Home Technology – Page 2

App, Crazy Stuff, Home Technology, mobile apps, Science & Technology News

You can light this candle with your phone, and it’s officially the future

February 27, 2020

Apparently, smartphones really do have everything we need, from cameras to calculators to flashlights to even… matchsticks?

You read that right. But instead of shooting flames out of a port, your phone can now create fire by activating a Bluetooth-enabled scented candle called Candle Touch, currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter. Said to be the world’s first smart-connected real-flame candle, the device has an electronic base that connects to a scented coconut-wax candle body. At a press of a button using the accompanying iOS/Android app, the base sends a current up a wire, which ignites the cotton wick like magic.

You’ll never have to risk getting burned ever again. Plus, you’ll have a neat party trick to show to all your friends.

Continue reading… “You can light this candle with your phone, and it’s officially the future”

Clothing, Great New Product, Green Friendly, Home Technology, Science & Technology News

Unique ultrasonic cleaner cleans more efficiently than a washing machine

February 6, 2020

A unique ultrasonic cleaner has been created which is more efficient than a washing machine and takes the form of the Sonic Soak. The compact ultrasonic cleaner has been specifically created to offer users with the “ultimate portable cleaner” says its creators, providing state-of-the-art powerful ultrasonic cleaning technology in the palm of your hand.

Continue reading… “Unique ultrasonic cleaner cleans more efficiently than a washing machine”

Great New Product, Home Technology, Housing, Science & Technology News

The Cube One Prefab is a space-age dream – and it starts at $30k

January 10, 2020

With dazzling lighting, a curvilinear design, and a fortified shell, the Cube One is a prefab for the future.

Want a peek at the future of prefab design? Meet the Cube One—a 156-square-foot dwelling with built-in furnishings, voice-controlled tech, and a galvanized steel shell that can withstand extreme heat and natural disasters. Singapore-based Nestron will ship the Cube One anywhere in the world, and it’ll be ready for move-in the day it arrives.

Continue reading… “The Cube One Prefab is a space-age dream – and it starts at $30k”

Great New Product, Green Friendly, Home Technology, Science & Technology News

New, slippery toilet coating provides cleaner flushing, saves water

November 25, 2019

Penn State researchers have developed a method that dramatically reduces the amount of water needed to flush a conventional toilet, which usually requires 6 liters. Credit: Wong Laboratory for Nature Inspired Engineering, Penn State

Every day, more than 141 billion liters of water are used solely to flush toilets. With millions of global citizens experiencing water scarcity, what if that amount could be reduced by 50%?

The possibility may exist through research conducted at Penn State, released today (Nov. 18) in Nature Sustainability.

“Our team has developed a robust bio-inspired, liquid, sludge- and bacteria-repellent coating that can essentially make a toilet self-cleaning,” said Tak-Sing Wong, Wormley Early Career Professor of Engineering and associate professor of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering.

In the Wong Laboratory for Nature Inspired Engineering, housed within the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Materials Research Institute, researchers have developed a method that dramatically reduces the amount of water needed to flush a conventional toilet, which usually requires 6 liters.

Continue reading… “New, slippery toilet coating provides cleaner flushing, saves water”

Amazon.com, Apple, Computer Security, Google, Home Technology, Science & Technology News

Researchers used a laser to hack Alexa and other voice assistants

November 13, 2019

San Francisco (CNN Business)Usually you have to talk to voice assistants to get them to do what you want. But a group of researchers determined they can also command them by shining a laser at smart speakers and other gadgets that house virtual helpers such as Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri and Google’s Assistant.

Researchers at the University of Michigan and Japan’s University of Electro-Communications figured out they could do this silently and from hundreds of feet away, as long as they had a line of sight to the smart gadget. The finding could enable anyone (with motivation and a few hundred dollars’ worth of electronics) to attack a smart speaker from outside your house, making it do anything from playing music to opening a smart garage door to buying you stuff on Amazon.

Continue reading… “Researchers used a laser to hack Alexa and other voice assistants”

Home Technology, Law Enforcement, Science & Technology News, security

Amazon’s Ring wanted to use 911 calls to activate its video doorbells

September 28, 2019

Ring wanted 911 calls to activate its doorbells.

The company worked with police and cities to build in this real-time feature, emails showed.

Ring considered building a tool that would use calls to the 911 emergency number to automatically activate the video cameras on its smart doorbells, according to emails obtained by CNET. The Amazon-owned company isn’t currently working on the project, but it told a California police department in August 2018 that the function could be introduced in the “not-so-distant future.”

In the emails, Ring described a system in which a 911 call would trigger the cameras on Ring doorbells near the site of the call. The cameras would start recording and streaming video that police could then use to investigate an incident. Owners of the Ring devices would have to opt in to the system, the emails said.

“Currently, our cameras record based on motion alerts,” Steve Sebestyen, vice president of business development for Ring, said in an email that CNET obtained through a public records request. “However, we are working with interested agencies and cities to expand the device owners controls to allow for situations where a CFS [call-for-service] event triggers recording within the proximity of an event.”

It’s unclear how long Ring had contemplated this idea and how many cities it proposed this plan to, but the project is no longer being pursued.

Continue reading… “Amazon’s Ring wanted to use 911 calls to activate its video doorbells”

Energy, Home Technology, Science & Technology News, Solar Energy, Solar Power

Home energy storage capacity breaks records in U.S.

September 28, 2019

Additions of new residential energy storage capacity in the United States reached a record high in the second quarter of the year, exceeding 30 MW, a new report by Wood Mackenzie says. The market for energy storage in the country is growing fast, the authors note, driven by customer interest and government incentives.

In May this year, IHS Markit forecast grid-connected energy storage capacity would jump twofold by the end of 2019, from 376 MW last to 712 MW. There may be a good chance of such an increase taking place: total new storage additions during the first half of the year were over 200 MW, with 148.8 MW deployed during the first quarter and 79.5 MW deployed during the second quarter.

According to Wood Mac, the reason for the slowdown in total storage capacity additions was due to a sizeable fall in front-of-the-meter storage additions. These, however, would pick up in the second half of the year, the consultancy said, with the pipeline for new FTM storage projects soaring 66 percent from a year earlier.

Continue reading… “Home energy storage capacity breaks records in U.S.”

3D Printer, Home Technology, Housing, Science & Technology News

3D printer builds 500-square-foot home in under 12 hours

August 9, 2019

S-Squared 3D Printer’s Autonomous Robotic Construction System, (ARCS)

ARCS is a patent pending technology that allows multiple machines to work together to create a home with little or no human assistance. Delays in building projects are a thing of the past now that building a 3D printed home is possible in hours — not days or months. The 3D building process ushers in a new level of affordability for homeowners and businesses like never before. In addition, this new technology can reduce construction costs by as much as 70%.

Continue reading… “3D printer builds 500-square-foot home in under 12 hours”

Architecture, Great New Product, Home Technology, Science & Technology News

This self-sustaining plant ecosystem helps you light up your home

July 21, 2019

You love plants, plants love light, you love light, you’ll both love the Mygdal plantlight! It’s a revolutionary lighting solution not just because the luminaire is a completely self-sustaining ecosystem where the plants can grow-undisturbed, but also because of its one-of-a-kind electrically conductive glass coating. It actually streams the electricity invisibly along the surface, so there’s no need for a cable connection between the power source and the LED. Bring even windowless spaces to life with a plantlight!

Continue reading… “This self-sustaining plant ecosystem helps you light up your home”

Great New Product, Green Friendly, Home Technology, Science & Technology News

This countertop machine lets you mix your own shampoo and cleaning products at home

May 22, 2019

It’s like a Soda Stream for personal care products.

It looks a little like a SodaStream, but a new appliance is designed to make your shampoo or laundry detergent, not drinks. Instead of buying products in new plastic bottles with every purchase, the system uses small pouches and reusable bottles.

“We wanted to harness the power of reuse and local production across virtually all products in the home and body care categories,” says Nick Gunia, cofounder and CEO of Cleanyst. The system, which launched on Kickstarter today, comes with the countertop appliance, reusable bottles, and pouches of plant-based concentrate for 10 different products, from dish soap and fabric softener to body wash and conditioner.

Continue reading… “This countertop machine lets you mix your own shampoo and cleaning products at home”

3D Printer, Breakthrough Thinking, Home Technology, Housing, Science & Technology News

Watch a 3D printed neighborhood spring up from nothing

May 14, 2019

We’ve already seen a 3D printer construct a house. Now we can watch one build a whole neighborhood.

On Thursday, housing nonprofit New Story shared a video that shows how it plans to build what it calls the “world’s first 3D-printed community” — a futuristic application of 3D-printing technology that could bring affordable housing to the places that need it most.

Continue reading… “Watch a 3D printed neighborhood spring up from nothing”

Cooking, Great New Product, Home Technology, Science & Technology News

Thermomix introduces a small appliance that can do it all

March 21, 2019

Remember those commercials for kitchen appliances that can do it all? “It slices, it dices, makes julienne fries!” Well, here’s an appliance that actually does do just about everything you could ask for when you’re in the kitchen. The Thermomix TM6, the latest smart appliance from Vorwerk, is here to save you counter space and help you get dinner on the table faster.

If there’s a task you need to do for meal preparation, odds are you can count on the Termomix TM6 to take care of it. It’s built with a stainless-steel bowl, a state-of-the-art blade, a precision heating element, and an embedded scale. Taken together, those features give the appliance the ability to perform 20 different functions and techniques without requiring you to jump from one appliance to another, cluttering the counter as you go. Whisking, caramelizing, browning, chopping, steaming, sautéing, blending, boiling, kneading, emulsifying—you name it and the Thermomix can probably do it.

Continue reading… “Thermomix introduces a small appliance that can do it all”