest a new app feature, vote on others’ suggestions, or simply express what’s on your mind as regards the app.

Bills for iPad and Bills for iPhone are available in the App Store for $1.99 and $0.99, respectively. A significantly redesigned Mac version predictably called Bills for Mac is also available in the Mac App Store for $9.99. Bills, bills, bills …

 Bills, Bills, Bills … Bills For iPad, iPhone and Mac Get Major Updates

 

Top 10 Essential Tools for Your Wallet, Keychain, or Pocket

July 3rd, 2012 David No comments

You want to be organized and prepared when you’re walking around, but you don’t want to lug around 10 pounds of gear and ruin your back with a mega-wallet. These essential carry-around Tools are discrete, super-handy, and oh so brag-worthy.

photo by joelogon.

We’ve previously covered the gear our editors and readers find handy to carry in their “Go bags” and laptop bags, and some of those tools (like a certain USB key) cross into the pocket-worthy realm. Otherwise, we tried to stick to very small tools and printables that do a really good job for this roundup.

10. Foldable Organizer

medium d09061e2fa7040637d986e463eda66d0 Top 10 Essential Tools for Your Wallet, Keychain, or PocketThe PocketMod webapp is more than a simple printout maker. It’s an expandable, customizable system for creating an 8-page, super-slim booklet with anything you want on any side. You can track your business mileage on one side while keeping your calendar and important contacts on another, or print out an entirely new pocket stuffed with travel maps and local attractions. Cool stuff, and definitely worth the wallet space. (Original post).

9. compact keychain

small c1b2a98ce836fb98dd9699b7cec72004 Top 10 Essential Tools for Your Wallet, Keychain, or PocketIf you’ve only got a few keys, and an eye for something different, you don’t have to go with the typical ring-shaped chain. You really only need washers and a rivet to create a minimalist, quiet keychain. You can take it further by shaping those keys into a mini-Leatherman with a few tools kept in, attaching the rivets onto a money clip, orcrafting your own compact key device. (Original posts:compact keychainmini-Leatherman)

8. Universal club card

medium 83f96418c82fa7b48e4d3398d7b99fa4 Top 10 Essential Tools for Your Wallet, Keychain, or PocketSome stores require them, some stores provide discounts with them, and others offer passive rewards and points for using club/membership cards and bar codes. Combine all of your codes onto a single card with Just One Club Card, or choose between a card and keyring tab at KeyRingThing. Actually, the two sites seem to have gotten together, and now offer combination cards with a nice laminate finish and firm back, so you won’t have to worry about wear, tear, and faint barcodes. We love it when great webapps find each Other. (Original post: Just One Club CardKeyRingThing)

7. Indestructible, keychain-friendly USB drive

 

Maybe you don’t need this exact model, but having a nearly-indestructible USB drive that fits on your keychain is convenient in ways you can’t quite fathom until you’ve added it. You’re almost never without a bit of storage for transferring or grabbing files. If you’re the PortableApps type, you’ve always got a working Firefox/Pidgin/Thunderbird setup handy for being productive on someone else’s system. At the moment, the 4 GB IamaKey sells for $22 directly, so it—or something like it—might make a great recommendation as a last-minute stocking stuffer. (Original post)
 

6. Compact calendar

medium a147ae1d26136e642d3dea045690979f Top 10 Essential Tools for Your Wallet, Keychain, or PocketDesigner David Seah has been making “candy bar calendars” for some time now, and his 2010 compact calendar is just as beautifully efficient as ever. His are monthly calendars you line up and customize in Excel. If you’re looking for more of an all-in-one solution, try The Small Calendar 2010from Grafish Designs, or the Thumb Calendar 2010 Design, both of which offer clever ways of peeking at today, tomorrow, and the future from a wallet-sized slip of paper. (Original posts: The Small Calendar,Thumb Calendar).

5. A baby (or really cute pet) photo

medium c7878bb762ccf1e7ccf84fcf1153f2d5 Top 10 Essential Tools for Your Wallet, Keychain, or PocketWallets get lost, left behind, and lifted more often than you’d like to think. If your wallet is more misplaced than stolen, having a very cute baby photo in your wallet, even if it’s not necessarily yours, seems to seriouslyboost your chances of getting it back. A not-too-close backup is having a cute pet picture. As they say in journalism school, every story (and wallet, maybe) needs a dog—or at least a really interesting humanPhoto by °Eli.(Original post).

4. earbud de-tangler

medium f7f3744ed03c9f057e376ed061a7d88c Top 10 Essential Tools for Your Wallet, Keychain, or PocketEver pull out your tangled, knotted headphones and wonder if they’re secretly holding gymnastics practice when they’re tucked away? Keep your earbuds, cords, and plugs in place with a de-tangling tool. Our inner stylist loves this laser-cut earbud owland its old-time-y wooden look, but you can also cut something similar from plastic. In fact, you can fashion an earbud holder out of a junk or expired credit card. If you’ve got no room for a single-purpose flat piece, at least train yourself in manual de-tangling methods like the devil horn wrap, thearound-the-player wrap, or get fancy with a daisy chain or chain sinnet style. (Original earbud owl post)

3. A darned good pen

medium e5944effbd3badc8634723de9bbd59bf Top 10 Essential Tools for Your Wallet, Keychain, or PocketYeah, you still need to write now and again. Whether it’s a credit card receipt scrawl or a note you really want to be able to read later, having a pen that actually makes you want to write is always worth the price. We asked our script-friendly readers what pens they liked, and they came back with impressive results. In describing his trusted PenAgain, for example, Cowboy Bill wrote: “Helps my horrible handwriting. Busted knuckles from nuns’ rulers.” That’s an endorsement from the heart, or at least the memory of hands.

2. Multi-tool, credit-card or standard

medium a38254b2c3b1a438635418c8bf0a9700 Top 10 Essential Tools for Your Wallet, Keychain, or PocketWe agree with Steve Sussex’s assessment of the Leatherman Micra—it’s just as useful to computer geeks as to outdoor types. If carrying an actual knife on your keychain won’t fly with security at work, or you don’t want to clutter it, consider the 11-function, credit-card-sized survival tool, alsorecommended by Cool Tools. You get a ruler, a knife and screwdriver plane that can work in a pinch, and, perhaps most helpfully, a bottle opener you never forget at home. Even if you forget to pull it from your wallet before a flight, it’s only around $5, and a fairly clever conversation starter. (Original posts: Leatherman Micracredit card tool).

1. A backup system

 

The wallet is where you should keep all your essential IDs and cards, but it’s good to have a fallback plan for when you leave it at home, or in the cab. Inspired by a Real Simple article (now dead-linked) on using clear pockets and cords to separate ID badges, Gina wrote up a diet plan and backup system for your wallet, based on her own use of a Slimmy minimalist wallet and just the bare essentials. If you find yourself holding up the line to dig through a virtual filing cabinet of receipts and cards, consider putting your own money holder through boot camp.
 


What’s the most essential item on your own keychain, in your wallet, or loose in your jacket pocket these days? Share your stuff in the comments.

 

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Bluetooth 4.0

June 18th, 2012 Dan No comments

By Mike Elgan

wireless technologies have been transforming domestic life since the availability of home radios in the 1920s. Since then every new kind of wireless technology and every new application has brought more transformative changes to the home. 

Television, for example, used to receive its signal wirelessly, which enabled its fast adoption in the 1950s. As the use of cable TV spread, transforming a wireless signal into a nonwireless one, wireless remote controls added another convenience.

Cordless phones changed when and where you could make and receive calls. Wireless garage door openers and other special-purpose wireless devices subtly improved people’s lives in small ways. You probably have a Wi-Fi network in your home, which you use to connect computers, laptops, phones and possibly your TV to the Internet.

You probably also use another wireless technology called Bluetooth. If you have a wireless headset with your cell phone, or a wireless keyboard or mouse with your computer, you’re using Bluetooth.

Both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are geeky technologies working invisibly and behind the scenes to subtly and profoundly change homes all over the world. They’ve eliminated cables, reducing clutter. And they’ve freed you to place consumer electronics devices anywhere.

Now a brand-new technology is about to really change things again.

table>
why the new, improved Bluetooth will change your house. The fourth generation of Bluetooth technology is revolutionary. It’s not just a little better than the Bluetooth you’re currently using. It’s massively better. 

Today most chatter about Bluetooth 4.0 is about advanced gadgets, such as the highly anticipated Pebble E-Paper Watch (shown). The device will use Bluetooth 4.0 to let you control your phone, as well as household appliances and media devices like your TV, from your wrist.

Bluetooth 4.0 is also called Bluetooth Smart Ready, and one of the best things about it is that it uses much less power.

If you use a wireless mouse or keyboard, you know that the batteries have to be changed or recharged every few weeks or, at most, every few months. Bluetooth 4.0 would enable them to never have to do anything with the batteries. These devices would be charged when you open the box and remain charged for more years than you would want to use them.

This is great news, and not just for lazy wireless keyboard users. I’ll tell you why in a minute.

Where Bluetooth 4.0 comes from. Bluetooth 4.0 isn’t something you buy at the store. At some point, one by one, a gazillion gadgets will add or upgrade to the new technology. The most aggressive company to build Bluetooth 4.0 into its products is Apple. This is surprising, because Apple often lags behind other companies in the introduction of new standards and new technologies. 

The iPhone 4S was the first phone ever to support Bluetooth 4.0. The current iPad (shown in use above) is the first tablet to support it. In fact, every major Apple product, including desktops and laptops, shipped in the past year comes with Bluetooth 4.0 support.

By the end of the year, we can expect every major Bluetooth device, from phones to tablets to peripheral devices, to support the new Bluetooth 4.0 standard.

And that’s just the beginning.

What happens when everything is connected. The reason Bluetooth 4.0 will completely change everything in the home is that it will accomplish the following feats: 

1. It will replace proprietary technologies. A wide range of household gadgets, from TV remote controls to room temperature thermostats to doorbells, use nonstandard tech to communicate wirelessly. New capabilities in Bluetooth 4.0 will mean all these gadgets can just use the new standard. When that happens, you’ll be able to easily connect to, monitor and control things with your phone and tablet. Current tablet products, such as Control4’s 7-Inch Portable Touch Screen (shown) use Wi-Fi or proprietary wireless technologies. Because of those technologies, the use of tablets for controlling things is rare. Bluetooth will make home tablet remote controls and control panels commonplace.

2. It will enable more things to be wireless. Bluetooth 4.0 will make it cheap and easy for companies to add wireless connectivity to random things: lamps, washing machines, refrigerators, coffee makers, air conditioners, ovens and much more. You’ll be able to control and monitor things from your phone or over the Internet that you previously had to control by touching the object.

3. It will let you automate things. Once an appliance or piece of functional furniture can be controlled through Bluetooth 4.0, it can be easily automated. You just need the software to control it. Your smart phone and tablet are based on an “app” economy, so you can expect literally thousands of home-control apps to come on the market over the next few years.

4. It will help appliances talk to one another. With all your stuff connected via Bluetooth 4.0, the appliances in your house can talk to other appliances without your involvement. The thermostat can turn on the air conditioner. An incoming phone call can pause your TV show. The alarm clock by your bed can turn on the coffee machine. The cell phone in your pocket can turn on the lights in and around your house as you pull into the driveway.

Futurists have been making bold predictions about the coming age of the “smart home” for decades. All these visions involve wireless technology for connecting devices to the Internet, to user control devices and to each other.

Bluetooth 4.0 is that technology. And now it’s here.

 

via Manage lights, refrigerators and more through your phone or tablet when the latest wireless technology rolls into all your home devices.

Galileo a new way to see

May 14th, 2012 David No comments

the Galileo is a revolutionary, iOS-controlled robotic iPhone platform with infinite spherical rotation capability. Just swipe your finger on the screen of your iPad or other iOS device and Galileo reacts, orienting your iPhone or iPod Touch accordingly.  With applications in areas of photography, cinematography, social networking, and video conferencing, Galileo gives iOS devices endless possibilities of remote-controlled motion. Capable of infinite 360° pan-and-tilt at speeds up to 200° per second in any orientation, Galileo is an invaluable tool to everyone from an amateur photographer to the professional cinematographer, and vastly improves the experience of video chat for anyone needing to stay connected.

3imagessmallerregulartext Galileo a new way to see

How Will You Use Galileo?

To bring distant experiences closer than ever before?  To capture an exquisite sunset panorama?  To film silky smooth gimbal shots with unparalleled power and ease?  Galileo gives you the ability to do things you never thought possible.

GalileoTrio 1 Galileo a new way to see
  • Video calls and conferencing – stay connected as you follow the action
  • Baby monitoring – see what you want to see, not just what the babysitter shows you
  • Remote learning – follow professors around the classroom; see who is asking questions
  • time-lapse photographycreate dynamic time-lapse videos that encompass movement along with passage of time
  • Cinematography – Shoot interesting transition shots, panning down, panning across and up, etc.  Mount the Galileo on rails and create a mini-rig for your iPhone camera!
  • Real estate photographybuild 360° spherical virtual home tours with ease

Below is a short time-lapse demo video to give you a sense of what’s possible with Galileo. The clips within this video were shot on a prototype Galileo with an iPhone4.

Galileo Features

2phonesbabyandlanscape Galileo a new way to see
  • Infinite 360° panning and tilting rotation. 200° per second pan-and-tilt speeds.
  • Remotely controlled from your iPad, iPhone, or web browser. Swipe your finger across the screen or move your mouse to control the movement of the Galileo and your device.
  • SDK (software developers kit) for app development. Freedom to integrate Galileo functionality into existing apps or to create entirely new apps built around the movement capabilities of Galileo.  Or build software to integrate the Galileo with other hardware (e.g. camera rails).
  • Outfitted with a standard tripod screw, the Galileo can be mounted on any tripod.
  • Fabulous charging station for your iPhone or iPod. Charges your device while plugged in (USB cable included).
  • Rechargeable Lithium polymer battery lets you use your Galileo anywhere.
phoneasdock Galileo a new way to see

The Galileo charges your device while plugged in

 Galileo a new way to see

Specifications

  • Works with: iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and iPod Touch 4th Generation
  • Controlled by: iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPad 2, iPad 3, iPod Touch 4th Generation, and web browser
  • Colors: black, white, limited edition Kickstarter Green
  • Weight: 7oz
  • Size: 2 x 3.25” closed, 3.5 x 4.3” open
  • Tripod Mount: Universal 1/4” thread; compatible with all standard tripods
colors Galileo a new way to see

Available in black, white, and limited edition Kickstarter Green

Join the Galileo Community!

What excites us the most about Galileo are the uses that we haven’t thought of yet. With our Galileo SDK, app developers have the freedom to integrate Galileo functionality into their existing apps as well as create entirely new apps around the unbounded movement of Galileo, expanding the possibilities for automated tracking and photographic and cinematographic applications.

So what will you do with Galileo?

 MG 5724 2 Galileo a new way to see

Freedom to develop apps or integrate into other hardware with our SDK

Apple looks to Chomp to improve App Store discovery

March 4th, 2012 David No comments

Apple looks to Chomp to improve app store discovery

By 
 Apple looks to Chomp to improve App Store discovery  With more than 550,000 Apps, finding the right app in Apple’s App Store can be a challenge for some. Though the App Store is still ahead of rival Android Market in discovery features, Apple clearly sees a need to ramp up and improve the way it helps consumers pick through its growing collection of apps. that’s what’s behind the acquisition Thursday of Chomp, an app discovery engine that helps users search for apps on iPhone, iPad and Android devices.

The acquisition, first reported by TechCrunch and confirmed by Apple, gives Apple a pretty robust tool to improve its App Store. Chomp lets users find apps by searching without knowing the name of a particular app. Users can search by what an app does and then find relevant results, which start appearing right as a user begins typing. Chomp looks at all the data associated with an app to bring up results and also gathers information from blogs, social networking sites and other app stores to find what’s trending. The company also launched “Chomp Search Ads” last fall, a sort of AdWords program allowing developers to bid on certain keywords in app searches.

Verizon actually rebuilt its VCast App Store in September using Chomp to power discovery, even though it only had a few thousand apps in its store. It showed that even a big company like Verizon saw value in applying more smarts to app discovery, something the Android Market has been criticized for not improving upon. Chomp will reportedly continue to power VCast App Store for now, but that arrangement will eventually end as it gets integrated into the App Store experience, TechCrunch said.

 Apple looks to Chomp to improve App Store discovery

The price of the deal was not announced thoughBloomberg said it was worth $50 million. This is Apple’s second acquisition this year following its purchase of Anobit, an Israeli company that makes digital signal processing Tech to improve the performance of NAND flash. It’s unclear if Apple under Tim Cook is going to be more acquisitive but Apple historically has not been a big buyer of companies like Google, Oracle and others. But with about $100 billion in cash and investments, it makes sense to look at absorbing more companies, as long as it can find a team that fits with its culture.

The purchase of Chomp, which has raised about $2.5 million, comes as Apple is closing in on 25 billion app downloads. It continues to be well ahead of Android Market but Google’s app store has been working to close the distance in the number of apps and downloads. I think this shows that Apple knows that it needs to continue to provide the best app store experience, which has been pretty good but needs to get better.

Even though it’s the only place to buy iOS apps, there are other services like AppsFire, Zwapp, Quixey and others that are showing how to make app discovery even smarter. The App Store is a big advantage for Apple and one that helps it compete well with Android and keep consumers and developers dedicated to iOS. If it can improve upon how many apps users download and discover, it can mean more utility for consumers and a bigger payout to developers, who have already gotten $4 billion in payouts from the App Store.

 

Seagate’s GoFlex Satellite portable hard drive streams content over WiFi (review)

February 13th, 2012 David No comments
seagate goflex satellite lead Seagates GoFlex Satellite portable hard drive streams content over WiFi (review)

Seagate just took the wraps off what’s likely the niftiest portable HDD to cross our path in a long, long while. The GoFlex Satellite is part storage device, part wireless media streamer, and it manages to wear both hats with little compromise on either end. For all intents and purposes, this is a standard 500GB GoFlex HDD with a bit of extra girth, an AC input, an 802.11b/g/n WiFi module and a built-in web server. The reason for those extras? A simple depression of the on / off button starts the streamer up, and it’s ready for a connection in around 30 to 40 seconds. Once fired up you can stream data to just about anything — even iOS devices. that’s an impressive feat, not quite a “first” moment as Seagate would like you to believe (we’ll give that crown to AirStash), but still a rarity.

Our unit shipped with a GoFlex USB 3.0 adapter and a car charger, with the latter enabling users to entertain their children on long road trips — a nice addition, we have to say. Installation is a cinch; just fire up a media sync application that resides on the drive (for OS X users, anyway), and you’re ready to drag and drop files as if it’s any ‘ole HDD. No media management software or anything of the sort, thankfully. The purpose of having your media onboard is to stream videos, photos, documents and music to your iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, or any other tablet, phone or laptop with WiFi. You heard right — while there’s only a dedicated app for the iOS family, any WiFi-enabled device with a web browser can tap into this. Care to hear our take on this $200 do-it-all hard drive? Have a look at our review video just after the break.

The drive itself — while patently gigantic compared to the GoFlex Slim — is still highly portable, and it’s way easier to lug around than any other media streamer we’ve seen. It’s also just $199.99, which tends to be the going rate for higher-end streamers with half a terabyte of storage baked in. Only this one, of course, packs a built-in battery and could easily slide into your front rear pocket. We were immediately struck by just how easy file transfer were — we anticipated having to deal with yet another piece of kludgy software in order to get our tunes and videos over to the HDD, but it truly acts like a standard hard drive. Just drag files over and organize however you want, and the app / web server sorts it accordingly.

The iOS app (there’s an iPad version and a separate iPhone / iPod touch version) is relatively spartan, but certainly gets the job done. There’s a handful of categories and view options, but the Folder View seemed to be the most sophisticated. That’s the only one that actually gave us a view to our music in actual folders, so you’ll likely end up spending the most of your sorting time there. We’re thrilled to report that the app is both quick and accurate, and during our testing we had no issues getting it to pull content; better still, it’ll stream to three different devices at once. Unfortunately, the Photos pane doesn’t support scrolling through images, but we’re hoping that Seagate throws that in on a future build.

Naturally, things work best on an iOS device, but any tablet / handheld / computer with a WiFi module and a web browser can theoretically take advantage. We connected through the mobile Safari browser as well as the browser on our Nexus One (Android 2.3), and while the former gave nearly the same experience as the app (albeit with slightly longer loading times), the latter had one particular pain point. Viewing photos and listening to music on Android’s browser was a cinch, but viewing videos… no so much. Our phone kept trying to download entire videos rather than streaming them, so we’d caution non-iOS users to expect some limitations if you buy in.

Is the GoFlex Satellite worth its weight in gold? Depends. If you’re an avid iOS user, you need some extra storage space anyway, and you’d rather house all of your media on a 500GB external drive than on the device itself, Seagate’s latest concoction is a total must-have. It works well, and the built-in battery is capable of streaming for four to five hours on a charge. It’s hardly the most robust media streamer on the market, but it’s also one-of-a-kind. For those who tend to roll with other operating systems, we’d probably hold out until the company (hopefully!) adds dedicated Android / Windows Phone 7 / etc. apps — and who knows, by that time you may be getting a 1TB model for the same scratch.

pixel Seagates GoFlex Satellite portable hard drive streams content over WiFi (review)
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