The Digital Media Zone

Entertainment 2.0 #414: The 2017 Guide Data Crisis

Josh Pollard — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 10:30:13 +0000

We’ve long said that Windows Media Center won’t be truly dead until the electronic program guide data dries up. While we don’t think it’s gone forever, the latest guide data issue is one of the longest lasting issues to ever impact the community. There is one small amount of good news for Media Center fans though. Also, the Xbox One is the only way to enjoy Atmos audio from Netflix. The ability to gift digital Xbox games is coming soon. The best version of Windows Phone comes to the end of official support, and PlayStation Vue gets a price increase.

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Entertainment 2.0 #413: Like Getting the PC for Free

Josh Pollard — Thu, 29 Jun 2017 10:30:44 +0000

While there still isn’t an official Spotify app for the Xbox, there is a nice third-party app called Spoticast. They’ve completed overhauled the interface specifically for the Xbox. Microsoft has cleared up some details around 4k assets for games once the Xbox One X launches. Will you be seeing larger game downloads this fall? Josh and Richard also have some more thoughts on the forthcoming console, and why you may want to consider getting one, even if you’re primarily a PC gamer. There were new Windows Insider builds released for both PC and mobile, and NBC is launching a streaming subscription service for English Premier League soccer that doesn’t require a cable TV subscription.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Tuesday evenings at 8:30pm ET!

Click here to download episode #413.

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Entertainment 2.0 #412: Those Are Some Cool Moms

Josh Pollard — Fri, 23 Jun 2017 10:30:40 +0000

Josh and Richard are back, and they may be suffering from an E3 hangover. Things got a little weird this week, but there was some good news to cover. Sling TV has received a much-needed update on Windows and Xbox. PlayOn Cloud has drastically reduced their rates. Mohu has a new antenna coming. Spotify is now in the Windows Store. Microsoft is bring more fun, and diversity, to Xbox avatars, and Forza Motorsport 7 will have support for OneDrive music.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Tuesday evenings at 8:30pm ET!

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Deep Discount on Surface 3 Dock

Richard Gunther — Thu, 22 Jun 2017 17:53:50 +0000

If you recently took advantage of Woot!’s Surface 3 tablet deal, you may be interested in Amazon’s current pricing on the Surface 3 Dock. As of this writing, the Surface 3 Dock (GJ3-00001) (not compatible with Surface Pro 3), originally released just under $200, is available on Amazon for $20. Twenty dollars! Many thanks to @bdogleague for bringing this to our attention on Twitter!

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Swedish Meatballs and Smart Lighting

Doug Krug — Mon, 19 Jun 2017 17:10:28 +0000

In the home automation market, many companies and startups are participating in a land rush to solve problems we didn’t know we had…in the end not even solving those problems. When home furnishing giant IKEA stepped into the ring, it didn’t come as a surprise that they would start with lighting—the safe place where a lot of companies dip their toe in the consumer smart home waters. IKEA has gained a tremendous amount experience with affordable LED lighting and tends to take a different approach to the “home for everyone.”

Trådfri (Swedish for wireless) is IKEA’s first smart home product that uses the ZigBee wireless standard for IoT devices. We first introduced Trådfri to our Home: On listeners in episode #87 of Home: On. Since then we’ve had a chance to set up the system and put it through some daily use to see how well it holds true to IKEA’s philosophy to “design things that improve life at home for everyone.” What we’ve experienced so far with Trådfri hasn’t blown us away as unique or revolutionary, but that’s not what the majority of consumers need. For the average, non-technical customer, IKEA has nicely simplified what is too often a frustrating introduction to smart home products.

Product Design

True to its affinity toward simple design, IKEA has produced a very sensible entry into home automation lighting that will surely appeal to the majority of consumers. Like so many IKEA products, Trådfri is one of those perplexing names most customers won’t be able to pronounce correctly, but the company formula proves that has no bearing on the desire to purchase.

The following products are currently available in the US and Canada:

Dimmable Trådfri Warm White 2700K bulbs, ranging from 400 to 1000 lumens in brightness.
Clear and translucent white Trådfri White Spectrum bulbs in a variety of bases and sizes. These feature an adjustable white light, offering 2200K warm yellow light to help you prepare for sleep, a 2700K setting for everyday lighting, and a cool white up to 4000K to help you wake up and stay focused.
A round, wireless, five-button remote for easy on/off, dimming, and toggling between three preset color temperatures IKEA calls Relax, Everyday and Focus on its White Spectrum bulbs. The remote can be hand-held or held in place magnetically with an included, mountable base.
The wireless dimmer, sold pre-paired with a dimmable bulb, is a magic little dial that uses an accelerometer to detect when you’re turning it to dim the lights or turn them off entirely. You can rotate it on the included mountable base that secures it magnetically, or you can take it off the base and rotate it on any surface or in mid-air.
The motion sensor, also sold in a pre-paired bulb kit, detects your motion with passive infrared to turn lights on for 1 minute, 5 minutes, or 10 minutes, based on a dial setting on the back of the sensor. A second dial lets you choose between turning lights on all the time or only when there isn’t adequate daylight.
Finally, the Trådfri Gateway lets you control lights on your local Wi-Fi network with your smartphone, to change the color temperature of Trådfri White Spectrum bulbs, or group multiple lights to dim them and turn them on or off. You can also link lights together with the Trådfri Remote, Dimmer or Motion Sensor. Rather than the typical square-shaped hub that has become a common site in connected lighting, IKEA has opted for a round hub reminiscent of the first generation Hue Bridge, but with a practical twist that values appearance as highly as function. Advances in miniaturization have allowed for a hub that occupies only half of the space behind the removable, circular cover. This clever design allows excess Ethernet and power wires to be neatly tucked away “inside” the hub.

You can check out IKEA’s full Trådfri lineup on the web.

Installation

Out of the box, the Trådfri family of products (with the exception of the Gateway kit) come already paired with the included light bulb, ready to use. Pairing is a process that connects the ZigBee-enabled control devices to ZigBee-enabled bulbs, allowing a specific device to control a specific bulb or group of bulbs.

If you opt to also get Trådfri Gateway (it’s not required to use the Trådfri bulbs), you’ll need to connect the hub to your home network with the included Ethernet cable, although a teardown by iFixit shows a not-yet-functional 2.4/5GHz Wi-Fi radio onboard. Power is provided by a standard 5 volt power adapter and USB-A to micro-USB cord you might find with any non-Apple smartphone.

Configuration

We caught up with Marketplace’s Molly Wood in episode #88 of Home: On, where we talked about the challenges the consumer smart home industry still faces and how, for the most part, it really hasn’t taken off the way people have expected. Molly summed it up well, saying “It’s still really hard.” Connecting things to a home router and figuring out network settings is not something most consumers are comfortable with. There are four ways to control Trådfri lighting, and IKEA has made it just about as easy as it can be today. Need to dim a light? Screw in the included Trådfri bulb and dim the light. Even the Trådfri Gateway, while slightly more involved, isn’t really all that complicated.

Pairing and configuring smart lighting may not be as straightforward as assembling a Billy bookshelf, but they do try to make it as easy as possible. IKEA guides your setup process with step-by-step, illustrated instructions in the Trådfri app, available for iOS and Android. The available remote, dimmer and motion sensor all wirelessly connect to both the gateway and bulb(s) via the ZigBee Light Link standard by holding a pairing button on the back of the respective device for 10 seconds. This simple pairing method ensures you’ll never have to get out a magnifying glass to read tiny serial numbers off the base of a bulb to set up Trådfri, and the bulbs can always be controlled with the remotes and motion sensor, even if the Gateway loses power or its connection to the internet.

While Trådfri pairing is simple, it does have its limitations. For example, one or more bulbs may be paired to a single device, and this grouping can be modified from the Trådfri app if you’re using the gateway, but multiple devices such as a dimmer and a motion sensor cannot currently be paired with a single bulb or set of bulbs. This is a notable shortcoming when compared with the Philips Hue Bridge and accessories that don’t have these restrictions and allow their capabilities to be further extended with Hue Labs and third-party apps.

Smart Home Integration

IKEA’s Trådfri products make it easy to add connected lighting to your home, and that’s a great thing for many consumers. But as far as using Trådfri as part of a larger smart home system…that’s a less appealing option right now.

With the Trådfri gateway and app, you can automate your Trådfri lights with three different timers:

turn lights on and off based on a time and day schedule to fool would be burglars
turn lights on or off for periods of time, based on a per day schedule
wake up by gradually by increasing your lights over a 30 minute period based on a time and day schedule

Currently Trådfri doesn’t let you control your lights from outside your home or adjust them to specific color temperatures. In fact, at present the gateway only uses its internet connection to retrieve firmware updates. In a recent press release, though, IKEA announced upcoming compatibility with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple Siri via HomeKit. This is great news since this should also allow remote access and future integrations with other third-party software such as IFTTT and Stringify. We’re glad to see IKEA adopting technologies early in Trådfi’s product evolution that can deliver that satisfying feeling of your home responding in various ways to voice first interfaces and your presence or absence.

If you’re looking for a more capable system head over to the SmartThings Community forum, where contributors have already built custom device handlers for several IKEA Trådfri bulbs. And if you’re interested in Trådfri but want to connect everything to everything, you should benefit from the Amazon Voice Service, Google Assistant, and HomeKit integration anticipated later this year. Meanwhile, this just barely fits into the IoT category given its limited use of internet connectivity.

By Comparison…

This wouldn’t be a proper review if we didn’t point out some of the differences when you compare with similar but more mature systems like Philips Hue.

White adjustment. Currently you cannot adjust the Trådfri White Spectrum bulbs beyond more than three defined steps from the remote or within the gateway. This is a choice they’ve made to keep things simple for consumers. There isn’t a technical limitation with the bulb, and as we mentioned before, contributors to the SmartThings community have already written custom device handlers, giving full range adjustment to Trådfri bulbs from within the SmartThings app.

Dimming. We tried pairing IKEA’s dimmer with Philips Hue White bulbs and found that it operates them smoother than the Trådfri bulbs themselves. That was a surprise that shows IKEA still has some work do if they’re to match bulbs in this price range. We also had occasional trouble connecting the pre-paired dimmer with the gateway, and although we found a fairly reliable solution to the issue, it’s not likely to go over well with a non-technical consumer that just wants it to work the first time, every time. We also noted a fairly quick battery drain from all the devices and went through five batteries in total during testing. We suspect the pairing process puts a significant drain on the batteries, but we have not had enough time with the system to know if this will be a factor that affects daily use.

Motion sensor. While you can add the motion sensor to the gateway, its adjustability is limited to simple switches on the back. You can’t fine-tune ambient light sensitivity, so you can’t decide exactly how dark a room should be before your entering triggers the lights. Most other smart home motion sensors not only give you fine adjustment of this setting from the app, they also have fine adjustment of the timing before lights turn off again. Not surprisingly, then, Trådfri doesn’t support any dim or flashing warning before the lights do go out, and you can’t specify different lighting levels in response to motion based on different times of day. This is a nice feature of some more advanced (and, notably, more mature) systems, including Philips hue, which supports one of our favorite uses cases—automatically adjusting lights to their lowest level in the middle of the night so you’re not blinded when entering a bathroom.

Interoperability. Since IKEA Trådfri bulbs operate using the ZigBee Light Link standard, they should be compatible with any hub that is also ZLL compliant. But they’re not fully compliant, and according to Philips, “…IKEA bulbs report their ProfileID as corresponding to the ZigBee Home Automation (ZHA) profile rather than the ZigBee Light Link (ZLL) profile. As the IKEA bulbs do not behave fully compliant with the ZLL standard, they are rejected by the Hue bridge. IKEA is aware of this and informed us their intent is to have the IKEA smart lighting bulbs to work with the Philips Hue bridge.”

In Summary

Whether you like the simplicity of IKEA’s approach or feel their efforts are too limiting, it’s been clear to us for quite some time that no retailer is better positioned at the moment to offer both the experience and the product together in one place like IKEA. We’re generally impressed with the current functionality of IKEA Trådfri products. We’ve found them very reliable and simple to set up and use. More advanced features, like controlling lights when you’re not home, may not be something the general consumer is looking for or needs. We think this system is going to satisfy a large number of buyers, and the planned updates later this year are sure to satisfy an even broader audience.

To learn more about Trådfri and IKEA’s entry into the smart home space, listen to our interview with Björn Block, the Global Leader for IKEA Home Smart, on episode #90 of Home: On.

Have you tried Trådfri or do you plan to? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

The post Swedish Meatballs and Smart Lighting appeared first on The Digital Media Zone.

Home: On #090 – Home Smart, with Björn Block

Richard Gunther — Mon, 19 Jun 2017 09:00:31 +0000

The digital home assistant space is heating up, IFTTT finally (sort of) adds more T’s, and Richard does his best to pronounce Trådfri, the new smart lighting collection that IKEA’s Björn Block joins us to discuss. Smart lighting is right in IKEA’s wheelhouse, but they’re just getting started.

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Entertainment 2.0 #411: Xbox One X: It’s Recursive!

Josh Pollard — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 10:30:23 +0000

The Electronic Entertainment Expo, or as it’s more commonly know, E3, dominated this week’s Microsoft entertainment technology news. E3 is the biggest video gaming trade show of the year, and Microsoft took to the stage to reveal all the unknown information about Project Scorpio, or as it’s known now: Xbox One X. There’s a lot to get into with the One X including its design, capabilities, and why you may, or may not, want to purchase one. There were also plenty of games to discuss. There were even some games Richard was interested in!

While this week’s show is almost entirely consumed by gaming news, there was a massive new Windows 10 Insider preview build released this week. The guys discuss some of the more interesting features, and Josh uses his mistake to reiterate an important concept for the rest of you!

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Entertainment 2.0 #410: The Discovery Hole

Josh Pollard — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 10:30:09 +0000

Plex, once again, tops the news this week. They’ve brought their DVR interface to a couple of their client applications. They’ve also included live TV support. SoundCloud has released a beta app for Windows 10 and the Xbox One. Microsoft will be all over E3 in the coming week, and we’ve got all the details for keeping up with the news. Seagate is releasing a new hard drive that perfectly goes along with Xbox Game Pass. Microsoft appears to be unifying the interfaces in Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile using ‘CShell’, but does it still matter? Tablo has released a new DVR, and this one eases the entry into the cord-cutting space.

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Staples Connect’s Final Gasps

Richard Gunther — Tue, 06 Jun 2017 17:37:33 +0000

Consumers who have stuck with the once-promising Staples Connect hub after Staples divorced itself from its former, ambitious project have been wondering how long their Staples Connect hubs might still keep operating. Well a recent offer from the hub’s steward, Z-Wave Products, may signal the day we all knew would eventually come.

Recall back to last year, when Staples handed over the Zonoff-powered hardware to Z-Wave Products. At the time, Staples assured consumers that Z-Wave Products would continue to market and sell the hardware ecosystem while Zonoff would provide continued support for the software and cloud platform upon which it depends (for some undefined amount of time). It appears that we can now better quantify that amount. The trouble is that Zonoff, for all intents and purposes, is gone. And while we’ve wondered what that meant for the Somfy, Staples, and ADT systems that relied on the platform, we haven’t really known how that would play out (aside from the anticipated legal sword rattling by ADT).

It’s Just Mostly Dead

Based on new communications from Z-Wave Products, we can likely gather that the end is near for the Staples Connect Hub. A recent email message to Staples Connect owners notes that with Zonoff’s closure, “technical support for the Staples Connect platform and correlating mobile app will no longer be available, and the future of the host servers is unknown.”

Staples Connect users looking for a replacement controller for their Z-Wave, Zigbee, and Lutron devices may want to consider the Wink Hub 2 as an alternative. Wink supports many of the same devices plus many others that Staples never evolved to include. Z-Wave Products is offering Staples Connect customers a $15 discount on the Wink Hub 2, which is nice but kind of useless since Amazon already sells the product for less.

To be clear, the Connect isn’t quite dead yet, but its days are numbered. Be ready for that first technical glitch that its supporting cloud platform just won’t recover from. The thing we’ll miss the most with Connect, despite all of its limitations and tortured UX, is a capability that no other device has yet provided—the ability to use Lutron’s inexpensive Pico Remotes to control any device in your home. But keep an eye out on this one: Wink offers similar capabilities for Lutron’s Connected Bulb Remote, and if what we learned at CES is true, they may be doing the same for Picos sometime soon.

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Entertainment 2.0 #409: Turn Off Your Mic!

Josh Pollard — Fri, 02 Jun 2017 10:30:45 +0000

This week had more news from the Microsoft entertainment technology space than one might expect for the end of May, and Josh and Richard are here to cover it all. Our favorite game streaming service, Beam, has been renamed. It’s now called Mixer, but there’s more to it than just a new name. PlayOn Cloud has received a couple of important updates. Microsoft has made the Xbox Game Pass official, and one blogger has some information that may point to Microsoft’s continued effort into mobile hardware.

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Watch Live TV on Plex

Josh Pollard — Thu, 01 Jun 2017 16:59:20 +0000

Plex offers one of the best solutions for cataloging and consuming your personal media collections, and we talk about it all the time. We’re big fans, and we’ve been using it for our movie libraries for years. Last year we were thrilled to see Plex release a DVR solution, but it had some key missing features. The biggest missing feature has been addressed today, and that is live TV support.

Today Plex has released a new version of their Plex Media Server, and some of their clients, to enable the capability to watch live TV through Plex. Previously with Plex DVR you could only schedule recordings, and then you could only view them once they had completely finished recording.

If you’re a seasoned Plex user you might be wondering how this all works. After all, previously you’ve only been able to manage DVR recordings and schedules via the Plex web app. Well, today Plex is releasing updated apps for Android TV and iOS devices. These new apps will allow you to fully manage the DVR. You can view the program guide, modify your recording schedule, and everything else that’s only been available through the web interface in the past.

We know that most of our audience is wondering about the Xbox One and Windows apps. They haven’t been updated yet, but Plex has assured us that they plan to release updates for those platforms too.

Plex also announced today that they are expanding their TV tuner support. No longer will you be required to have an HDHomeRun tuner. Some tuners from Hauppauge, AVerMedia, and others, have been added to the list. Even the TV tuner which was released specifically for the Xbox One is supported now. You will have to move that tuner over to the machine that is serving as your Plex Media Server though. For the complete list of supported devices please see this article.

There have been other improvements to Plex DVR. They’ve made the scheduler smarter, and they now will highlight programs that you’re more likely to enjoy based off of other things you’ve watched. Plex also handles overlapping recordings on a single channel now.

Plex Media Server continues to be a free product, but you need to be a Plex Pass subscriber to have access to the DVR and Live TV functionality. A subscription can be purchased for $4.99 per month, or $39.99 for a year of service. They also offer a lifetime option which is ordinarily $149.99. Right now you can grab the lifetime option for 20% off, at $119.99.

We’ll be digging deeper into Plex’s new features over the coming days, but we’d also like to hear how it’s working for you. What features are you still looking for? Sound off in the comments below.

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Xbox Game Pass Offers Unlimited Gaming Subscription

Josh Pollard — Thu, 25 May 2017 23:36:03 +0000

Microsoft has launched a new service that many are calling “The Netflix of Video Games.” That’s probably not the most accurate definition of the new service, called Xbox Game Pass, but it’s a good starting point. Xbox Game Pass is a simple subscription offering. You give Microsoft $9.99 every month, and as long as you do, you’ll have access to a library of over 100 games.

When you subscribe to Game Pass you immediately have access to download any of the games available in the library. That’s right, this isn’t a streaming solution. If you want a game, you download the whole thing to your console, just as if you were purchasing it from the store. You’ll be able to play it as long as you like, and as long as you continue to pay the monthly subscription fee.

Every month Microsoft will add more games to the Game Pass library. They haven’t given any indication as to how many new titles we should expect. They also haven’t said anything about the possibility of games being removed from the library. You have to assume that eventually games will be removed. If that’s a concern, or if there are just a couple of games you plan to play for the next few weeks, you can purchase games from the library at a 20% discount. That same discount also applies to any add-ons for those games.

Perhaps the most important aspect of a service like this is the quality of the library. Microsoft has definitely put some top-tier games in the library. You’ll be able to play Halo 5, all of the Gears of War games (except Gears of War 4), Mad Max, NBA 2k16, and the Bioshock games. There are Xbox One games, Xbox 360 games that are backward compatible, and of course indie favorites from the ID@Xbox program.

If you’re an Xbox Live Gold subscriber then Game Pass is already available to you. You don’t need to be an Xbox Insider either. Just go to the Store and scroll down to the section labeled Browse Xbox Game Pass. From there you’ll be able to sign up for a 14-day free trial, or give Microsoft $9.99 to sign up for a whole month. If you’re not an Xbox Live Gold subscriber then you’ll need to wait until June 1st to sign up. There’s one more great thing about Game Pass. It’s launching in 31 markets!

So now that you know what Xbox Game Pass is, how to get it, and how much it will cost, what are your thoughts? Will you be signing up for it? This service seems ideally suited for two groups of people. The first group as those who are brand new to the Xbox ecosystem. I can’t think of a better way to enjoy a brand new Xbox than paying $10 and having access to over 100 games! The other group of people this seems perfect for are kids. A parent could spend just $10 a month instead of buying a large quantity of full, or even discount priced, games for their kids. Lets face it, children have a lot more free time than adults, and they are able to play through an entire game a lot more quickly.

Xbox Game Pass is poised to bring a lot of great content to a huge audience of gamers. We can’t wait to see how the library grows, and how the community reacts to the new program.

Source: Major Nelson

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Entertainment 2.0 #408: 4k Amazon and Windows Sonic

Josh Pollard — Thu, 25 May 2017 10:30:03 +0000

This week Josh is back with a quick episode. It may be short, but there’s plenty of big news to catch you up on! First, Amazon has finally given Xbox One S users access to the streaming service’s collection of 4k UHD content. Microsoft has also enabled Windows Sonic and Dolby Atmos for Headphones on the Xbox One. The HDHomeRun DVR has received some important updates. Microsoft announced a new Surface Pro, just don’t call it the Surface Pro 5. Josh wraps up the show by giving a brief review of the Audio Technica QuietPoint 33 noise canceling headphones.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Tuesday evenings at 8:30pm ET!

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Windows Sonic and Dolby Atmos Come to Xbox One

Josh Pollard — Thu, 25 May 2017 01:18:43 +0000

The Windows 10 Creators Update launched on PCs and the Xbox One last month. When it arrived on PCs it brought with it a new audio setting called Spatial Sound. This new feature includes two new audio processors called Windows Sonic and Dolby Atmos for Headphones.

Windows Spatial Sound options attempt to create a surround sound experience using ordinary stereo headphones. The latest update for the Xbox One has brought Spatial Sound with it. It won’t be obvious that you have it, but you definitely do. This isn’t just an Insider Preview feature.

If you play games with a stereo headset, you are definitely going to want to enable Windows Sonic or Dolby Atmos for Headphones. We tried it out with Overwatch, and we found that it made a significant difference when trying to locate where sounds were coming from within the game. To be successful in first-person shooters you need to quickly locate the enemies, so many gamers have been using surround-sound headsets for years to get a competitive advantage. With these new audio options you can get a similar advantage even if your headset cost a fraction of the high-end surround sound headsets. In fact, many people have reported that using Windows Sonic in place of their headsets built-in surround sound functionality actually sounds better.

Windows Sonic is completely free, and it’s simple to enable. Dolby Atmos for Headphones will set you back $15, but it is offered with a free trial. Given that they are both free, at least to try, there is absolutely no reason not to try them for yourself. Make sure to try them both out in a variety of games. Both Windows Sonic and Dolby Atmos are sure to perform different across different games. Check them out, then determine which works best for you and your favorite games.

There is one thing to note with Windows Sonic. Some users have reported that they’ve experienced some crackling with system sounds. Simply disabling, and then re-enabling, Windows Sonic has temporarily alleviated the problem though.

If you decide to try out Dolby Atmos for Headphones, you will first be redirected to the Xbox Store. Again, there’s a free trial, but if you want to keep it you’ll have to fork over $15.

To enable either Windows Sonic or Dolby Atmos for headphones, follow these simple instructions.

Click the Xbox Guide button to open the side panel.
From the bottom option, select All settings.
Select Display & Sound.
Click on Audio output.
In the middle of the page, there’s a section called Headset audio. Change it to either Windows Sonic for Headphones or Dolby Atmos for headphones.

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Home: On #089 – Addressable Lighting, with Dana Kunz

Richard Gunther — Mon, 22 May 2017 09:00:58 +0000

Amazon extends the Echo line and capabilities, Ecobee releases the first third-party product with Alexa on board, and Dana Kunz from Avi-on joins Richard after Lightfair to discuss some of the trends we’re seeing from their company and in the industry. Plus we have a few quick interviews from the floor at Lightfair.

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Amazon 4K UHD with HDR Arrives on Xbox One S

Josh Pollard — Sat, 20 May 2017 23:02:07 +0000

Here at the DMZ we’re a little obsessive when it comes to watching high quality video. In fact, just this morning while waiting for my coffee, I wondered what ever happened to the Amazon Video app for the Xbox One S that supported 4K and HDR. Apparently Microsoft and Amazon were reading my caffeine-deprived mind, because later in they day they finally released an updated app.

The new Amazon Video app doesn’t look significantly different, but the video quality is greatly improved for some content. You can now watch Amazon Originals such as The Man in the High Castle and Patriot in Ultra High Definition with High Dynamic Range (HDR) video. If you already have the app installed it should have updated automatically. If you were holding off until you could enjoy 4k, head to the store and get the app for free.

If you’re a frequent user of the Amazon Video app you may not notice a difference at first. If you select Originals from the main menu on the left you’ll see many titles, including Bosch, Patriot, The Man in the High Castle, and Manchester by the Sea, all have a UHD badge in the corner of the poster. If you select a show you’ll also see a badge for HDR on many of the shows. This is the best way to find content in 4k with HDR. If you simply search for a show, like Patriot, it will typically only show you the 1080p version. We don’t understand why there are multiple versions of shows and movies in the catalog, but it’s something you should keep an eye out for.

Now the Xbox One allows you to watch 4k UHD Blu-ray discs, along with offering 4k content from Netflix, VUDU, and Amazon. How is it working out for you? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: Xbox Wire

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Entertainment 2.0 #407: Recapping Build 2017

Josh Pollard — Thu, 18 May 2017 10:30:55 +0000

This week Microsoft held their biggest development event of the year, Build 2017. At the show they discussed their plans for the future of Windows, and what that meant in a world where their mobile operating system has all but died. Microsoft also provided more details about their plans for mixed reality devices. They announced a cool video editing app, and also showed the first Cortana-powered speaker.

The Xbox One got a surprise update this week. Phantom Dust also got a surprise release with an unbeatable price, and this week’s game sale includes over 200 backward compatible games.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Tuesday evenings at 8:30pm ET!

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Entertainment 2.0 #406: Windows 10 RT

Josh Pollard — Thu, 04 May 2017 10:30:20 +0000

This week Microsoft announced a brand new version of Windows 10 and another new Surface device. Josh and Richard discuss the implications of both this week. Before getting into the news they needed to spend much more time covering listener feedback than usual. Apparently, you all really like TiVo, and you’ve all come to the rescue of another listener.

In other news, Spotify is coming to the Windows Store, but that might not actually be as great as you might hope, and Satya Nadella is talking about Microsoft’s next phone device.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Tuesday evenings at 8:30pm ET!

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Home: On #088 – It’s Complicated, with Molly Wood

Richard Gunther — Mon, 01 May 2017 09:00:47 +0000

Samsung releases an impressive new Wi-Fi system but initially limits it to Galaxy S8 users, Burger King and Dominos try to play tricks with your digital home assistants, and Molly Wood joins us for a spirited discussion about how so many smart devices just seem plain dumb. Are the devices really dumb…or maybe just too complicated for most consumers?

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Echo Has a New Look

Doug Krug — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 21:14:25 +0000

Amazon recently unveiled the latest addition to its Echo product line. The Echo Look, like the original Echo, will be available initially to US customers by invitation only. Echo Look has the same Alexa Voice Service found in other Echo devices, but it also has a camera built in to take vertical-format full-body photos and short videos, hands-free. It includes built-in LED lighting, a depth-sensing camera, and computer vision-based background blur to make subjects stand out and improve the accuracy of Amazon’s machine learning algorithms.

Amazon’s promotional video describes how its new Style Check service will let you get outfit advice from fashion specialists. It’s pretty clear they’re targeting female shoppers, since the only guy in the video is shown for a total of about two seconds. And it’s a smart step for them—McKinsey & Company estimates the fashion industry to be worth $2.4 trillion, and it is expected to accelerate this year.

Echo Look makes perfect sense for Amazon, and it all fits with its moves toward global retail domination. It’s been betting big in the fashion space with numerous partnerships and acquisitions—even its own streaming fashion series, Style Code Live. According to one Bloomberg report, Amazon is now the biggest online clothing retailer. And consider this: The Echo Look will offer an enormous treasure trove of data for brands to track satisfaction levels, reducing costly returns and exchanges.

But…

Can we just say this? Putting a camera in your dressing area is creepy! Consumers have had mixed reactions to the idea of bringing cameras into the very private spaces in their homes Perhaps this initial discomfort is because it’s a fairly new concept, but c’mon…the dressing area?

It takes time to get comfortable with the idea of giving up privacy. We allowed it with email, then we started posting online what previously would have been considered private photos and videos. Next, we decided it was fine to share our location 24/7, and then we willingly brought always-listening microphones into our homes. Of course a camera for the bedroom would be next! The live streaming shower cam can’t be far behind. Actually…let’s hope it’s not.

Seriously though, the data gathered will undoubtedly evolve to other Echo products and uses quickly, and the possibilities are intriguing. Amazon is reported to be accelerating its Echo with a screen (code-named Knight) and could reveal it as early as next month.

What if you could take a photo of yourself, allowing a depth sensing camera to take your measurements and virtually dress you? In minutes, you could see what multiple outfits would look like on you from a screen right in front of you. Or imagine having a professional chef assist you in the kitchen, giving pointers instantly, showing examples, and making suggestions for side dishes to compliment your meal. And Amazon will be ready to deliver fresh ingredients, or anything else you need to complete the meal, right to your kitchen!

We’d like to know what you think about bringing not just microphones but Amazon cameras into your home. Share your thoughts in the comments, below.

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Entertainment 2.0 #405: Sonic Spatial Sound

Josh Pollard — Thu, 27 Apr 2017 10:30:12 +0000

This week the guys dig deep into a brand new feature for Windows 10. It’s called Windows Sonic, and it provides 3D spatial audio processing. On the Xbox side, you can finally use a custom picture for your Xbox gamerpic. Josh and Richard discuss how to set it up, and how to find great pictures to use. The day of recording was also an interesting Microsoft anniversary. Can you guess what happened? Finally, Samsung still isn’t satisfied with Dolby Vision, so they’ve come up with their own HDR standard.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Tuesday evenings at 8:30pm ET!

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The Disconnected Bulb

Doug Krug — Fri, 21 Apr 2017 20:00:27 +0000

We’ve seen significant growth in the connected lighting space over the past few years, yet consumers still face a daunting challenge when adding so called “smart lighting” to their homes. Products like Philips Hue, Belkin Wemo and Lifx have arguably made it at least approachable, and Ikea’s new Trådfri promises a simpler approach for their customers to retrofit their homes with modern smart bulbs. But overall, the connected lighting landscape is still fraught with usability issues.

Don’t Touch That Dial!

No matter how many features they pack, all except one type of smart bulb available today are subject to two major limitations:

Your smart bulb must have constant power—turn off the light at the switch, and your “smart” bulb becomes uncontrollable from a fancy wireless knob, button, or smartphone.
They are incompatible with dimmer switches (except for Sengled Element Plus and Element Touch)—most connected bulbs cannot function when the power is reduced through a dimmer, and they usually won’t even dim properly from the switch.

We introduced the Sengled Element Plus and Element Touch in our CES coverage. Sengled is the first manufacturer to date offering smart bulbs that are compatible with a conventional dimmer, but still…don’t turn that switch off!

Switching Switches

If you’re undaunted by some light-duty electrical work, and your housing situation allows it, you can swap out your wall switches with “smart” switches. This allows you to turn a large number of fixtures and bulbs into “smart” lightning, but it is nowhere near as easy as screwing in a lightbulb.

Wireless switches and remotes can help with the traditional control issue, and products like Lutron’s Connected Bulb Remote and Pico Remote, the Flic, iDevices’ Instant Switch (expected mid 2017), Aeotec’s WallMote and Logitech’s POP go a long way to that end. But you still have to keep that old light switch set to ON or nothing will work.

Things Are Shaping Up

While products like the Sengled Element bulbs solve the issue of having to swap-out or leave your conventional dimmer set to full, they—like so many others—haven’t evolved from the half-dome style of early LED lights. We’re not fans of this style because it ignores the need to have light spread evenly toward the base when installed in a table lamp. With the half-dome globes, all the light directs up, away from the base of the bulb!

We’re finally seeing manufacturers start to pay much more attention to fixing this issue, particularly since Cree shook things up with the Cree Connect LED Bulb‘s “4Flow” design that eliminated the need for a light-blocking heat sink at the base. These types of bulbs can spread light more evenly, like the traditional incandescent bulbs we’re all used to.

A Brighter Future

There’s a lot of room for further innovation in the connected lighting space, and companies like Sengled and BeONHome have been proving that out with lightbulb features like built-in battery backup for temporary lighting during power failure, upgradeable “smarts,” and presence “spoofing” to fool would-be burglars.

Ikea may be one of the best positioned to succeed, with their expertise in experiential selling and an ability to introduce smart lighting to the masses at a reasonable price. And if their previously publicized connected kitchen concept is any gauge for what’s coming, they have a lot in store. [Pun intended.] It will be interesting to see how they handle the complexities of a connected Ikea home going forward. As you can see in this official Ikea Sweden YouTube video, Trådfri is not a candidate for a simple instruction sheet and a hex wrench (though they do try).

Share your thoughts in the comments, below, and be sure to catch Home: On #087 – The Connected Car, with Ljuba Miljkovic, where we discussed Ikea Trådfri and other interesting topics.

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Entertainment 2.0 #404: Podcast Not Found

Josh Pollard — Thu, 20 Apr 2017 10:30:16 +0000

Microsoft’s rapid release strategy seems to be impacting the Xbox development lifecycle at a far faster rate than the desktop version of Windows 10. That means that despite the Creators Update only being available for a couple weeks we’ve already got new Xbox features to discuss and use. Self-service refunds are coming to the Windows Store. There’s also a wealth of small but impactful features coming to the Xbox and the Windows 10 Xbox app to improve the gaming experience across both platforms.

Details about Microsoft’s plan for a Cortana-powered Amazon Echo competitor have emerged from a Redstone 3 Insider build of Windows 10. The company is also planning a big event in May, but it doesn’t sound like the big hardware showcase that many had expected. Lenovo is also planning to release a Windows Holographic headset this summer, and it sounds pretty spectacular.

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Home: On #087 – The Connected Car, with Ljuba Miljkovic

Richard Gunther — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 09:00:20 +0000

IKEA finally moves into smart home retail with the introduction of its connected lighting line in U.S. markets, Google Home expands its capabilities and markets, and Ljuba Miljkovic, co-founder of Automatic, joins us to discuss the potential of including your car in your connected life and home.

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IKEA finally getting into the Smart Home
Smart Lighting: Light for studying. And for Kissing [auto-play video]
Google Home adding new smarthome integration
Anova Rolls Out Alexa and Google Home Integrations With ‘Guided Cook’ Capabilities
Google Home available in the UK for £129
Ecobee Lite now supports sensors
Adding Home Automation to a Vacation Rental – Hands-on Review
Home: On #053 – Property Management, with Gregg Stebben
Ultimate Guide to Smart Home Compatibility
I joined Stacey Higginbotham on the latest IoT Podcast Episode 107: How the internet of things came to be
Learn more about Automatic
Follow Ljuba on Twitter

Home: On is listed at Technology.FM, a curated collection of technology podcasts, including great shows like The Smart Kitchen Show, The HomeTech Podcast, and The NextMarket Podcast.

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Entertainment 2.0 #403: Inside Project Scorpio

Josh Pollard — Thu, 13 Apr 2017 10:30:11 +0000

It was a big week in Microsoft entertainment technology news, and it was headlined by the surprise reveal of Project Scorpio’s technical specifications. UK Xbox One users have a new video service to check out. The Xbox One has also received an update that will please Atmos fans. Microsoft is having a huge spring sale on Xbox games, and the first ever sale on Design Lab controllers. A new Windows Phone could hit the streets this August, but Spotify fans on Microsoft’s mobile platform were hit with some bad news. Microsoft also detailed exactly which phones will be receiving the Creators Update.

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Entertainment 2.0 #402: Over-Promise and Under-Deliver

Josh Pollard — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 10:30:23 +0000

This week Microsoft released the Windows 10 Creators Update for one platform, and announced the official release dates for the other two platforms. Josh and Richard recap what changes you’ll be seeing across Windows 10 on PC, mobile, and the Xbox One. They also dig into some of the features that were originally announced but didn’t make the cut. There’s also a nicely implemented new feature coming to Netflix on Windows 10. Groove Music is also getting new features along with a look at Microsoft’s next design language.

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Entertainment 2.0 #401: Microsoft’s Spring Plans

Josh Pollard — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 10:30:27 +0000

After a week off the guys are back to discuss the latest Microsoft entertainment technology news. First up the guys take a look at a great guide to 4k and HDR content. Microsoft announced a new Xbox controller line. They’ve also brought their excellent text-to-speech technology to gaming, and because it’s almost a new month, there are new Games with Gold to discuss.

The guys also look forward to the Windows 10 Creators Update coming to PCs and Xbox. They also discuss what may and may not be coming in terms of hardware. On the content side they’ve got a great list for keeping track of what television shows have been renewed, and VUDU has a new way to convert your Blu-ray discs to digital copies.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Tuesday evenings at 8:30pm ET!

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Xbox Won’t be Getting TV Picture-in-Picture

Josh Pollard — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 02:45:26 +0000

Today Microsoft surprised us by releasing the Creators Update to all Xbox One owners. It brings Beam streaming, many user interface enhancements, and the death of Snap Mode to the entertainment console. None of the new features or changes were surprises as many people have had access to Insider Preview builds of the new operating system for months.

With the death of Snap Mode (the ability to devote about 30% of the side of the screen to a secondary app) Microsoft has shown how they plan to display extra apps and features on-screen while gaming. For example, the new update adds an achievement tracker that will float a small list of achievements over top of the main game screen. Similarly, when streaming with Beam there is a small information bar that is displayed over top of the game. This can also be moved around the screen so as not to obstruct key interface components within a game.

This lead us to hope they would extend this concept to television and other video applications. Unfortunately, Mike Ybarra, corporate vice president of Xbox, tweeted the following:

So it looks as though Microsoft may not be bringing picture-in-picture support for TV after all. There are a few different ways to look at this announcement. The first is to consider that they are asking users to voice their feedback, and Microsoft has really done an excellent job lately when it comes to listening to their customers. Another way to examine this is to note that Ybarra was pretty specific in naming TV as the feature that won’t be getting picture-in-picture support. He didn’t mention video apps. Microsoft is known to strongly consider usage data when determining which features to work on. We’d be willing to bet that video apps like Netflix and Amazon get far more usage than the TV features which require either a separate OTA TV tuner or the user to connect their cable box through the Xbox’s HDMI input.

If you’d like to see Microsoft add picture-in-picture support then your best bet is to head over to the Xbox User Voice site. To vote for picture-in-picture in TV check out this post. To throw some votes toward video apps you’ll need to vote on this and this.

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Home: On #086 – DIY Security, with Dave McCabe

Richard Gunther — Mon, 27 Mar 2017 09:00:55 +0000

RESET host Dave McCabe joins us to touch on the latest news updates and talk through some of the challenges he’s facing as he looks to extend his smart home setup to be a DIY security system. Is spinning your own home security the right solution for you? We discuss some of the things you should consider.

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Leviton Launches Mass-Market Home-Automation Platform, Starting with Wi-Fi Lighting
Whirlpool’s Wi-Fi microwave will send a notification to your phone when your food’s ready
Ring has hired most of Zonoff’s former employees
Hue releases motion sensor updates in Hue Labs
WeMo Mini Smart Plug is now available
iDevices app updated with energy monitoring, complex automation, etc.
Stringify adds support for Insteon scenes
Find out more about Dave’s smart home needs in RESET 18
Dave uses SmartThings at home
Stringify can be used to create complex event trigger logic across ecosystems
Learn how Richard used a KeypadLinc for indicators in Richard’s garage project
Subscribe to Dave’s great podcast, RESET, for in-depth discussion on networking, storage, and automation.
Follow Dave McCabe on Twitter

Home: On is listed at Technology.FM, a curated collection of technology podcasts, including great shows like The Smart Kitchen Show, The HomeTech Podcast, and The NextMarket Podcast.

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Entertainment 2.0 #400: Too Much Geometry

Josh Pollard — Thu, 16 Mar 2017 10:30:52 +0000

Holy cow! These guys have recorded 400 episodes of a podcast dedicated to the Microsoft entertainment technology space! Unfortunately, Richard couldn’t join Josh for the show, but long-time DMZ contributor (and great friend) James Montemagno was able to join the show.

In the video space SlingTV has released a major update to their Xbox One app and Microsoft is redesigning their Movies & TV app. Plex Cloud is now more widely available too. Groove Music has a couple nice new features on Android. Sony is bringing PlayStation 4 games to Windows PCs, and another popular mobile app is leaving the Windows platform.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Tuesday evenings at 8:30pm ET!

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Entertainment 2.0 #399: HDR 10s and the 7.1s

Josh Pollard — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 11:30:52 +0000

Josh and Richard are back to cover the latest Microsoft entertainment technology news. The Windows 10 Creators Update has a small new feature starting to see the light of day that has Josh excited. YouTube looks to enter the streaming TV market. The guys have a reminder for any long-time Zune users while Spotify may be launching a hi-fi service soon. A once-intriguing, but never realized, Windows phone sees new life with a new OS.

On the gaming side Xbox will soon be offering a Netflix-style gaming service. Microsoft also has more benefits for indie game developers.

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Home: On #085 – Hey Dingus, with James Montemagno

Richard Gunther — Mon, 06 Mar 2017 09:00:11 +0000

DMZ alum and listener favorite James Montemagno joins Richard to talk about today’s digital home assistants and, in particular, his own experience with Google Home. This highly technical guy’s first dive into smarthome tech is a telling tale about the current state of this market.

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Microsoft to bring Cortana to your smart home
GE integrates Amazon Alexa inside table lamp (video)
Catch James on Microsoft’s Channel 9
Check out James’ new show, Merge Conflict at mergeconflict.fm
Follow James Montemagno on Twitter

Home: On is listed at Technology.FM, a curated collection of technology podcasts, including great shows like The Smart Kitchen Show, The HomeTech Podcast, and The NextMarket Podcast.

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Stringify Adds the Power of Insteon Scenes

Richard Gunther — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 15:03:08 +0000

Stringify is one of the best tools we’ve come across for smart home enthusiasts, allowing you to integrate unlike products and ecosystems for powerful automation capabilities. Think of it like IFTTT on steroids. But unlike IFTTT, Stringify allows you to set conditions on your triggers and initiate multiple actions. If-this-while-this-and-this-then-that-and-that-and-that. It’s basically IFTTT with more T’s.

After speaking with Stringify’s CTO and their CEO in past episodes of Home: On, we’ve been experimenting with Stringify, and it’s a promising service with great potential. Among its offerings is its ability to solve one of the biggest problems we’ve had in this space—bridging Insteon products with other ecosystems and third-party products. This can extend Insteon’s reach in your home, but it also helps you overcome some of Insteon’s own limitations. Muzzley and a few other products attempt to integrate Insteon, and Nest’s now-defunct Revolv hub did the same. But so far, we haven’t seen anyone tackle this as well as Stringify.

And it just got better: the team at Stringify recently added the ability to trigger Insteon scenes within your Stringify flows. If you’re an Insteon power user, you may immediately recognize the significance of this. Many third-party products that integrate with Insteon let you control devices only—not scenes. So if you rely on scenes to control your home or keep devices and controllers in sync with each other, you’re out of luck.

Let’s say you have outside flood lights that you control with an Insteon dimmer near your front door and a button on an Insteon keypad by the back door. A Stringify flow that turns on the floods when your Arlo camera detects motion outside at night would trigger the dimmer for the floods but not the keypad button. Now it can. By activating the Insteon flood lights scene that you likely already created to link your Insteon keypad and dimmer (and if you haven’t you should), everything stays in sync.

To use an Insteon scene in a Stringify flow, add the Insteon hub “thing” for the home you want to control to the flow, then configure it by selecting the scene you want to trigger. Note that like in so many smarthome apps we’ve encountered lately, the scenes are not presented in alphabetical order, so you may need to scroll a bit to find what you’re looking for. If you’re updating a flow that already references specific Insteon devices, you can just drag the Insteon device thing in your flow to the Replace target, then select and configure your Insteon hub thing.

This is a powerful enhancement for Insteon users, and it’s simple to use or integrate into your existing flows. We’re thrilled to see this addition to Stringify’s Insteon support, and we expect it will only get better as Stringify continues to evolve and grow. Our wish list: support for Lutron Caséta (purportedly already on the roadmap) and Stack Lighting and both web and tablet interfaces to take the task of designing complex flows beyond the small screen on your phone.

Have you used Stringify to bolster your Insteon or other smarthome system? What are some of your favorite flows you’ve created for your needs? Share your thoughts in the comments, below.

Catch our interview with Stringify’s CTO and co-founder in Home: On #081 – More T’s, with Dave Evans.

Note that this post includes some affiliate links to Amazon.com.

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Entertainment 2.0 #398: What Year Do You Think This Is?

Josh Pollard — Fri, 17 Feb 2017 11:30:39 +0000

It seems like it wouldn’t be an episode of Entertainment 2.0 without at least a little talk about Plex, and episode 398 doesn’t disappoint. There’s also big news for Kodi fans. Groove gets a welcome update on Android and iOS. True Achievements is offering Xbox users a few features they’ve been clamoring for, well, for years. Comcast has a brand new app that looks to please many of their paid TV customers, and Richard is quite intrigued by a newly announced device from a company called Caavo.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Tuesday evenings at 8:30pm ET!

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Entertainment 2.0 #397: Guide Data Roulette

Josh Pollard — Thu, 09 Feb 2017 11:30:58 +0000

This week Josh and Richard are back with a show that is jam packed full of nothing but Microsoft entertainment technology news. There was another guide data outage for Windows Media Center users this week, and it sent some users toward a product called EPG123. SiliconDust also brought support for live playback of copy-protected content to Windows 10 PCs and the Xbox One. SoundByte, a Sound Cloud client for Xbox, got some nice usability enhancements, and Fallout Shelter landed on Xbox and Windows as a Play Anywhere title.

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Home: On #084 – Post CES, with Josh Pollard

Richard Gunther — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 10:00:10 +0000

The DMZ’s Josh Pollard joins Richard after CES with some vendor interviews and to share their thoughts on some of their favorite products at the show. We’re a bit late bringing you these interviews, but there’s a lot of great stuff here, so we hope you’ll enjoy them just the same.

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Kwikset (Finally) Brings the HomeKit with Premis Lock

Richard Gunther — Fri, 03 Feb 2017 13:26:52 +0000

Last year at CES, Kwikset was one of numerous companies announcing HomeKit compatible versions of its products. Most of the product companies we covered at the event delivered last year, but we started 2017 wondering where Kwikset’s Premis was and if we’d see it again at this year’s show. In fact we did…just one day after the lock hit the market online.

At this year’s CES, Kwikset showed off the new Premis, now available for purchase at Amazon.com. It’s virtually identical to its Z-Wave sibling, the Kwikset SmartCode 916, both in form and function. Like the 916, Premis sports a sleek, black touchpad; includes protections against smudge attacks; supports up to 30 customizable user entry codes; and includes Kwikset’s patented SmartKey re-keying technology, allowing you to use your existing Kwikset key without having to engage a locksmith.

The big difference in Premis is that it uses Bluetooth rather than a Z-Wave radio for connectivity, and it’s only compatible with iOS devices and Apple HomeKit—not any other ecosystem supporting Bluetooth locks, and not Android. While manufacturers’ marketing departments would have you believe that locking your doors with Siri is the killer feature of HomeKit, the real power lies in the ability to monitor and control your lock with the same app that manages your lights, blinds, and environment control. Of course, Kwikset provides its own app, too, for more complex capabilities like user code configuration and monitoring.

Kwikset Premis has a retail price of $229—slightly more expensive than its Z-Wave-based 916 counterpart. It is available in Satin Nickel and Venetian Bronze. Unlike its Z-Wave sibling, it is not also available in brass. Kwikset plans to release a contemporary-styled version of the lock at a later point, but there’s no word on additional finishes in Premis’s future.

So was getting into the HomeKit game a good move for Kwikset? If first days are any indication, it’s a pretty good bet. You won’t find it in brick and mortar retail stores just yet, but within the first 48 hours of being available at Amazon, Kwikset Premis was the top seller in its category, deadbolts—that’s all deadbolts, connected or otherwise. It remains there a month later, beating out August’s previous best-selling 1st-generation lock. It’s also available online from Best Buy and Home Depot.

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Entertainment 2.0 #396: Clogging the Tubes

Josh Pollard — Fri, 03 Feb 2017 11:30:43 +0000

We’re back with entertainment technologies news covering the entire Microsoft media spectrum, plus some interesting stories from around the industry. Our British listeners have a new app for watching live TV and catching up on shows they might have missed. Plex has made a major acquisition that we’re very excited about. Napster has an updated app that causes us to ask you all a question. Microsoft has remedied a minor screw-up in the Xbox Insider program while also releasing two new controllers for the game console. There’s a new version of Windows on the horizon, and yet again Microsoft has failed to give it a meaningful name. Josh and Richard also take different points of view on the latest news from the FCC, while the major movie and music studios have given up on one of their key strategies for combating piracy.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Tuesday evenings at 8:30pm ET!

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The intro music is a song called Rogue by Raw Stiles

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HDHomeRun Now Supports Copy-Protected TV on Xbox One

Josh Pollard — Thu, 02 Feb 2017 18:36:35 +0000

Updated February 2nd 3:15pm ET to correct the problem mentioned for Windows 10 PCs. It’s MPEG-2 video that isn’t supported natively in Windows 10.

Today SiliconDust announced a massive new feature for their Xbox One app, HDHomeRun. The new update is specifically geared towards users who have an HDHomeRun Prime. If you have that CableCARD-based tuner, you can now view live copy-protected content on the Xbox One.

As a quick recap, some cable providers put a layer of copy-protection on some, or all, programs. Prior to this update, if that copy-protection is enabled then you can only view the non-DRM enabled programs. Which channels and programs are protected is entirely up to the cable providers. For some people, only premium channels (like HBO) are copy protected, but other providers protect everything.

If you’ve already got the HDHomeRun app on your Xbox One make sure to update it to the latest version. It should work for live playback without issue. If you’re part of the HDHomeRun DVR program, you can’t record copy-protected content yet. Recording, and the playback, of copy-protected content will come later.

Many of you also realize that Xbox One and Windows 10 both use UWP apps that can be shared across both platforms. Unfortunately, the answer to whether this update will work for Windows 10 PC users is a far more difficult question to answer.

SiliconDust is saying that many PCs which have a built-in screen (like laptops, tablets, and all-in-one PCs) may support copy-protected playback. There’s a huge list of requirements to fully support DRM on PCs. While SiliconDust didn’t fully specify what those requirements are, there’s no reason not to try it. The app is free after all.

Update for further clarification: For PCs that connect to a monitor or television via HDMI, the app may not support copy-protected content currently. This is due to an issue with the way HDCP is handled. SiliconDust is working directly with Microsoft to address this, and an updated app will be released once a solution has been made available.

If you are able to play back copy-protected shows on your PC, you may not get any ~~audio~~ video. There is a simple, but frustrating, solution. The problem stems from the fact that Windows 10 doesn’t natively include support for ~~Dolby audio~~ MPEG-2 video. To get it working you’ll need to purchase the Windows DVD Player app from the Windows Store. It will set you back $14.99. Nick from SiliconDust says that a future version of Windows 10 (perhaps the Creators Update) won’t require the DVD player app.

We’ve got a few more clarifying questions out to our contacts at SiliconDust. If we receive any more details, we’ll be share to pass them along to you. Let us know how the app is working out for you!

Source: SiliconDust

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Entertainment 2.0 #395: You Broke Our Minds

Josh Pollard — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 11:30:47 +0000

This week starts off with some surprising news for all of you fans of home theater PCs! It looks like Ultra HD Blu-ray drives for PCs will finally be hitting the marketplace very soon! If you’ve already moved on to using an Xbox One there’s plenty of good news for you too. The first Creators Update build has launched for the console. With it comes new features that we didn’t even know about last week (when we expected this build to be released.) Microsoft has also announced changes to how the Xbox Insider program will work. We’ve also got more details on the gaming updates coming to Windows 10 later this week. There are also two new Xbox bundles launching soon.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Tuesday evenings at 8:30pm ET!

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Entertainment 2.0 #394: Finger Controllers

Josh Pollard — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 11:30:23 +0000

Josh and Richard are settling back into their normal lives, and their normal podcast schedule. You all are too, so the guys kick the show off with some great feedback and questions from the listeners. In the news, NPR has released their NPR One app for the Xbox One. The Creators Update is coming very soon to Windows 10 and the Xbox One. Microsoft has released details on what we can expect in the first preview update. They’ve also announced two new controllers for controllers. There’s news on the Windows Phone front, but unfortunately, none of it is good news. Also, Microsoft is apparently getting back into the e-book scene.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Tuesday evenings at 8:30pm ET!

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Tablo Announces DROID, LIVE, and CLOUD DVR at CES

Josh Pollard — Wed, 11 Jan 2017 17:56:25 +0000

While at CES this year we caught up with the folks from Tablo. We’ve covered Tablo since first meeting them at CES a few years ago. Their primary product is a headless over-the-air (OTA) DVR. You plug an antenna and a hard drive into their box, and it serves up guide data and the ability to watch and record local channels through the company’s many apps.

This year Tablo is announcing three new products. The first is Tablo DROID. It is a new app that works on Android TV boxes. It should work on many Android TV devices, but initially they are supporting the NVIDIA SHIELD TV. With Tablo DROID you use the Android TV box as the DVR. You don’t need to purchase a separate DVR from Tablo. You will need an OTA tuner though. Tablo will be selling their own, called the Tablo TUNER, or you can use Hauppauge’s WinTV-dual HD USB tuner. The new app, and presumably the tuner, will be available in Q2 of 2017. It will include a free 30-day trial of the Tablo service. Once the trial is over you’ll be able to continue to use the app. You’ll be limited to manual recordings and live TV only if you don’t continue to pay for the service.

Tablo had another hardware device to announce at CES. The new product is called Tablo LIVE. It’s about the size of a typical USB OTA tuner, but it has Wi-Fi inside. You can place this stick wherever your OTA antenna is situated, and then use Tablo’s apps to stream live TV straight from the device. The idea is that often your television isn’t positioned near the optimal antenna location in your home. With Tablo LIVE you can put the antenna and tuner anywhere that you have a decent Wi-Fi connection. You’ll be able to watch the live feed using Tablo’s apps.

Tablo LIVE is a single tuner device. As the name implies, it only provides live TV streaming. You can use it completely independent of Tablo’s DVR services. It will provide 24 hours of guide data, and there won’t be any subscription fees to pay. It should be available in Q2 for $99.

In a slightly more confusing announcement, Tablo also discussed a new proof-of-concept service they are working on called Tablo CLOUD DVR storage. Remember how we just said that the Tablo LIVE doesn’t support recording TV? Well, if Tablo CLOUD DVR makes it to market, it could. The cloud DVR will support recording directly from the Tablo LIVE to the cloud. Then you’d have access to all of your recordings from anywhere by using Tablo’s apps.

If CLOUD DVR launches it will need to compress your recordings as OTA feeds regularly use bitrates as high as 20 Mbps. The service would also, of course, carry with it a monthly subscription fee. None of those details have been announced yet. Look for that later this year.

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SmartThings Will Soon Work with Lutron Caséta

Richard Gunther — Wed, 11 Jan 2017 13:00:30 +0000

Aligned with CES 2017, Lutron announced a few new integrations, including with SmartThings. This partnership will allow SmartThings users to connect and control Lutron lights and Serena shades from within the SmartThings app. This is a cloud integration, so it’s not that SmartThings is enabling a hidden ClearConnect radio in its existing hubs. Instead, SmartThings users will be able to connect via their Lutron Caséta account to integrate lights and shades connected to their Caséta Wireless Smart Bridge, allowing them to control and integrate them into routines and SmartApps.

Technically, this partnership makes Serena the first official shades controllable from within the SmartThings ecosystem and gives SmartThings users some nicer options for dimmer switches and modules than currently available in most Z-Wave and ZigBee systems.

For Lutron, this will expand their integration partnerships, which also include Nest, Apple HomeKit, Amazon Echo, Logitech Pop and Logitech Home Hub, Wink, Sonos, and more.

Look for this integration early this year, sometime in Q1. Lutron Caséta starter kits are available online and in Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Magnolia stores across the United States.

Source: Lutron

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Entertainment 2.0 #393: CES 2017

Josh Pollard — Mon, 09 Jan 2017 20:13:37 +0000

Josh and Richard have been in Las Vegas for the last week to cover CES 2017. It’s been a long crazy week. It’s taken a toll on the guys, and unfortunately you can hear it in their voices. There was a lot of great news to cover this year. The guys sat down with SiliconDust to get an update on the HDHomeRun DVR. There’s a new company looking to build a Windows 10-based home theater PC. Dish is bringing their Dish Anywhere service to the 10-foot experience. They’ve also launched a new set-top box that is optimized for Sling TV. NVIDIA announced a new SHIELD TV. It’s basically the same hardware, but it has lots of exciting software coming. Josh also got to try out Razer’s Project Ariana, and he wasn’t nearly as excited about it as some other members of the press.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Tuesday evenings at 8:30pm ET!

Click here to download episode #393.

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NVIDIA Announces an Even Smarter SHIELD TV

Josh Pollard — Mon, 09 Jan 2017 00:58:52 +0000

NVIDIA’S SHIELD TV device surprised us in 2016. No, it didn’t launch in last year, but it gained some abilities that made it quickly rise to the top of the set-top box streaming and gaming segment. Last summer they announced with Plex that you could run a full Plex media server on the SHEILD TV. Shortly thereafter, SiliconDust announced that their HDHomeRun DVR software could also run on the SHIELD TV. At this year’s CES, NVIDIA announced a new version of the device, and it’s gotten better in all the ways we care about.

First let’s start with the aspects of the SHIELD TV that aren’t changing with the new version. Most importantly, the price isn’t changing. You’ll get the base unit which has 16GB of storage, one game controller, and media remote for $199. The new Pro version has 500 GB of storage, and it is also remaining at the $299 price point. The other thing that isn’t changing is the brain of the device. It will continue to be powered by the NVIDIA Tegra X1. I guess they figured that since it was still 3x faster than their competitors, and more than powerful enough for 4k video, there wasn’t really any reason to upgrade it.

There are plenty of new things to get excited about with the SHIELD TV. On the video side they’ve finally inked a deal with Amazon. So in addition to Netflix, YouTube, VUDU, and more, you’ll be able to stream Amazon’s library in 4k with HDR.

The SHIELD TV is based on Android TV, and that means it is getting new AI capabilities through Google Assistant. The redesigned game controller (which is far more comfortable than the previous version) has an always-on microphone. With that you can initiate commands like “OK Google…show pictures from my trip to Las Vegas” and they’ll be immediately displayed on the TV. You’ll also be able to voice control your Nest thermostat and cameras.

Adding Google Assistant to the SHIELD TV is a big deal for those looking to make their home smarter, but it doesn’t end there. Later this year you’ll be able turn the SHIELD TV into a SmartThings hub! No, NVIDIA hasn’t added Z-Wave and Zigbee radios to the SHIELD. Instead you’ll need a SmartThings USB stick. That stick isn’t available yet, but we’re very excited to see the functionality coming.

To aid in all that voice-controlled goodness, NVIDIA also announced the SPOT (seriously NVIDIA, please stop using all capital letters for your products). It’s a small microphone that plugs directly into a wall outlet. You’ll be able to place them throughout your entire house for easy access to the Google Assistant. It will cost $49, but they haven’t provided a release date. The NVIDIA representative I spoke with said that I shouldn’t expect it in the first half of 2017.

Most of you current SHIELD TV owners probably think this announcement means you’ll need to purchase a new device. Every software feature that is coming to the new SHIELD TV will also be coming to the current product! That includes Amazon streaming and Google Assistant. The current controllers aren’t always listening though, so you’ll have to hit the voice search button to use Google Assistant. You will be able to pair the new controllers with an existing SHIELD TV though.

The new SHIELD TV will be available January 16th for $199. The SHIELD TV PRO will be available January 30th for $299. We can’t wait to try out all the new features!

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Dish Anywhere…Coming Soon to Any TV Near You

Richard Gunther — Mon, 09 Jan 2017 00:58:26 +0000

Dish Anywhere—Dish’s popular remote content viewing service that lets you watch linear, on-demand, and recorded content remotely—may soon be coming to a TV near you…wherever that happens to be. At CES 2017, Dish was showing off its first 10-foot interface for Dish Anywhere running on a Fire TV box. The demo included access to the full grid guide, your Sling-enabled Hopper DVR contents, and Dish’s available on-demand movies and shows.

The implications here are pretty big. For example, you could use a Fire TV box in your home as an extender to your DVR, perhaps replacing or supplementing some of the capabilities you may have through a Joey. We’re not expecting 4K video through the service anytime soon, but it could work fine for some use cases. Imagine a kitchen TV, for example. It’s a lot easier to plug a Fire TV Stick into the TV than worry about placing or mounting a set top box—even as small as the Joey actually is.

Or maybe you’re traveling. Savvy travelers are known to pack a Fire TV or Fire TV Stick. Both products enable “captive portal” Wi-Fi login, allowing you to connect your device through most hotel Wi-Fi systems. For under $40, you’d have easy access to your home TV service and DVR, including anything recorded automatically through Prime Time Anytime. Anywhere in the United States.

Dish doesn’t charge customers for its Dish Anywhere service, so we’re not anticipating that there will be any additional charge for this app or its services once it’s available. We don’t have a specific availability date for the Dish Anywhere app on the Fire TV—or if it will come to other platforms—but we’re anticipating this will be out sometime this year.

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Razer’s Project Ariana Doesn’t Live Up to the Hype

Josh Pollard — Sun, 08 Jan 2017 20:59:18 +0000

One of the concepts drawing the most attention at CES in the gaming space is Razer’s Project Ariana. If you remember Microsoft’s Illumiroom you’ll be familiar with what Razer is trying to achieve. The main piece is a 4k projector which will project a larger field of view of the game onto your wall, surrounding your television.

Project Ariana is built with the goal to make your gaming session much more immersive than you get by looking at a single flat display. You’ll see more of what’s going on around the character, and it doesn’t require you to shove your head into a constrained virtual reality headset. The projector uses two 3D cameras to analyze your room. This allows it to accurately display the gigantic image on all the correct surfaces while refraining from blasting light onto your television screen.

I got to check out Project Ariana first hand, and honestly I think it’s over-hyped. Their demo was only projecting onto one wall (the same wall where the TV was mounted), and while they say it can be configured to wrap around to adjacent walls, I wonder why they didn’t actually do that. The display did show more of the game than was visible on the TV, but the effect was just plain weird. Razer was playing Shadow Warrior 2, a first-person action game, in their demo. On the TV, as normal, the player could only see the characters hands and the sword he was carrying. The projector then filled in the rest of the arms, along with the landscape around the character.

I found two problems with Project Ariana. First, the projected image just didn’t look all that great. When you put a projection on the same wall as a bright TV the difference in brightness between the two images is extremely noticeable. The other problem was the size. The arms of the character on screen seemed comically large compared to what was visible on the television.

Of course these gripes hardly even compare to the other more obvious problems with Razer’s Project Ariana. For starters, how many people actually have a gaming environment where their television is mounted nearly flush to a large empty white wall? It’s also PC-only right now. Most PC gamers I know aren’t sitting 10 feet away from a television. They are sitting at a desk. Then there’s the fact that you’re going to need to buy an expensive 4k projector to supplement your expensive television that you already have. Then you’ll need to figure out how to get wires to the projector.

I know what many of you are thinking. You’re screaming at me, because I was excited when Microsoft announced Illumiroom. Now I’m shooting down a potential competitor. The simple fact is, I was never able to experience Illumiroom. At this point I’m confident that if the results from Microsoft’s R&D project were similar to Razer’s, I wouldn’t have liked that either. Razer does have time to attempt to fix some of these issues, as Project Ariana’s projector isn’t expected to hit the market until at least late 2017. Maybe when we come back to Vegas next year for CES we’ll be more impressed with what Razer has to show.

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Baldwin Incorporating Kevo Technology

Richard Gunther — Sun, 08 Jan 2017 20:59:07 +0000

At CES 2017, Baldwin, maker of high-end hardware and locks, has introduced a new line of handlesets and deadbolts incorporating Kevo technology. The new line, aptly called Evolved, will enable the same connected and touch-to-unlock features of Kwikset’s Kevo line, including app-based control and notifications.

Evolved locks feature a discreet LED indicator, implemented as a thin bar under the key slot instead of the familiar ring of lights on Kevo products. We had a chance to see and experience and Evolved handleset firsthand at CES, and this seems like an ideal match-up of Kevo’s keyless technology with Baldwin’s legacy of high-quality hardware. Tap the rectangular “barrel” with your finger, and the door will lock or unlock with the phone in your pocket or bag. It’s a shame we’re not quite at the state where just putting your hand on the door handle and latch couldn’t also unlock the door (similar to BMW’s keyless entry system), but the verification and mechanical unlocking process just isn’t fast enough to support that yet.

Baldwin will also release a standalone key fob for Evolved locks, similar to those available for Kevo locks. Depending on their needs, though, customers may want to opt for the standard Kevo fob (which will work), as the Baldwin version is quite sturdy, larger, and heavier than Kevo’s alternative.

Evolved products are expected to be available later this year in 18 different handleset styles and 3 different deadbolt styles, each in 18 finishes. Pricing is going to be…well, let’s just say it will be aligned with Baldwin prices. Baldwin is a premium brand, and customers won’t be surprised by premium pricing. The Kevo technology could add as much as $300 to any given handleset or deadbolt in the Evolved series.

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SiliconDust Update on HDHomeRun DVR and More

Josh Pollard — Sat, 07 Jan 2017 01:19:19 +0000

We’ve been keeping a close eye on SiliconDust for many years, but even more so since they announced the HDHomeRun DVR. It’s been a few months since we’ve heard much, but they were able to answer many of our questions when we met with them at CES this week.

Everyone wants to know when HDHomeRun DVR is going to be released. Their plan is to launch a release candidate (RC) in Q1 this year. That RC will include over the air (OTA) and unencrypted cable support in the United States, Canada, U.K., New Zealand, most of Western Europe, and Finland. For those of you with copy-protected channels using the HDHomeRun Prime, unfortunately you’re going to need to a wait a little longer. They’ve not forgotten about you, and there’s been a tremendous amount of work in making sure they will be able to support the capability on multiple platforms. They also need to make sure they do it right otherwise they could face massive fines. So expect support for copy-protected cable to come after the official release. The release candidate period is expected to last for two to four weeks.

There’s one last thing to remind those of you who were Kickstarter backers about. As part of your pledge you’re receiving a one-year subscription to the HDHomeRun DVR service. Don’t worry, because your year of service hasn’t even started yet. It won’t start until they’ve officially released the product.

One thing that you may or may not have noticed over the New Year holiday is that SiliconDust changed the guide data provider in many regions. Previously they were using multiple sources for different regions. Over the New Year holiday they completed the transition to put everyone on Gracenote. If you’re seeing any guide data issues, make sure that your tuners are using the latest firmware.

There’s another initiative that SiliconDust would like to make their customers aware of. They recently released a redesigned version of the HDHomeRun Extend. They were able to remove the fan from the device and simply use a better heatsink to keep the temperatures down. If you’ve got a model with a fan in it, you can send it to SiliconDust to have them swap the fan out for the new heatsink.

Lastly, SiliconDust continues to work with other partners. For example we discussed recently that some Samsung TVs were able to natively connect to HDHomeRun tuners. Unfortunately that functionality was disabled shortly after it was released. It turns out the firmware that enabled it was never mean to be released. SiliconDust continues to work with Samsung to get that feature optimized and turned back on. Maybe you’ve purchased an LG TV because you love their WebOS user interface. If so, you’ll be pleased to know that SiliconDust is also in talks with the Korean manufacturer to enable playback on their TVs also.

The post SiliconDust Update on HDHomeRun DVR and More appeared first on The Digital Media Zone.

Homebase Hub – The Next Windows Home Theater PC?

Josh Pollard — Fri, 06 Jan 2017 17:56:38 +0000

The Digital Media Zone started many years ago out of a passion for home theater PCs. At the time we gravitated to Windows Media Center, because it provided many of the features we were looking for, and it was built on an operating system we loved. Unfortunately, Windows Media Center is no longer updated, and isn’t available with the latest version of Windows. There’s a new company that looks to be the new home of Windows-based home theater PCs. They are called Homebase, and their product is the Homebase Hub.

The Homebase Hub is a hardware and software offering. The box is built around Intel’s NUC. It comes in two variants (oddly named the Hub White and Hub Blue, despite the fact that they look identical.) The White is based on the latest generation Intel Celeron processor. It has 2 GB of RAM, a 32 GB SSD for fast performance, and 2 TB of storage for media. The Hub Blue has an Intel I5 processor, 8 GB of RAM, a 128 GB SSD, 2 TB hard drive, and sports Intel Iris Plus 640 graphics.

Both the Hub White and Hub Blue have HDMI 2 ports and support 4k video at 60 frames per second. They also have 802.11AC Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Bluetooth, 7.1 audio, and a plethora of USB ports. The Hub Blue even sports a USB-C Thunderbolt 3 port.

If you have fairly light needs, and don’t plan to do any serious gaming, the Homebase Hub White should be powerful enough for your daily task. If you’re into gaming, or just like to ensure you have power to spare, you’ll want to spring for the Hub Blue.

Software and strategic partnerships set the Homebase Hub apart from just building your own Windows 10 home theater PC. The Hub can, and probably should, be paired with an HDHomeRun tuner. With the HDHomeRun app you’ll be able to watch Live TV. For recorded TV they’ve partnered with Plex to use the Plex DVR. Of course you’ll need a Plex Pass subscription to use Plex DVR. That’s where Homebase’s partnerships come in. With the purchase of a Homebase Hub you’ll get a one-year Plex Pass subscription included.

The other major software piece comes in the form of a custom launcher that the team has built. Windows 10′s Start menu doesn’t offer a great experience in the typical living room situation. The Hub’s launcher provides a look and feel similar to iOS. You’ll be presented with a grid of large icons to choose from, and those icons can also be grouped together. To control all of this from the comfort of your couch, they’ve included a remote control. It has your typical navigation and playback buttons. It also sports a keyboard on the back which will make typing in search queries a lot more convenient.

Another one of their partnerships, this one with Tonido, turns the Homebase Hub into your own personal cloud. With that software you’re able to access all of your files from any connected device. You can also automatically sync content from your mobile devices, like your camera roll, straight to the Hub. This will be managed by an app they are creating which will also double as a remote control for the Hub.

The Homebase Hub White will be available in March for $399. The Homebase Hub Blue will be available shortly thereafter for $799. The hardware inside is rock-solid. We’ve often recommend the Intel NUC as the basis of a home theater PC. This product really hinges on the software, and if they can get the remote control to play nicely with all the apps. We’ve had pretty limited success using remotes to control Windows UWP apps. For example, Plex works well but Netflix is pretty miserable. If the problem is simply apps that don’t elegantly support keyboard input, I’m not sure that the Homebase team can even do anything to resolve this issue. Also, while the launcher they’ve designed is usable, we don’t particularly care for the dated iOS design language they’ve used. We’re definitely going to keep an eye on the Homebase Hub, and we’ll keep you all updated.

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Belkin Unblocks Your Other Outlet

Richard Gunther — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 21:17:55 +0000

Belkin, maker of the popular Wemo brand connected home products, has announced two new products to their lineup: the Wemo Mini Smart Plug and the Wemo Dimmer Light Switch. Despite the longer device names, the devices themselves are streamlined and vastly improved over prior generations.

The Mini Smart Plug is a fully redesigned plug module, replacing Belkin’s first-generation device most known for monopolizing wall outlets by covering over both outlets even though it only offered one controllable outlet of its own. The new product design aligns more with iDevices’ and iHome’s approaches, spreading out horizontally from the outlet, thus allowing you to use two in one North American standard double wall outlet.

The other new product, the Dimmer Light Switch, addresses two of the biggest problems with the original Light Switch. First, it’s a dimmer, not just a relay limited to on/off control. Second, it works closer to the way you’d expect it to work by looking at it.

Belkin’s original Wemo Light Switch had a counter-intuitive physical design that required you to press the bottom of the switch to turn your lights on and off. The new switch features a touch-sensitive grooved channel in a GFCI/Decora-sized plate. You control the light level by sliding your finger up and down the groove or touching anywhere in the groove.

You do still need to press on the bottom of the switch to turn the connected light on or off. The lighted circle on the switch helps suggest that, but after over a year of design, it’s hard to believe they couldn’t come up with a more intuitive interaction model. An additional long-touch feature on this and the new Smart Plug triggers what essentially amounts to a scene, allowing you to control one or more other Wemo devices in your home.

The new dimmer does include some built-in smarts on its own. A nighttime lighting feature lets you schedule a separate default light level so turning the light on doesn’t unnecessarily awaken you or others in your home. And since different types of bulbs dim at different rates, the dimmer itself can be calibrated for the type of bulbs you’re controlling—CFL, LED, or incandescent (up to 400W total).

The Mini Smart Plug is anticipated in stores before the end of January, coming in just under $35. The dimmer is expected in the first half of the year, though no pricing is announced yet.

Updated 1/11/2017: Corrected information about physical switch operation after learning this switch also has a top fulcrum point like it’s predecessor.

Source: Belkin press release

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Almond Routers to Protect Against Mirai Botnet and More

Josh Pollard — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 21:14:35 +0000

Securifi, the company behind the Almond 3 (read our review) mesh router, has always had a large focus on keeping home networks secure. Today they’ve announced their first major new security feature for their router products. Given that the Almond 3 is the first mesh Wi-Fi router to incorporate a smart home hub, it only makes sense that the headline feature is designed to protect against threats that are largely directed at smart home devices. This new feature will analyze all of your connected devices to determine if they are vulnerable to attacks like that of the Mirai botnet. You remember that right? It’s the one that took down internet access for most of the eastern US a couple months back. If you have a vulnerable device, the Almond app will notify you and give you the ability to disconnect it from the network with a single tap.

The second feature to be included will monitor outbound traffic on your network. If your Nest thermostat is suddenly connecting to a server in Russia it will notify you of that also. They will support over 20 popular devices, including Amazon Echo, Wink, Smartthings, Hue, and more, when the feature launches. For those with privacy concerns, Securifi states:

Almond 3 will only monitor outbound traffic from these devices and will not decrypt any data packets. Like the post office, we’re reading the addresses on the letters and recording these, without opening or reading the letters.

Similar to the second feature, the Almond will be able to automatically detect if any of your devices have become “zombies” and are participating in a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. Again, if it’s discovered that they are, you’ll be notified via the app.

This update also brings enhanced parental controls. All websites accessed from the network will be logged. Then parents can review the types of sites visited by their children. Securifi points to research that states having a discussion with children about their browsing habits is more effective than simply blocking sites. This feature is completely optional, and it is turned off by default.

Unfortunately, all of this comes with a price. Securifi is offering a 30-day free trial. After that the price will be $3.99/month for a limited time. Eventually the price will rise to $9.99/month. While it will only support the Almond 3 when the service launches January 23, eventually it will be available for the Almond+, Almond 2015 and Almond (A1A).

All of these features sound incredibly powerful, and increasingly useful, as the internet continues to become an even more dangerous place. The price is tough to justify though, especially the final price of $9.99/month. At the very least, it seems as though the parental controls should be available for free. Regardless of the price, it is nice to see a company taking home network security so seriously.

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Dish Launches AirTV Player for Sling TV

Josh Pollard — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 18:08:30 +0000

Recently our friend Dave Zatz, of Zatz Not Funny, found a product page for an unannounced streaming set-top box from Dish. While nothing is certain until a product is officially announced, it looks like Zatz nailed it regarding the AirTV Player from Dish.

The AirTV Player is a small Android TV box that is meant to pair perfectly with Dish’s Sling TV service. Sling TV is an online TV provider that offers many popular paid channels (including CNN, ESPN, AMC, and many more) in bundles that start under $20 per month. While apps exist for the Xbox One, Roku, and other devices, Dish says that the AirTV Player is optimized for Sling TV.

While Sling TV is a nice option for getting access to a plethora of paid channels, getting the four major networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC) can be a difficult situation. Between the service’s bundle offerings, and complicated licensing agreements with local affiliates, you might not be able to watch all of the major networks using Sling TV alone. That’s where an over-the-air (OTA) antenna comes in. If you live close enough to your local TV towers you can use an antenna to pull in the major networks for free. However, most devices don’t support Sling TV and OTA on the same box.

One of the best features of the AirTV Player is that with an extra AirTV Adapter you can connect an OTA antenna directly to the device. The only other device that supports a similar arrangement that comes to mind is the Xbox One. What sets the AirTV Player apart though is that it integrates the Sling TV guide data with the listings for the channels you’ll pick up from an antenna. Not having to switch apps to flip from a college football game on ESPN, to one on your local ABC affiliate, will be a welcome improvement.

The AirTV Player is an Android TV device, so that means there is a wealth of other apps that can be installed on it too. It comes pre-installed with Netflix and YouTube, but you should be able to install just about anything from the Google Play store on the AirTV Player. If you’ve got a 4k TV you can also use it to stream content in 4k. While not mentioned, it should also support Google Cast. It does come with a basic remote that should also control your television’s power and volume. The remote also has an integrated microphone to support searching for content with your voice.

There are a few questions we need to get answered. Primarily, is there anyway to record OTA content. Our guess is that it doesn’t support that right now. We’d also like to know the HDMI specs, and whether it supports high dynamic range (HDR) video.

Dish’s AirTV Player is available today. You can grab one for $99. If you’d like the AirTV Adapter included, that takes the price to $129. Once the CES show floor opens on Thursday we’ll get our hands-on with the device and try to get our remaining questions answered.

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Sengled Solves the Connected Bulb Dimmer Problem

Richard Gunther — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 07:51:45 +0000

Sengled, a brand best known for the combination connected bulb/Bluetooth speaker device that’s often now found in home improvement store bargain bins, has introduced two new connected bulbs that should elevate Sengled from the novelty product classification. Sengled debuted both bulbs at this year’s CES Unveiled, the opening event at CES for media.

The first bulb, the Element, is a warm white (2700K) bulb with the lowest price for a hub-controlled connected bulb, coming in at $9.99. It looks like a traditional LED bulb with a frosted white globe.

The second bulb, the Element Plus, is the real gem, though. This adds color tuning between 2700K and 6500K for a full range of warm to cool white light. This bulb has a more pair-shaped form factor, though, and it features a clear globe around exposed diodes. It costs $17.99 per bulb or $59.99 for a starter kit with a hub.

Unlike any other bulb we’ve encountered, the Sengled Plus will work with traditional dimmer switches, allowing you to dim the light while still maintaining full connected feature control. This is a much bigger deal that it might sound at first. Other connected bulbs are simply incompatible with wall dimmers and start to flake out, flash, or, at the very least, become unresponsive to app control when controlled by the dimmer switch on the wall. The Element Plus not only adjusts to the incoming line voltage and dims accordingly, but it can also still be remotely controlled like any other smart bulb, even when dimmed down to as low as 10% from the wall. So you can dim it manually or remotely, depending on your needs or preferences.

Both bulbs can be controlled through Sengled’s own app, which enables control, scheduling, energy monitoring, and more. Unlike other Sengled products, these are ZigBee based, allowing them to also work with third-party systems like iControl, AT&T Digital Life, Comcast Xfinity Home, and others. The Element Plus is available today at Sengled.com’s web site for $17.99 (also coming soon to Amazon), and the $9.99 Element is expected to be out early this year. As an added bonus that almost seems a bit like overachieving, Sengled will plant a tree for every bulb sold, ultimately reducing more carbon than the bulb itself claims to account for in its lifetime.

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CES Day 0: Home Media Round-Up

Josh Pollard — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 07:35:43 +0000

The unofficial start to CES is an event called CES Unveiled. It happens one day prior to the big press announcement day, and two days prior to the actual show floor opening. It’s essentially a mini version of the CES show floor with exhibitors from all across the consumer technology space. We hit the floor running trying to find the most interesting home media products to cover. The pickings were slim, but we did stumble across two new companies trying to burst onto the scene.

Link from Fasetto

One of the first products to catch our eye was called Link from Fasetto. At first it looked like a tiny portable hard drive that had the ability to stream your media to your devices over its own Wi-Fi hotspot. The company’s ambitions for Link are much greater than that though. The tiny box (2″ x 2″ x 1″) has swappable bases. You can add extra battery packs or even add a module with an LTE card. This allows the Link to become an LTE hotspot in addition to making your media available to your portable devices. When we asked what platforms they would support for media playback, they responded with “all of them.”

The general idea is that the Link gives you a personal cloud that is completely mobile. Take it with you anywhere, because it’s also rugged, and always have access to all of your media. The feature that Fasetto was most excited to talk about was the storage. They’ve partnered with Samsung to provide one of the fastest solid state storage drives on the market. They even quote the specs of the drive on their website. Unfortunately, that crazy fast SSD is the biggest problem with the Link. That drive, along with the octa-core processor, result in a device that costs way more than you would expect to pay.

The Link starts out with only 256 GB of SSD storage, and it is priced at $349! The 500 GB model will set you back $500, and the 2 TB model goes for a blistering $1,149! At those prices, we unfortunately think this product is dead on arrival. It seems like they got overly excited about a partnership with a tech giant, and the ability to use some of the fastest storage available, and forgot to focus on making a product that consumers can afford.

Monument

The other interesting home media company we spoke with was Monument. What they make is essentially a small network-attached storage device built specifically for storing the photos and videos you take with your smartphone. Then they use artificial intelligence to analyze and tag those photos. They have smartphone apps that will automatically back up your photos as soon as your phone connects to your home Wi-Fi. Being able to see all of your photos automatically categorized by person, place, and activity is very nice. It also seems very simple to set up and use. The price isn’t too bad either. For $150 you get a box that will hold two USB hard drives, has built-in WiFi and gigabit Ethernet, and supports five users. For $129 it drops the Ethernet port and only supports one user.

The Monument is a product with a great idea. The problem is that it’s an idea that’s already been done by so many other companies. Microsoft and Google already provide this type of artificial intelligence, and storage, in their cloud storage offerings. If you don’t like using the public cloud, Plex also offers essentially the same features. However, if you’re looking for a dedicated appliance that makes photo management drop-dead simple, it’s hard to go wrong with the Momentum.

CES Unveiled is usually a great indicator of what to expect from the larger show. If that trend continues this year, you should expect to see a glut of home automation and connected/smart devices. Fortunately, we still think there will be plenty of home media consumption technology to cover this year. We should be able to find more home media products that we can be excited about all across the show floor. As always, keep an eye on the DMZ to follow all of our CES 2017 coverage.

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Home: On #083 – CES Eve, with Ry Crist

Richard Gunther — Tue, 03 Jan 2017 09:33:10 +0000

CNET’s Ry Crist joins Richard just before the start of CES to reminisce about last year’s highlights and post-show reality and to speculate about what they’ll see this year at this massive event. They’re both betting on more smart refrigerators, and Richard’s pretty confident he won’t like them.

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Entertainment 2.0 #392: Hipster Touch

Josh Pollard — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 11:30:09 +0000

Josh is back from his week off, but this time Richard is gone. Fortunately we have James Montemagno back again to help discuss the surprisingly busy week in Microsoft entertainment technology. First up, Amazon released, and then removed, a new app for the Xbox One that supports 4k and HDR. VUDU has also updated their Xbox app for 4k and HDR. Plex has decided to pull support of Amazon’s Cloud Drive in Plex Cloud. A Groove update for iOS and Android has brought with it one of the services best new features. Xbox preview members can now properly bitstream audio out of their consoles, and that means support for Dolby Atmos has arrived. This week also sees the start of the biggest Xbox sale ever. And in some late breaking news, Sling TV may have accidently outed a new set-top box.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Tuesday evenings at 8:30pm ET!

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Home: On #082 – Fireside ’16, from Technology.FM

Richard Gunther — Tue, 20 Dec 2016 10:00:54 +0000

It’s year two of the Technology.FM end-of-year fireside chat. Richard joins Mike Wolf, Jason Griffing, and Seth Johnson to review the top connected home stories of 2016 and look ahead at what they think 2017 has in store. But first, how did they do with last year’s prediction? Not too bad, actually!

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This episode’s featured image used under Creative Commons licensing by William Warby.

Home: On is listed at Technology.FM, a curated collection of technology podcasts, including great shows like The Smart Home Show, The HomeTech.FM Podcast, and the Smart Kitchen Show.

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Fibaro Announces HomeKit Sensors

Richard Gunther — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 15:40:57 +0000

Poland-based smart home company Fibaro has announced it will soon offer HomeKit-compatible versions of its popular sensor products, currently available for Z-Wave. Fibaro is a company that has caught the attention of smart home owners over the past few years for beautifully designed Z-Wave products. There’s a legacy of chunky, dated industrial design for Z-Wave devices, and Fibaro’s products have been a welcome challenge to that tradition.

Fibaro has announced that it is bringing three of its most popular sensors to the the HomeKit world: its flood sensor; its award-winning motion sensor; and its small, designed-to-match door/window sensors. Each will use Bluetooth LE to connect and communicate in your HomeKit-enabled home.

The Fibaro Flood Sensor sits on flat or uneven surfaces to detect water with an audible alarm and a trigger that HomeKit can use to notify you or enable another scene or device like, say, turning on a camera. The device also senses temperature and tampering, and it’s designed to float—so significant flooding won’t drown out the alarm (or communication to the rest of your home).

Fibaro’s Motion Sensor is the prize in this collection of products. This multi-sensor detects motion, temperature, ambient light, and tampering, and it features a programmable, multi-colored light to signal operations. We’ve used and tested this device in its Z-Wave form, and this is a favorite of ours. The sensor is round, slightly larger than a ping-pong ball, and houses an internal indicator light that we’ve affectionately referred to as the Eye of Sauron. The onboard LED alone might scare off would-be intruders!

Rounding out the new offerings is Fibaro’s lineup of Door/Window Sensors. These dual-contact sensors are very small compared to most products in this category. And they contain a built-in temperature sensor. Perhaps more importantly, though, they’re available in multiple colors to match the decor of your door or window frames.

Where Fibaro excels in hardware design, the software suffers. The Fibaro for HomeKit Connected Devices UI is confusing and disorganized—it feels as if it was designed by a team that has never used HomeKit before. A seemingly non-configurable Dashboard view lists all your HomeKit devices in no apparent order, using fixed icons that may or may not represent their actual function and listing them by device type instead of by your assigned names. A Rooms view organizes your devices better, with rooms represented by a selection of ornate illustrations, but devices are still listed by product name rather than by device name.

Device control screens are also poorly designed, listing numerous functions and settings without context. For example, the settings for an Ecobee3 thermostat are represented by a series of sliders, including a slider for the Target Heating Cooling State (with values from 0 to 3) and Temperature Display Units (with values from 0 to 1). Similar problems exist for shade controls. Seemingly, Fibaro failed to test its app with third-party devices in various device categories and to create the appropriate layout scaffolding for those devices.

The good news is that there are plenty of HomeKit apps out there now that are fairly good, including Apple’s own Home app and many more from other third-party vendors.

Fibaro’s new HomeKit sensors are expected in the US by the end of 2016 and in other countries where HomeKit is enabled in the future. The US prices for the sensors are in line with their Z-Wave equivalents. The flood sensor will be $69.99, the motion sensor will be $69.99, and the door/window sensor will be $59.99. These prices may seem high, but we expect we’ll soon see better pricing on Amazon and at other retailers, as we have with their Z-Wave equivalents.

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Entertainment 2.0 #391: Spotty FOX

Richard Gunther — Thu, 15 Dec 2016 11:30:29 +0000

Listener favorite James Montemagno joins Richard this week as Plex dominates our video news. Plexivus and some more traditional holidays are upon us, and that brings great deals…from Plex, from PlayOn, and from Microsoft! You can now use Spotify to control your Sonos Speakers, and next year expect to see (and hear) Cortana in speakers and other devices around your home. New media file management options hit Windows and Xbox, and somehow James manages to sneak in some entirely unrelated talk about Super Mario Bros.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Tuesday evenings at 8:30pm ET!

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Plex Offering Deals and Gifts for Plexivus

Josh Pollard — Tue, 13 Dec 2016 00:37:36 +0000

The folks over at Plex apparently really love this time of year! They’ve gone so far as to create their own holiday: Plexivus! That’s right, it’s Plexivus for the rest of us! You’re probably wondering what that even means. For the full back story you can check out their crazy post, but the short answer is: good stuff for you!

Plexivus is a twelve day celebration that starts today. Every day has a new event with interesting prizes. Today’s contest gives you the opportunity to win a lifetime Plex Pass subscription plus an NVIDIA SHIELD. To be entered to win you’ll need to post a comment over at their Facebook page telling them how massive your photo collection is. They are obviously very excited about their latest enhancements to the photo library functionality within Plex.

Plexivus isn’t just about exciting contests though, they are also offering savings on Plex Pass subscriptions for everyone. Right now you can snag a lifetime subscription for 20% off. That brings the price down to $119.99. With the Plex Pass subscription you’ll gain many extra features including DVR functionality, the ability to download videos for offline playback, user accounts that allow parental controls, advanced music features, and access to the latest cool features before anyone else can get their hands on them.

So head on over to the Plexivus site every day for the next twelve days. New events start at 9am PT.

Source: Plex via Joe Gasz

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Entertainment 2.0 #390: Xbox Gets Its Video Groove Back

Josh Pollard — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 11:30:03 +0000

Unfortunately some last minute travel meant that Richard couldn’t record this week, but Josh is here with a full slate of the week’s Microsoft entertainment technology news. It looks as though Windows 10 and the Xbox will soon be able to buy and rent 4k Ultra HD movies from the Movies and TV app. Plex has a ton of news this week. They’ve made their desktop app, Plex Media Player, available for free to everyone, and they’ve released a plugin for Kodi. They’ve also added OneDrive (and a couple others) as storage solutions for Plex Cloud. One of our favorite features from Xbox Music on the Xbox One has finally returned in Groove Music. Josh gives you tips on scoring a free Kinect adapter for your Xbox One S. The Microsoft Store has some nice holiday deals, and Microsoft Rewards has a great discount on Windows and Xbox Store gift cards.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Tuesday evenings at 8:30pm ET!

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Home: On #081 – More T’s, with Dave Evans

Richard Gunther — Thu, 08 Dec 2016 11:00:08 +0000

Insteon and others add scene control to your Amazon Echo, CNET gives the Wink Hub 2 one thumb up and two thumbs down, and we finally get more T’s…but not from IFTTT. Stringify co-founder and CTO Dave Evans joins us to talk about their powerful services integration platform that could take your smart home to the next level.

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Ecobee3 Lite available for pre-order
Insteon adds Echo support for scenes
Mac Home Controller Indigo Gets Major Update
CNET reviews the Wink Hub 2
Learn more about Stringify
Richard joins Dave McCabe’s on Reset to talk all about lighting

Home: On is listed at Technology.FM, a curated collection of technology podcasts, including great shows like The Smart Kitchen Show, The HomeTech Podcast, and The NextMarket Podcast.

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mpconverter Looks to Ease the Transition from Windows Media Center

Josh Pollard — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 14:00:43 +0000

We’ve been huge fans of Windows Media Center for longer than this site has even existed, but it’s been more than seven years since Microsoft has updated it in any meaningful way. It was still possible to use Media Center in Windows 8 and 8.1, but when Windows 10 was released Microsoft stopped offering the home theater PC application. Long before then many users had already started to migrate away from Media Center. Some have moved on to Kodi, some chose Plex, while others decided to abandon the HTPC altogether. If you’re considering making a jump to Kodi or Plex there’s a new tool that could help make that move a little easier. It’s called mpconverter.

mpconverter is a tool that has been created to make importing Windows Media Center recordings into Kodi and Plex a painless process. For some shows, like your typical prime time dramas, you could simply rename your recorded files and place them in a folder structure that is supported by Plex. But that doesn’t work for everything. One key example is sports. You see, Plex and Kodi both use TheTVDB to get metadata about shows. If you recorded a soccer match there isn’t going to be a listing for it on TheTVDB.

mpconverter takes a different approach to migrating recordings. Instead of looking at an online database for metadata it simply looks at the WTV file that was created by Windows Media Center. It’s a solution that seems so simple! Of course Windows Media Center knew what it was recording, so why not take the metadata that’s already stored with the recording when moving it over to Kodi or Plex?

Metadata migration isn’t the only thing that mpconverter does. It will also transcode the recordings. It can use either FFMPEG or Handbrake to do the conversion, and the mpconverter developer has already done the hard work of creating transcode profiles that will result in high quality video files.

If you’re like us, you probably have quite a large library of recorded shows. Fortunately, mpconverter also has tools to automatically process all of the files in your recorded TV library. Whenever a new show is recorded the tool will detect it and perform all its magic.

mpconverter has a lot more features than we’ve been able to cover in this short post. It’s a tool that can be configured to make a transition from Windows Media Center pretty painless with just a little bit of setup work on your part. Did we mention it’s free? At that price you’ve got nothing to lose! Check it out and let us know how you like it. And if you have any feedback for the developer make sure to leave a comment on his blog!

Source: mpconverter

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Entertainment 2.0 #389: Forever*

Josh Pollard — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 11:30:05 +0000

The guys are back after a wonderful week off to celebrate Thanksgiving. The first news story actually comes from a listener. He’s developed an app called mpconverter to help ease the transition from Windows Media Center to Kodi or Plex. Microsoft’s Edge browser is the first to support Netflix in 4k. Microsoft is running a promotion that could net you four free months of Groove Music. Windows 10 PCs will soon be able to stream Xbox One games straight to an Oculus Rift VR headset. It’s probably not what you’re thinking though. One small company is trying to sell a low-end Windows 10 Mobile phone in a unique way. Plex has some cool new photo features, and AT&T has launched their DirecTV Now streaming service.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Tuesday evenings at 8:30pm ET!

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Record Online Video Without a Computer Using PlayOn Cloud

Josh Pollard — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 21:49:21 +0000

MediaMall, the company behind the various PlayOn products, has been producing innovative ways to access online media for years. We first took note of them when they released PlayOn as a media server that would distribute online streaming services to other devices on your network using DLNA. Then they expanded their product lineup with a service called PlayOn Plus. It allows users to download online video for offline playback. You could even use it like a DVR to record new episodes of shows as they appear on services like Hulu. They are back with another step forward: PlayOn Cloud.

PlayOn Cloud expands on the idea of PlayOn Plus, but removes the requirement of having an always-on computer. You can still use it to schedule recordings of your favorite online movies and television shows, but instead of being stored on your computer they are stored in PlayOn’s cloud.

Currently PlayOn Cloud is an iOS app that runs on iPhones, iPads, and IPod Touch devices. They have plans to release an Android version soon. The app itself is free, but you have to pay for each recording. Doing so is as simple as $0.99 in-app purchase.

You can schedule shows you like to automatically be recorded as they become available. Once you’ve recorded something it can be easily downloaded to your device for offline playback. So if you have a long flight coming up you can easily record a few TV shows and sync them to your iPad ahead of time.

While this functionality sounds an awful lot like today’s Netflix announcement, the major difference is that PlayOn supports dozens of video sources including Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and HBO. If you want to try it out for yourself, head on over to the App Store and install it. We’d love to hear how it works out for you!

Source: PlayOn Blog

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Now You Can Watch Netflix Offline on iOS, Android

Richard Gunther — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 15:14:16 +0000

There’s been lots of debate about whether it would actually happen or not, but Netflix has officially added offline viewing capabilities to its apps for iOS and Android. Not all of the content is available for download (likely limited by licensing rights), but of the movies, shows, and originals we poked through, most could be downloaded.

The download process is straightforward: Look for a new Download icon in the banner for movies or next to each episode in the newly redesigned episodes list. Tap the icon and the download begins. You do not need to keep the app open to complete the download, and you can even watch other content while the download completes. Your downloaded episodes appear in a new My Downloads section near the top of the slide-in menu, available for you to access in airplane mode or offline.

Customers have been asking to use Netflix offline for years now, and it’s nice to see that the company has obliged. Just remember that not all of the content you can download may be appropriate viewing on an airplane! Now if only we could get Netflix and Apple to play nice for that new TV app….

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Mac Home Controller Indigo Gets Major Update

Richard Gunther — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 14:15:46 +0000

Indigo Domotics, maker of the powerful, Mac-based Indigo home control software, has released a major update to the Indigo product. Version 7.0 is now available, adding major Z-Wave improvements as well as other updates for users and developers alike. In addition to supporting over 60 new Z-Wave devices, Indigo 7.0 also now fully supports Z-Wave encryption, allowing the platform to now support Z-Wave locks. The update also supports the newest Insteon devices, including the recently-released Insteon Siren Module. [Note, however, that Indigo’s Insteon integration requires a PowerLinc Modem or Adapter and does not work with the newer Insteon Hubs]. Indigo still has a robust plug-in ecosystem, and this update brings new and enhanced plug-ins to the product, including support for Hue, LIFX, and more.

Like past major updates to Indigo, this is a paid upgrade for all Indigo users, ranging anywhere from around $90 to $220, depending on which version you’re currently running. New users can expect to pay just under $250 for the product. Unlike past releases, Indigo 7 consolidates all features into one product, eliminating the separation between Pro and Lite versions. With this move, Indigo is clearly targeting the hardcore DIY crowd (which is likely who would be buying home control software to run on an always-on computer anyway).

Indigo remains one of the most powerful platforms available for a home-spun home control system. If you’re a Mac user or have an older Mac lying around, this is an ideal solution; and it’s one of the DIY products available that lets you easily tie together Insteon, X10, and Z-Wave devices into one interoperable system.

Like HomeSeer and other DIY controllers, though, this product is starting to show its age. The decade-old interface and design approach looks heavy and dated, particularly compared to modern Mac software. While this product’s primary user is likely a techy person anyway, we hope Indigo Domotics invests in UX resources and noticeable UX improvements in a future release.

If you’re interested in trying Indigo, you can get a 30-day free trial to see if it meets your home control needs.

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Plex is Helping Children on #GivingTuesday

Josh Pollard — Tue, 29 Nov 2016 01:41:58 +0000

Black Friday has come and gone. Cyber Monday is almost over. Next up is #GivingTuesday. If you’ve not heard of #GivingTuesday, it is the unofficial start to the holiday charitable giving season. For the second year in a row, Plex is offering a promotion in support of #GivingTuesday.

Plex has taken the home theater PC market by storm over the last few years. It’s media library and playback application has come to almost every conceivable platform: Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Xbox, Roku, and more! We’ve become huge fans of the service, and we’ve even been checking out their latest features such as DVR capabilities and advanced photo collection management.

If you purchase a Plex Pass, or one of the Plex apps, between now and 11:59 PM PT on Tuesday November 29th, the company will donate 50% of the payment to Plan International USA. They are a 4-star rated charity that works to enable children around the world to realize their full potential.

If you’ve been on the fence about signing up for a Plex Pass, there has never been a better time to purchase. If you’re already a Plex Pass subscriber, then consider giving a gift subscription to someone else.

Whether you are buying for yourself or someone else, please head over to the Plex Pass site and give today.

Source: Plex

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Almond 3 Available for $100 Off

Josh Pollard — Mon, 28 Nov 2016 19:57:42 +0000

We recently reviewed, and loved, the Almond 3 from Securifi. It’s a mesh Wi-Fi networking router that also includes home automation and control. It provides rock solid wireless networking performance, especially when you place a few of them around your home. It also has ZigBee built in, and can be expanded with a low cost Z-Wave USB adapter to greatly expand the home control capabilities.

The Almond 3 router can be purchased in a three pack or a single unit. The three pack has always offered the most savings. The Almond 3 has also been one of the lowest priced options available in the mesh networking space. Today you can get in on the action for even less money. They are offering the Almond 3 three pack for $299 as their Cyber Monday promotion. That’s the same price they offered to customers who pre-ordered the device. Also, the Almond 3 is eligible for Amazon Prime, so you won’t have to pay for shipping either. Hurry though, it won’t last long!

Source: Amazon

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Plex Adds Photo Library Improvements

Richard Gunther — Mon, 28 Nov 2016 14:00:48 +0000

Usually when we’re discussing Plex, it’s in the context of managing video content. But Plex is also great for accessing your other media, too, including music and photos. The latest update to Plex, version 1.3.0.3059, includes some significant improvements to photo libraries. First, the updated web app gets a much-improved photo viewing experience, including full integration of your home videos, which used to be relegated to a separate library. The photo import process has also been improved, now 3 times faster than in prior releases.

The real magic, though, is held for Plex Pass subscribers. Plex Pass now unlocks advanced automatic photo tagging. Based on a trusted, third-party machine learning analysis, Plex can apply keyword tags to your photos based on what’s in the images. If you’ve ever tried to find a photo you’ve taken amongst likely thousands of other digital images, you’ll appreciate the convenience this affords. And your original photographs are not altered in any way—the tags exist in your Plex library. To enable automatic tagging, edit your photo library settings, and choose Automatically tag my photos in the Options tab.

Plex Pass subscribers also have the ability to automatically upload photographs taken on their Android, iOS, Windows and Windows Phone devices, allowing for centralized local storage of photos taken on nearly all devices in your household. And of course all Plex users can search on tags through Plex’s iOS, Android, and web apps.

Plex’s announcement of these features hints at additional improvements to come. We hope this includes improved 10-foot photo browsing on streaming devices and TVs.

Note to DVR beta users: If you’re using a beta version of Plex to try out its new DVR capabilities, you should not update to new versions of Plex as they’re released. Doing so will remove all DVR features. DVR users will need to wait until the DVR features are rolled into the main product before they can take advantage of these and other enhancements and fixes in Plex.

Source: Plex Blog

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Home: On #080 – Building Ecosystems, with Doug Evans

Richard Gunther — Mon, 28 Nov 2016 10:30:43 +0000

We’re bringing you Richard’s interview with Juicero founder Doug Evans from the Smart Kitchen Summit. But first, Josh Pollard joins us to run through some updates from the news, including our review of Securifi’s Almond 3 router, now shipping and available for purchase.

Download this episode. And subscribe…

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Show Links

We review the Almond 3 router
b8ta SmartSpots Bring Much-needed Innovation to Lowe’s Stores
Jasco Releases Enbrighten Z-Wave Connected Bulb
IF and DO apps have been reconsolidated back into one IFTTT app
From Farm to Glass: Building a Smart Kitchen Ecosystem from the Ground Up (Video)
Juicero’s Doug Evans On Why Now Was The Right Time To Step Down As CEO
Interested finding out more about this year’s Smart Kitchen Summit and food tech in general? Check out The Spoon
Interested in attending next year’s summit? Find out more at smartkitchensummit.com
Learn about the new HomeTech Academy
Find out more about Juicero
Follow Juicero on Twitter
Follow Josh Pollard on Twitter

Home: On is listed at Technology.FM, a curated collection of technology podcasts, including great shows like The Smart Kitchen Show, The HomeTech Podcast, and The NextMarket Podcast.

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4k Netflix Comes Exclusively to Microsoft Edge

Josh Pollard — Wed, 23 Nov 2016 11:33:08 +0000

This year has been a huge year for 4k video. Televisions across all price ranges now come in 4k resolution, and more and more sets are featuring even more features like high dynamic range video. Of course, none of those television features mean anything without content to watch. This year saw the official release of 4k UltraHD Blu-ray discs, but it’s far more likely that most people are getting their 4k content from streaming services like Netflix and Amazon.

Microsoft made a joint announcement with Netflix to state that Microsoft Edge is the only browser capable of displaying Netflix videos in 4k. Edge, the browser that first launched with Windows 10, is the default browser in the operating system. Microsoft Edge got off to a rocky start when it was initially unveiled. Back then it was a very bare-bones browser, and it’s had to deal with the mental baggage from users linking it to the browser it replaced: Internet Explorer. However, Edge has many of the same web rendering features of its competitors, and it’s started to pick up other major features, like extensions, this year too. Microsoft is surely hoping that these features, along with better battery consumption, aided by 4k Netflix exclusivity will help to grow its market share.

Of course you’ll need more than just Microsoft Edge to enjoy 4k Netflix videos in your browser. You’re also going to need a monitor that supports the resolution, and one of the latest 7th generation Intel Core processors. You’ll also need to subscribe to the top-tier offering from the streaming video provider. In the United States that means paying $11.99/month for the 4 Screens + Ultra HD plan. While these are certainly some hefty requirements in November of 2016, many people are purchasing new computers this holiday season. Within a few months, 7th-gen Core processors will be far more common in the average computer. Let us know if you’re looking forward to streaming 4k content with Edge in the comments below.

Source: Microsoft

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Speaking About Lighting…

The DMZ Team — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 14:00:20 +0000

Anyone who listens to Home: On is probably well aware that host Richard Gunther is interested in (some might say obsessed with) lighting. Since Episode 001, when he first reported on news from Lightfair, he’s been bringing news and information about LED and connected lighting technology to the DMZ and Home: On listeners.

This winter Richard will be speaking at CES on a connected lighting panel hosted by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG). The panel, called “Smart Lighting Just Needs to Work,” addresses one of the biggest challenges facing products today: between standards, protocols, and confusing lighting facts, it has become way to difficult to buy a lightbulb. What can the industry do to bring it down to reasonably understandable terms for consumers and ensure that when they take a product home from the store it’s just going to work with what they already have?

Richard joins the following panelists for this important discussion:

Katy Scheck, Director of Marketing, Bluetooth SIG (moderator)
Dana Kunz, COO, Avi-on Labs, Inc.
Felix Zhao, CEO & Founder, Cassia Networks
Radek Tadajewski, OORT

If you’re attending CES in January, be sure to look into this session. It’s at 11:30 a.m. PST on Saturday, January 7, and it’s open to all CES attendees at no additional cost. The CES website has more information on this session and the entire An IoT for Everyone track sponsored by the Bluetooth SIG.

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b8ta SmartSpots Bring Much-needed Innovation to Lowe’s Stores

Richard Gunther — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 15:50:36 +0000

We Visit b8ta in Palo Alto

Earlier this year, we visited b8ta’s retail location in Palo Alto and interviewed CMO Phil Raub and the makers of Luma in an episode of Home: On that addressed the state of retail for connected home technology. You can listen to that episode or subscribe to Home: On here. Home: On is the Digital Media Zone’s podcast about DIY home automation and control.

We’ve highlighted some of retail’s failings in the technology space, but one of the shining lights challenging retail these days is b8ta. Founded with the intention of connecting product makers with consumers through a model that turns the business of retail on its side, b8ta offers what others have failed to deliver: an engaging, hands-on, out-of-box experience with products—real products…not just hollow plastic mockups. It’s been nearly a year since the founders, four alumni from Nest, launched b8ta as a small shop in Palo Alto. Now they’re expanding that vision to two additional cities with new store locations coming soon to L.A. and Seattle. And if you’re in California, you may also be lucky enough to find a local Lowe’s with a new SmartSpot “powered by b8ta.” Through a new partnership with b8ta, Lowe’s has introduced this store-within-a-store at three Lowe’s locations: Livermore, Burbank, and Aliso Viejo. Unlike Lowe’s connected home section, which features placeholder cards and product mock-ups glued to display shelves, the SmartSpot brings retails b8ta’s hands-on sensibilities to the floor, complete with real products out on tables with information presented on accompanying tablets. In Livermore, the SmartSpot section features LED lighting and wood flooring over about 400 square feet of the retailer’s space. It’s unknown whether Lowe’s intends to extend this partnership with b8ta to the rest of its retail locations, but one thing is certain: this is a vast improvement over Lowe’s otherwise disjointed and often disorganized approach to selling connected home technology. If you’re near one of these SmartSpot locations, check it out and let us know what you think. Source: lowes.com

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Jasco Releases Enbrighten Z-Wave Connected Bulb

Richard Gunther — Fri, 18 Nov 2016 13:48:29 +0000

Jasco, the company known for numerous connected home products, has released a new connected LED bulb. The new Enbrighten Smart LED Bulb has all the usual specs: It’s an A19 (standard Edison) dimmable bulb with a 60w equivalent light output at 750 lumens. It sports a color temperature of 2700K, which is the common warm white best suited for indoor residential spaces, and it has a color rendering index of 80, which is…OK.

What’s special about this bulb, then? Well, most connected bulbs are either ZigBee, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi-based. This one is controlled through Z-Wave Plus. To say that Z-Wave bulbs are rare would be an understatement, despite the many, many Z-Wave systems deployed in homes today.

We’re happy to see this bulb hit the market, though we hope the price comes down to be more competitive with other, more mature connected bulbs like those from CREE and Hue. The Enbrighten bulb lists for $29.99, but it’s available at Amazon for about $25.

Source: Press release on BusinessWire

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Entertainment 2.0 #388: The DVR that Xbox Forgot

Josh Pollard — Thu, 17 Nov 2016 11:30:56 +0000

After a few weeks away, Richard finally rejoins Josh to recap the latest Microsoft entertainment technology news. The two start off discussing what happened to, and what could have been, the Xbox streaming stick. Then they jump into a surprising a new DVR option for Xbox One owners, before discussing the arrival of FandangoNOW on the Xbox. Continuing with the console, it has a massive new software update that has brought many new features with it. The guys also discuss the fading popularity of Steam Machines before digging into some of the Black Friday deals that are on the way.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Tuesday evenings at 8:30pm ET!

Click here to download episode #388.

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The intro music is a song called Rogue by Raw Stiles

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Tablo TV DVR Comes to Xbox One

Richard Gunther — Thu, 17 Nov 2016 02:59:43 +0000

Tablo, the over-the-air DVR platform, just released an app for the Xbox One, bringing DVR capabilities previously promised, but not delivered, by Microsoft to the popular living room entertainment console. The new app offers most of Tablo’s features, including basic live and recorded playback, pausing live TV, skipping commercials, and more. Filters and other features are coming soon in planned updates. Tablo’s new app also works on Windows 10 (Anniversary Update) tablets and desktops, so presumably this is a UWP app that will maintain feature parity across platforms.

We first encountered Tablo at CES a few years back. And while we questioned their headless, BYO-storage approach to the DVR at the time, their model has become increasingly popular with others, including ChannelMaster, HDHomeRun, and Plex. They supply the network streaming device with tuners (2 or 4, depending on your TV dependencies), and you supply the ATSC antenna and storage. To control and watch, you can use your iOS or Android device, Apple TV (generation 4), Fire TV or tablet, Android TV, Roku, LG’s webOS-based TVs, and now Windows and the Xbox One. Tablo also has a web app for viewing locally at my.tablotv.com and plug-ins for Kodi and Plex. So…they’ve pretty much got you covered.

Grant Hall, CEO of Nuvyyo, makers of Tablo, noted that “many cord cutters were left without an OTA DVR option for their gaming system of choice when Microsoft put their project plans on hold,” and Nuvyyo is excited to step in and solve that problem.

Tablo lists for $219.99 and $299.99 USD, respectively, for the 2- and 4-tuner models, but the 2-tuner box is available on Amazon for well under $200. You’ll also need to pony up for a ≈$5/month subscription, which pays for guide data and services. We scoffed at that initially, but c’mon…$5 is less than the cost of a beer in most downtown bars. They also offer annual and lifetime subscription rates at ≈$50 and ≈$150 USD, respectively. Tablo is available in the US and Canada.

Source: Tablo.com

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Securifi Almond 3 Review

Josh Pollard — Wed, 16 Nov 2016 17:00:21 +0000

We now live in an age where having a Wi-Fi network in your house is almost as necessary as a refrigerator. We’ve moved from bulky central computers that we share with the entire household to everyone using their own mobile devices. Most of those devices are connecting to the network, and the Internet, via a Wi-Fi connection. Most American homes now have over ten wireless devices in use throughout the day, and that number will only increase as time moves on. As our dependence on Wi-Fi increases, our need for reliable, fast, and easy to use networking equipment has been made all the more self-evident. Securifi thinks that their newest Wi-Fi router, the Almond 3, is the perfect solution to these common problems.

Securifi’s Almond 3 looks to solve three common problems with home networks: difficulty in setting them up and maintaining them, reliability and reach around the home, and simplifying the addition of smart home features into your daily life. From our tests and experience, we believe they’ve largely succeeded.

Hardware

The Almond 3 doesn’t look like the average home router with its color touchscreen and sleek design, but it can stand with the best in specs. It supports wireless N and AC (at 300 Mbps over 2.4GHz and 867 Mbps over 5GHz, respectively) via 2×2 antennae. It also has two 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports alongside a USB 2.0 port. Its home automation capabilities are powered by an internal ZigBee HA 1.2 radio and can be expanded with a Z-Wave USB dongle. It also sports a built-in siren which can be used as an alarm or changed to a more pleasant door chime. The touchscreen is a 2.8” resistive display that works best when used with the included stylus.

Networking

The Almond 3 is firstly a network router, so we’ll start there. One major feature that the Almond 3 has, which you won’t find in standard routers, is the ability to create a mesh network around your entire house. If you have a smaller house, then using one Almond 3 should provide you with all the coverage you need. If you have a larger house though, you may have some areas where your Wi-Fi signal is just too low, or maybe completely unavailable. With the Almond 3 you can purchase additional units and place them throughout your home. When you add more of them, you’ll blanket your house in a larger and stronger network.

For our test, we placed the primary router on the first floor at the front of the house. We also placed one on the top floor at the back of the house. Just having these two units was enough to provide strong coverage over the entire house, and the upstairs unit even provided strong signal in the detached garage at the back of the property. The dream of streaming a college football game on the tablet, and taking it from the front of the house all the way to the garage was finally realized!

When connecting multiple Almond 3 routers you have two options. They can be connected via an Ethernet cable, or they can communicate with each other wirelessly. You’ll get better results if you can connect them with a wired Ethernet cable, and that’s how we connected them for our tests.

Installation

Securifi claims that the Almond 3 can be set up in three minutes. It wasn’t quite that fast for us, but we won’t quibble over a couple of minutes. The more important aspect of getting it all up and running is that it was very easy. All of the initial work to set up the Almond 3 is done through the router’s touchscreen. Once the basic network is up it instructs you to finish the process using their smartphone app. It’s available on Android and iOS. The app will walk you through the process of adding additional Almond 3 devices to the network. It has many other features that we’ll get into a little later.

In the past, the idea of setting up a mesh network seemed quite daunting. How would all the units talk to each other? How would my devices know which one to use, and would they easily hop between wireless access points? Would I need to place ugly boxes all over my house? Securifi’s Almond 3 makes this process incredibly simple, and the routers look nice enough that you won’t be finding ways to hide them.

Design

If you’re going to be placing networking equipment around your home then it needs to look good. Traditionally networking routers have been ugly, so many of us have hidden them in closets. That decreases their signal strength, and makes managing them more of a hassle if you ever need to do something on the router.

The Almond 3 comes in black and white, and the front prominently features a touch screen. It stands vertically, so it minimizes the amount of surface space it requires. While the touch screen is primarily designed to ease management of your network, it can also be used to display useful information. It can be configured to display a simple digital clock or the local weather.

Smart Home Devices

Another unique feature of Securifi’s Almond 3 is that incorporates smart home functionality right inside the router. In addition to the Wi-Fi radio, it also has a ZigBee radio. You can also plug a Z-Wave dongle into the Almond’s USB port to monitor and control Z-Wave devices. Securifi makes their own Z-Wave dongle, and it’s available for $29.99.

Securifi has released their own line of ZigBee devices to accompany their routers, including an electrical outlet, door sensor, motion detector, flood sensor, and a new battery-powered button called the Almond Click. Fortunately, because the Almond 3 uses ZigBee and supports Z-Wave, you aren’t limited to the devices Securifi produces. You can use most any ZigBee or Z-Wave products with the Almond 3. We connected a Kwikset Z-Wave lock, and it paired and worked flawlessly with the Almond.

The Almond 3 is, at it’s core, a wireless router, so that means that it can also integrate with many popular Wi-Fi smart home products including the Amazon Echo, Nest thermostat, and Philips Hue lights.

Almond Click

The Almond Click is Securifi’s newest smart home product. It is a small square device with a single push button on it. The Click can be configured to perform different actions from a single press, a double press, or a long press. It could be used as a doorbell button to ring the Almond 3′s internal chime/siren. It could turn a lamp on and off, or trigger an entire scene. Since it’s small and powered by a battery the possibilities are almost endless.

Door Sensor

Securifi makes their own door/window sensor. It is a battery-powered ZigBee device. It’s small, well designed, and can be configured to trigger scenes from the Almond app. It’s competitively priced, at $29.99, but is only available in white.

Peanut Plug

If you are looking to control a lamp or other appliance, you could use Securifi’s Peanut Plug. Simply plug your lamp into it, and insert the Peanut Plug into a standard outlet, and you can easily control it through the Almond app. It has an attractive cylindrical shape, but it is rather deep. It’s suggested price is $39.99, but can be found on Amazon for $31.99.

Motion Sensor

No smart home offering would be complete without a motion sensor. Securifi’s looks similar to most others on the market. It also has a built in temperature sensor. The Motion Sensor will set you back $39.99.

Flood Sensor

Securifi makes their own flood sensor too. The communication and battery are housed in one end, while the water-sensing probe is attached through a cable. That allows you to mount the sensor in a way that should mean it could detect water without fear of the whole unit being submersed. We didn’t receive a flood sensor for testing. Amazon sells it for $29.99.

Smart Home Configuration and Usage

Pairing ZigBee and Z-Wave devices must be done through the Almond 3′s touch screen. Once paired, you can monitor, control, and configure all of the smart home devices through Almond’s smart phone app.

In the app, you’re presented with quick access to all of your devices. The list shows the status of every device. The icon for each device can be tapped for the most common action. This includes toggling a lamp on or off, and locking or unlocking a door. Tapping on one will expand it to show you more details. The motion sensor will display the current temperature, the peanut plug shows how many watts, volts, and amps of electricity are being consumed by the connected device. Each device can also be quickly configured to notify you (through the app’s push notifications) when the status changes. Notifications can be configured to send always, never, or only when the system is set to Away Mode.

Of course, what makes a smart home truly smart is automation. Securifi has built an impressive rules engine into the Almond app. It’s unfortunate that they buried it under the “More” menu, because it’s definitely one of the best automation rules engines we’ve seen to date.

Rules are displayed as simple If-Then constructs, but they can be made as complicated as your situation needs. Would you like your porch lights to come on thirty minutes after sunset, only on the weekends, and only when you’re away? That’s a simple rule to create with their app. Conditions can include system mode, time (be that a precise time, or a window), weather conditions (temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure), or the status of any connected device.

Another feature that is possible due to the Almond 3 also being a router in addition to a smart home hub is that Wi-Fi devices can be used in rule creation too. You could create a rule that turns the entryway lights on and sets the thermostat to a comfortable temperature when your phone connects to the network. You can also just get simple notifications when a device enters or leaves your network. This is great for knowing when other people, like kids, arrive home.

The Almond 3 also supports the concept of scenes. A scene is just a list of actions that should all be completed at once. For example, you could create a scene that turns off all the lights in the house with one press of a button. That scene could then be executed by tapping it within the app, assigning it to a press of the Almond Click, or scheduled as part of a rule.

One of the hottest trends in the smart home space is Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant. The Almond 3 works with the Amazon Echo, Dot, and Tap devices to provide voice control of your router and attached devices. For example you could say “Alexa, tell Almond to activate Movie Scene”.

Network Management

Getting the Almond 3 initially configured is a simple process, and it’s done almost completely from the router’s touchscreen. There’s a lot more functionality that can be tapped into using the app and the configuration web app. One nice feature that parents will love is the ability to schedule when a device is allowed to connect to the network. If you don’t want your kids using their tablet after bedtime or before school, simply go into the app and select the hours and days to block. You can also manage Wi-Fi settings from the smart phone app, like changing the SSID and password, and enabling or disabling the guest network. You can even trigger some network management features, like disabling access for a pre-defined group of devices (e.g., the kids’ tablets or gaming boxes) by voice with the Echo, as discussed in a recent episode of Home: On.

The web app for the Almond 3, which you can get to by simply browsing to the router’s IP address, has even more features. This is another time to point out where having the touchscreen comes in handy. Many people don’t know how to figure out their router’s IP address. It’s simple to find the address of the web administration tool from the Almond 3′s touchscreen menu.

The web app has all the features of the smart phone app, and it adds features that are more advanced. You can change DHCP settings, and you can view what DHCP clients have connected. The Almond 3 also has filtering built in. This would allow you to block certain sites or IP addresses. Of course, it also supports basic port forwarding and virtual servers.

The Almond 3 has a USB port that you can use to attach an external hard drive. Then from the advanced settings page you can enable an FTP server. Unfortunately it doesn’t currently support SMB (the type of file sharing you’re probably used to using) yet (although it’s on their roadmap), and since it’s only a USB 2.0 port you also won’t be able to expect blazing fast speeds. If you’re looking to use this feature you should know that they only support NTFS and FAT file formats on attached drives.

There are some premium networking features the Almond 3 doesn’t currently support. It cannot create a VPN that you could use to securely connect to your home network while you’re away. Securifi also doesn’t provide support for dynamic DNS.

Conclusion

Securifi has been making routers for over four years. They began with the goal of delivering a “router for humans.” The integrated touchscreen makes initial setup a snap. The mesh capabilities that are gained by adding more Almond 3 routers around your house can eliminate Wi-Fi dead zones. The built-in ZigBee radio and home automation integrations can eliminate the need for a separate smart home hub while providing some of the most advanced and user-friendly rule creation we’ve seen. It does however lack some of the more advanced features (like VPN server, dynamic DNS, and SMB file sharing) that we would like to see in a premium router. The price is extremely competitive in the mesh networking space—even before considering all of the built-in smart home capabilities: You can purchase a single Almond 3 for $149.99, and a three-pack is available for $399.99.

If you’ve been itching to expand your home’s Wi-Fi coverage or you just need a better router and are also looking to jump into the smart home game, the Almond 3 is a great device. We’ve been testing it thoroughly for almost two weeks, and we haven’t had a single hiccup. We believe the Almond 3 is a solid choice to be the foundation of a powerful Wi-Fi network and the center of your modern smart home.

We thank Securifi for providing us with the Almond 3 routers and smart home devices used in the review.

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Home: On #079 – Simple Control, with Will Price

Richard Gunther — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 10:00:07 +0000

We finally sit down with Simple Control CEO Will Price to discuss their versatile iOS-based control system for your home. We find out that they have answers for people who insist on having tactile buttons and that Will’s not the biggest fan of HomeKit. But first, how much is a dishwasher that orders its own soap refills worth to you?

Download this episode. And subscribe…

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Home: On is listed at Technology.FM, a curated collection of technology podcasts, including great shows like The Smart Kitchen Show, The HomeTech Podcast, and The NextMarket Podcast.

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Entertainment 2.0 #387: SoundBytes, SSDs, and VR

Josh Pollard — Thu, 03 Nov 2016 10:30:20 +0000

Entertainment 2.0 is back again, but this week it’s a short show due to only having one host, and there being less news than usual. Josh starts by discussing a beautiful SoundCloud client. It’s a Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app that’s now available on the Xbox One. Seagate has also announced some new hardware for Xbox One owners who are looking for the best possible performance. How does a 512GB SSD sound? In perhaps the most surprising news of the week, there’s a new high-end Windows 10 Mobile phone that’s about to be released.

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Entertainment 2.0 #386: Windows 10 Creators Update

Josh Pollard — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 00:42:28 +0000

This week Josh is joined by friend of the show James Montemagno. They got together to discuss Microsoft’s fall Windows event. Before getting into that they both helped answer a few questions about Plex. At Microsoft’s event they discussed what we can expect in the Windows 10 Creators Update. Microsoft also revealed a small update to the Surface Book before showing off a brand new product: the Surface Studio.

Microsoft had some media news at the event also. For starters, the Xbox One will finally be gaining the ability to bit-stream audio. This will bring high-end audio, like Dolby Atmos, to the game console. They also spent considerable time revealing Windows Holographic VR. While they focused on its use in Windows, we expect to see it in another familiar location too.

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Entertainment 2.0 #385: VLC, Groove, and Photos on Xbox One

Josh Pollard — Thu, 13 Oct 2016 10:30:50 +0000

As much as Richard wanted to be a part of Episode 385, an autumn cold got the best of him. Josh carries on to discuss the release of the VLC app on the Xbox One. It offers an experience like we’ve not seen from VLC or from other Xbox video apps. Groove Music has also been updated. On the Xbox One it gets voice control. EA Access has announced a bunch of new games for the subscription game service. Microsoft has also overhauled their photo viewing app, and they’ve announced a big event for later this month.

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Home: On #078 – Our Homes, with Veronica Belmont

Richard Gunther — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 11:33:33 +0000

Canary reveals a new security camera for indoor and outdoor use, Google finally reveals more about its anticipated Google Home product, and Veronica Belmont joins the show to talk about the smarthome tech she and Richard each use in their respective homes.

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Entertainment 2.0 #384: To the Cloud!

Josh Pollard — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 01:16:23 +0000

This week is packed with video news. Plex is, once again, leading the news with the announcement of Plex Cloud. Axiim is also back with a solution to solve your 4k desires. Starz has a new Xbox One app while Fox Sports GO is also debuting on the game console. The CW app can now be used without a pay-tv subscription. If you’re an old time Zune users you may need to re-download your music purchased music. The Xbox One has new tournament features, rare achievements, and group messaging to look forward to.

Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment 2.0 on Tuesday evenings at 8:30pm ET!

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Home: On #077 – The Echo Chamber, with Josh Pollard

Richard Gunther — Thu, 29 Sep 2016 09:00:18 +0000

We didn’t attend CEDIA this year, but that’s OK because Alexa basically stole the show anyway. Josh Pollard joins us to talk about all the Echo (and some other CEDIA) news. We also discuss some HomeKit updates now that Apple has officially released iOS 10.

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Plex Takes Their Server and Your Media to the Cloud

Josh Pollard — Mon, 26 Sep 2016 23:10:26 +0000

Plex is one of the most popular solutions available for storing all of your media and playing it back on just about any device imaginable. Using Plex has always meant building an always-on device, like a PC or a network-attached storage (NAS) device on which it could run. For most of our readers here at the DMZ that wasn’t a big deal. If you’ve already got a home theater PC then you could most likely also run the Plex Media Server application on it. For many people that’s too much work, and for them Plex announced a new, simpler, approach to their media server.

Plex is rolling out a new service called Plex Cloud. The idea is simple: instead of building, running, and maintaining your own Plex server at home, let them host it for you in the cloud. We’re all used to hosted web apps by now. In fact, many of you may already access your home Plex server by going to their website. The bigger question you’re probably asking is where you’re going to store your media files. Plex is currently working with Amazon to host all of your media in the Amazon Cloud Drive.

Hosting your gigantic media library on Amazon’s servers isn’t cheap, but it may not be as much as you’re expecting either. Currently you can sign up for Amazon Cloud Drive for $59.99 year in the United States. Amazon also says that storage is unlimited. That’s about the price of one hard drive (which may or may not hold all of your media.) You can also use Cloud Drive to host other files too.

So for $60 per year, plus a Plex Pass ($5/month, $40/year, or $150 lifetime), you can have the easiest media server available. Right now you’ll need to ask for an invitation to try out the new service. So what are your thoughts? Are you ready to ditch the always-on PC, and the maintenance required to keep it all going, in favor of a cloud-based solution? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: Plex

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Axiim Q Fills the 4k Gap

Josh Pollard — Sun, 25 Sep 2016 19:27:49 +0000

A few months ago Axiim released the Q. It caused us to question whether this product was finally ushering in quality wireless surround sound. In our review of the Axiim Q we really liked the product, but we had one question about its timing to market. The Q only supports 1080p video, and 2016 is shaping out to be the year that 4k UHD, and high dynamic range (HDR) video starts to become mainstream.

Fortunately for you 4k early adopters, Axiim has some great news. They’ve been working on an upgrade to the Q Media Center. Coming in January 2017 they’ll have a new base unit that, through the addition of HDMI 2.0 ports, will support 4k UHD and HDR video. We’ve reached out to Axiim to find out which specific HDR formats will be supported. Once we hear back, we’ll update this post.

If you are a technology early adopter you’re probably used to getting burned by announcements like this. Axiim is a company of early adopters though, and they don’t want to treat you like that. That’s why they are providing customers with a free upgrade to the new 4k Media Center! If you’ve already purchased the Q, or if you’re about to, you can get the upgraded model for free once they come out early next year. This is practically unheard of! If you haven’t had a chance to check out the Q, make sure to read our full review of system.

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Entertainment 2.0 #383: Plex’s Jason Williams

Josh Pollard — Fri, 23 Sep 2016 01:02:27 +0000

This week Josh and Richard are joined by a special guest, Jason Williams. He’s the director of product and growth at Plex. He shares the backstory of Plex, gives some reasons why you might want to use it, provides more details on the newly announced DVR functionality, and even drops some hints for what’s to come. After that the guys cover the new Vudu app for Windows 10, Kodi’s new app, and a statement about Project Scorpio’s ability to run games at native 4k resolution.

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Entertainment 2.0 #382: Slicing Up the HPTC

Josh Pollard — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 01:32:59 +0000

Josh is once again flying solo this week, but there was plenty of Microsoft entertainment technology news to keep him talking. After a couple of great messages from listeners he dug into the latest news. Starting off the show was HP’s latest PC which could make an interesting home theater PC. Sling TV has released a Windows 10 app, and a mobile app could be coming next. Spoticast lets you get your Spotify fix on Xbox One. Microsoft announced new controllers and a new headset for the Xbox One, and the Microsoft Band may not be long for this world.

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Home: On #076 – Hey Sonos…, with Ashley Daigneault

Richard Gunther — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 09:00:06 +0000

Ashley Daigneault joins us to catch up on a surprising amount of news for this time of year. Sonos finally opens up to third-party integration, Philips announces new Hue products at IFA Berlin, and everybody wants to work with the Echo…including Sonos (but you’re going to have to wait for that)!

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Entertainment 2.0 #381: Xbox One S and 4k HDR with Rob H.

Josh Pollard — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 10:30:36 +0000

This week Josh and Richard are joined again by Rob H. from the AV Rant podcast. A lot has been happening in the 4K and HDR space, including Microsoft’s release of the 4k HDR, UHD Blu-ray drive-equipped Xbox One S, and they couldn’t think of a better person to get everyone up to speed on the technology. Before that though, there was plenty of news to cover. Two beloved Windows Media Center plugins have become free. Plex now offers DVR functionality. Emby is now on the Xbox One S. In addition to all the 4k and HDR talk, the trio also discusses HD audio, Plex, and the NVIDIA SHIELD TV device. It’s a longer episode, but one you’re sure to enjoy!

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Entertainment 2.0 #380: Half the Price, Way Less Content

Josh Pollard — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 11:06:21 +0000

Josh and Richard are both back, and there’s plenty of Microsoft entertainment technology news to cover, even at least one of those stories doesn’t initially seem like it fits! First up, CBS All Access is now on the Xbox One. The guys cover what it is, and why you might want it. Richard also has an important tip to share with all of you PlayOn users. The Xbox One can now play Pandora as background audio, but the Xbox One S won’t pass-through 4k video. You can now play PlayStation games on your Windows PC. The HP Elite X3 is almost here, and you can actually buy it, and the Surface team has finally fixed a major flaw with the Pro 3.

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Philips Announces New Hue Motion Sensor, Bulbs

Richard Gunther — Mon, 29 Aug 2016 23:29:45 +0000

If you’re a Philips Hue user, you know how fun and useful Hue lights can be. With numerous remote control options, it’s also possible to manually control Hue lights without pulling out your phone. But to trigger your Hue lights on motion, you had to rely on one of Hue’s numerous integration options with other ecosystems like SmartThings, Wink, Harmony, and others.

That changes in October. At IFA Berlin, Philips announced several additions to the Hue line, including a new, standalone motion sensor. Up to 12 of the new sensors can pair with your Philips Hue bridge to control any of your hue lights. The sensor itself looks much like D-Link’s and CentraLite’s similar devices—a rounded square with a central lens—and can be placed on any shelf or mounted with its built-in magnet/mount system. It’s battery operated and is small enough at 2.2 inches square to be seated or mounted discretely.

The real brilliance in this sensor is that, in addition to common daylight sensing to eliminate unnecessary triggers, you can define separate actions for nighttime and daytime. This is a huge differentiator for Hue and is a feature usually found only in more advanced systems. Of consumer-grade DIY products, Logitech Harmony’s hub-based home and media controllers are the only products we’re aware of this offer sort of advanced programming capabilities.

But Wait…There’s More

In addition to the new motion sensor, Philips also announced that they’d be revving their mainstay color bulbs, with the new versions producing much better (and needed) greens and blues.

But perhaps more interestingly and importantly, Philips also intends to introduce new down-light versions of its White Ambiance lights, filling a notable gap in the product line. Philips Hue White Ambiance LEDs offer white light that’s tunable to your needs from very warm (2200K) through “cold” daylight (at 6500K). While the current A19 offering of this product is sold at $30, it’s yet unknown how much the new BR30 and GU-10 bulbs will cost.

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Entertainment 2.0 #379: Xbox App Explosion

Josh Pollard — Thu, 18 Aug 2016 10:30:50 +0000

Josh is flying solo this week to bring you the latest Microsoft entertainment technology news. Kicking it all of this week is the release of the HDHomeRun app on the Xbox One. With it comes live and recorded TV to our favorite game console. Phonos, the third party Sonos controller app, has also been released for the Xbox. There’s a new updated build for Xbox Preview members, and Windows 10 Anniversary Update is now shipping for Windows 10 Mobile devices. Two of this fall’s biggest games are getting open betas this month, and Microsoft has acquired a real-time, interactive, competitor to Twitch.TV.

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Entertainment 2.0 #378: Thumbs Up Your Groove

Josh Pollard — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 10:30:44 +0000

Josh and Richard are back for an Olympic-caliber episode covering the latest Microsoft entertainment technology news. First up, Hulu and Yahoo have come to an unlikely agreement, and it could mean changes to how you’re watching some of your favorite shows on your Xbox One. There’s now a solution for listening to your music that’s stored on external storage via your Xbox. Groove has some nice new features available to Windows Insiders. The 2TB Xbox One has come and gone already? There’s also been some difficulties with Xbox One controllers on Windows 10 PCs. Lastly, Vizio has a nice update for anyone looking to pick up an Xbox One S for some HDR goodness.

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Home: On #075 – The Integration Trifecta, with Chris Allen

Richard Gunther — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 09:00:47 +0000

Your car may be the latest accessory to your smart home, Savant releases its long-anticipated consumer-targeted remote, and iDevices CEO Chris Allen joins us to talk about their moves in the connected home with HomeKit, Echo, and more. And stick with us for a special giveaway for many of our listeners.

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EVE for Tesla
SmartThings/BMW integration
Savant remote + host ships direct to consumers
Hands On with the Savant Pro Remote by Jason Griffing
TCP discontinues cloud services
This year’s Smart Kitchen Summit lineup is now available
Vote on the SXSW Panel Picker for Richard’s Don’t Brick My Fridge! panel
Vote on the SXSW Panel Picker for Meet the Smart Home: What the Jeston’s Got Wrong
Visit iDevices on the web
Take advantage of the limited iDevices special promotion exclusively for Home: On listeners
Follow iDevices on Twitter at @iDevices

Home: On is listed at Technology.FM, a curated collection of technology podcasts, including great shows like The Smart Home Show, The HomeTech Podcast, and The NextMarket Podcast.

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thEndUsr Episode 204: thEnd

Chris Barnes — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 01:47:58 +0000

Chris and Taylor are joined by Josh and Richard to provide a final episode of thEndUsr. It’s been a long journey and we have all learned a lot. In this show, we’ve got a final technology update. We also chat whimsically by the fireside about the origin story of the show, how we came to be at the DMZ, and much more! Finally, thank you to Josh, Richard and perhaps more importantly the community that has followed along with us this entire time. The listeners are truly what made this podcast a pleasure to put on every week. This podcast has been and always will be a part of us, so thanks to everyone for listening.

Follow Taylor @taylorphone and follow Chris @chrishalebarnes

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Final Tech Update

MacBook
Apple Watch,
Apple TV 4
DiskStation DS416j
Dell XPS 13

thEndUsr by the Numbers

Started on 2/4/2010
Most popular show: thEndUsr Episode 148: Wadsworth Equals 0 with 666 downloads
All time high subscribers 241 in June, 2013
47,048 Downloads all time

thEndUsr Stories

thEndUsr Episode 1
Where we started
Taylor joined in on thEndUsr Episode 3: Los Très Amigos Especial
How did we end up on the DMZ?

Green Tech: Elon Musk and the Tesla Master Plan 2.0 via Tesla Motors

Tip of the Week: Start a podcast of your own!

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Entertainment 2.0 #377: Binging for Forza

Josh Pollard — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 10:30:04 +0000

We start this week with a continuation of Josh’s thoughts on current state of the Microsoft entertainment technology ecosystem. He finishes it by covering music, gaming, and mobile technologies. Most of the news of the week centered around Microsoft’s release of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update. There’s more bad news on the Windows Phone front as many popular phones will no longer receive Windows Insider builds.

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Entertainment 2.0 #376: You Mean Ultimate TV

Josh Pollard — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 10:30:37 +0000

Josh and Richard are back to cover another week in Microsoft entertainment technology news, but Josh finally lives up to his promise of sharing his thoughts on where this whole ecosystem is, where it’s going, and what it means for someone who has been living in it for years. There’s also a plethora of UWP apps that are starting to appear on the Xbox One.The original Xbox One has also received another price cut while bundles for the 500GB and 1TB versions of the Xbox One S have been announced. Also, PlayOn, one of our favorite apps for recording web video, has announced a new cloud DVR service.

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