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Hands-on: Abode HomeKit Video Security Bundle [Video]

I have always had a “broken” smart home situation going on; I’ve had products that would only work with Google Home, others that were Amazon Alexa exclusives, and then you have the elusive HomeKit-enabled products.

Over the last year, I have slowly transitioned all of my smart home products to make sure they are HomeKit enabled so I could use Apple’s Home app as my central hub. The last set of products that I was looking for was a HomeKit-ready video monitoring and sensor-enabled security system; that is where Abode’s HomeKit security bundle steps in to fully complete my smart home experience. Having a trustworthy, top-rated security system that was built to integrate with HomeKit was exactly what I was looking for.

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Use your iPhone to control any AA-powered device with this simple $10 adapter

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HomeKit-certified devices are the slickest way to control your technology, but if you have any dumb technology powered by AA batteries, you can now remotely switch it on and off using your iPhone.

The Tethercell AA Smart Battery Adapter is a really simple idea. Replace one of the device’s AA batteries with this adapter, which takes a smaller AAA battery, and you can then switch it on and off from an app on your iPhone.

It’s Bluetooth LE rather than Wi-Fi, so range will be limited (the company claims 50-60 feet), but if the device is close enough, it’s a cheap and easy way to add remote control functionality. It’s compatible with all iPhones from the 4S onward.

The adapter costs $20 for two from Amazon.

Via BGR

Philips Hue blocks access to ‘untested’ third-party bulbs due to ‘interoperability issues’ [U: U-turn]

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Update: Philips has done a U-turn, stating that it “under-estimated the impact this would have on a small number of customers who use lights from other brands” and has decided to reverse the upgrade. It said that it is “working on the reversal of the upgrade and will shortly confirm when this will be available.” The Friends of Hue program will continue, with Bosch, Logitech and Samsung SmartThings having joined so far, adding to existing partnerships with Apple and Nest.

An update to the Philips Hue system has blocked access to some third-party bulbs, including GE Link LED (above) and Cree Connected LED, citing ‘interoperability issues.’ While existing bulbs already linked to the Philips Hue Bridge will continue to work for now, the system is not currently allowing additional bulbs to be added, and Philips says there are no guarantees that this won’t change in future updates.

We are seeing an increasing number of interoperability issues with these untested third party products, which are causing increasing confusion for our installed base. They are also hampering our ongoing development and damaging the consistency of experience for the Philips Hue ecosystem. Next to confusing differences in setup and resetting, we’ve encountered a number of such issues over the years including 3rd party lights which do not turn off when we fade them to off, lights which do not react correctly to scene recalls and lights which stop proper functioning of our Wireless Dimmer Kits.

This will disappoint many, as one of the promises of the Hue system was support for third-party bulbs. All is not yet lost, however …


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Philips officially unveils Bridge 2.0, bringing Siri-powered HomeKit to existing Hue bulbs and lamps

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Siri voice control is finally coming to Philips Hue connected light bulbs thanks to promised HomeKit support and a new bridge product. Details have been surfacing over the last month with product listings going up a day early, and today Philips is ready to officially reveal how it’s bringing HomeKit support to Hue bulbs and lamps. As expected, Hue bulb owners will be able to upgrade to the new Philips Hue Bridge 2.0 to enable using Siri to control Hue lights. The new, square-shaped bridge works similar to the old, round bridge — connecting to up to 50 bulbs  only with HomeKit support included even for existing bulbs and plans to support future home platforms as well.
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Netflix unveils its DIY ‘Netflix and Chill’ button

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Netflix has shown off a one-touch ‘move time’ button that switches on Netflix, dims the lights and puts your iPhone into Do Not Disturb mode. The button was introduced at the 2015 World Maker Faire, and the company has released the plans to enable you to build your own. It is also inviting idea for further one-touch buttons.

It was done as a PR stunt, of course, but the button does have a serious side – showing the kind of intelligence we can look forward to when Apple’s HomeKit starts integrating control of our smart home products. Being able to use Siri to control lights is nice, but homes will really be smart when we can say things like ‘Romantic dinner’ and have it set the lights, play the right music and keep the kids occupied upstairs by unlocking their favourite games.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=2&v=TTlIGdlbTy4]

Via Engadget

Apple’s tough security requirements for Bluetooth LE are delaying HomeKit roll-out, say manufacturers

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If you were wondering why manufacturers seemed to be rather slow in launching HomeKit-compatible devices, it may all be down to Apple’s stringent security requirements. Forbes reports that manufacturers are finding it hard to incorporate the extremely secure encryption standards demanded by Apple in order to achieve MFi certification for their products.

Apple is requiring device makers using both WiFi and Bluetooth LE to use complicated encryption with 3072-bit keys, as well as the super secure Curve25519, which is an elliptic curve used for digital signatures and exchanging encrypted keys.

While mains-powered WiFi kit is coping, the processing workload in battery-powered Bluetooth LE devices is leading to extremely slow response times, say manufacturers … 
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HomeKit-compatible version of Ecobee 3 smart thermostat goes on sale in Apple Stores today

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The HomeKit-compatible version of the Ecobee 3 smart thermostat, officially announced last month, goes on sale in U.S. Apple Stores today, reports The Verge. Apple has sold the original version since November of last year. The HomeKit-enabled model allows the thermostat to be controlled by Siri.

While Apple’s online store listing has not yet been updated to mention HomeKit-compatibility, it’s likely that the new version will ship from there too.

HomeKit was officially documented by Apple last month, the company confirming our report that the Apple TV would act as the gateway device. The support page has since been updated with a full list of Siri commands.

You can read the full press release below.

Via The Verge
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9to5Toys Last Call: Belkin WeMo switches from $31, iPad Air 2 $359, Sennheiser Momentum $70, more

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call Updates:

WD Elements 2TB USB 3.0 Hard Drive $70, Samsung 850 EVO 500GB SSD $150more

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Amazon Gold Box – up to 38% off Belkin WeMo devices with prices starting at $31 Prime shipped (Reg. $50)

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iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi 16GB $359 or 64GB $499, iPhone 6/Plus w/ free $150 GC on installment or $70 off w/ 2-yr contract

iPad Air Wi-Fi + Cellular 128GB in Silver: $449 shipped (Orig. $929)

Best Buy 4-Day Sale: 13″ Retina MacBook Pro 256GB $1,350 & 21″ iMac 1TB $1,150 + extra $100 off w/ .edu

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Sennheiser Momentum headphones: on-ears $70 (Reg. $80+), over-ears (open-box) $120 (Reg. $170), more

HERO4 Session (PRNewsFoto/GoPro)

GoPro’s new HERO4 Session waterproof action camera is the size of an ice cube with an iceberg-sized price

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Amazon is throwing itself a birthday party so big it’ll make you forget about Black Friday

More new gear from today:

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SanDisk Connect Wireless Media Drive: 32GB $40 (Reg. $80), 64GB $55 (Reg. $120)

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Samsung 64GB PRO Class 10 Memory: SDXC $30 shipped (Reg. $46+), microSD $38 shipped (Reg. $47)

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Games/Apps: Dragon Age Inquisition $30, Logitech Optical Gaming Mouse $30 (Reg. $70), iOS freebies, more

Daily Deals: CyberPower 1500VA/900-Watt UPS $98, Google Chromecast $25 w/ pick up, more

More deals still alive:

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Logitech Master MX Wireless Mouse $87 shipped (Reg. $100)

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Apple is giving away free downloads of iOS cooking app Green Kitchen ($5 value)

App Store Free App of the Week: Star Walk 2 goes free for the first time ($3 value)

Bloons Tower Defense 5 for iPhone/iPad goes free (Reg. $3/$5)

App Store promo – Great Games 50% off: Halo Spartan Strike $3 (Reg. $6)more

Readdle launches Scanner Pro 6 for iOS w/ release day pricing: $3 (Reg. $6)

New products & more:star-wars-battlefront

Amazon is now treating its Prime members to extra savings on new/upcoming video game

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Philips says HomeKit coming to Hue in the fall, existing lights will be compatible

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Philips has confirmed on Facebook that it will be adding HomeKit support to its iPhone-controlled Hue lighting system – and that existing lights will be compatible.

The post gives no specific details, but in response to a customer question about whether existing Hue lights will work with HomeKit, Philips confirmed that they will.

Yes, the solution we are working on will work with all your existing and new Hue lights. To get details about how your existing Philips Hue products will work with HomeKit, please follow us on Twitter or Facebook

The most likely approach is that Philips will offer a hub to act as a bridge between HomeKit and existing Hue products. The company says that it will reveal full details in September.

An Apple support document recently confirmed expectations that the Apple TV will act as a HomeKit gateway for controlling devices from outside the home.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHvgtAcZl6g&feature=youtu.be]

Elgato’s smart home devices now available for pre-order as HomeKit officially starts shipping

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Elgato has announced pricing for its range of HomeKit-compatible smart home devices, and made them available for pre-order. Sources told us last week that the first HomeKit devices would go on sale this week, but with no indication of delivery times, Elgato doesn’t appear to be one of the roughly five companies expected to begin shipping later today.

Elgato first announced last September that it would be making HomeKit devices, and has now revealed pricing on four products, ranging from door/window sensors for $39.95 to a room sensor – measuring temperature, humidity and air quality – for $79.95 … 
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Broadcom’s SDK is first to support HomeKit for WiFi & Bluetooth accessories, hardware bridges for non-HomeKit products

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Broadcom today announced that its new SDK for the Internet of Things (IoT) now officially supports Apple’s home automation HomeKit platform, bringing us a step closer to widespread availability of Siri-controlled smart home devices.

Broadcom notes that its SDK is the first to officially support HomeKit specs for WiFi and Bluetooth Smart accessories, allowing developers to use its Wireless Internet Connectivity for Embedded Devices (WICED) platform to build apps for Apple’s new Siri-controlled, home automation platform. They will also be able to build products that double as a hardware bridge for non-HomeKit accessories. 
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Tado smart thermostat app gets smarter with multiple temperatures in the day

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The app for the Tado smart thermostat, which I reviewed back in 2013, just got a little smarter.

You like to have it cozy and warm when you enjoy your evening on the sofa but a cooler temperature is preferable during the day? No problem, with the new multi-temperature feature tado° now lets you create different temperatures for different times of the day. Just select the times and the temperatures and label them accordingly.

Perfect for me, as my home office is upstairs and 2C warmer than the living-room downstairs, so now I can set it for 19C during working hours (which means 21C in the office), and 21C in the evenings. It still automatically turns down the temperature when everyone is out, of course.

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Tado smart thermostat gets IFTTT channel and API, can now control other devices

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Tado, the smart thermostat system I reviewed back in 2013, now has an IFTTT channel and an API, allowing it to control other home automation devices.

Tado° users will soon be able to connect their tado° Smart Thermostat to other appliances via IFTTT. This will enable the use of the tado° geolocation feature for purposes other than smart heating or cooling. In the very near future, when a tado° user leaves the house, not only will the heating automatically go to savings mode, but simultaneously the lights switch off, the alarm system activates, the garage door locks and landline calls reroute to their mobile.

The company says that the API will allow developers to integrate Tado into other home automation apps. The company is also working on HomeKit support.

IFTTT introduced three simplified apps last month to make the service more accessible to non-technical users, while rebranding its full-fat app as IF.

Apple details HomeKit compatibility with competing home automation platforms, rules out rival Wi-Fi gear

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Apple will allow its upcoming Siri-controlled HomeKit platform to work with certain existing, non-HomeKit home automation products, including ones using competing protocols such as ZigBee or Z-Wave, but there are many limitations. According to sources briefed on the new specs, the latest Made for iPhone (MFi) licensing program specifications detail the types of home automation products other than HomeKit that Apple will permit to interact with its platform.

During the 2014 WWDC, Apple briefly mentioned the possibility of connecting rival home automation products to HomeKit using a hardware “bridge,” but only in recent weeks has clarified the types of accessories that will and will not be allowed.
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Roost smart 9V battery turns your dumb smoke alarms into connected ones

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The plethora of smart home devices at CES makes it clear that home automation is an idea whose time has finally come. It seems there’s almost no household device now that can’t be controlled by, or at least communicate with, an iPhone.

The only downside is the expense of having to replace your perfectly good dumb devices with smart versions. This is the problem the Roost Smart Battery set out to solve, a WiFi-enabled 9v battery allowing your existing smoke alarm to send alerts to your iPhone when it’s triggered, so you get alerted even if the alarm is at the other end of the house or you’re away from home … 
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The latest gadgets from CES 2015 to bring HomeKit automation and Siri integration to your setup

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At WWDC 2014, Apple first announced HomeKit which it describes as a “framework in iOS 8 for communicating with and controlling connected accessories” around your home, and we’re starting to see the first HomeKit-enabled accessories announced. HomeKit is especially interesting as smart devices that use it can be controlled by Siri commands like “turn off the lights” or “lock the front door” and actions can even be grouped together. Below you’ll find our running list of the latest gadgets from CES 2015 to bring HomeKit automation and Siri integration to your home:
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Misfit introduces Bolt, its smart light bulb w/ sleep tracking device integration

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BoltWe saw Misfit introduce a unique, luxury version of its Shine fitness and sleep tracking wearable with Swarovski at CES yesterday, and today Misfit is launching Bolt—its first smart bulb. Misfit describes Bolt as ” a wirelessly connected color-changing light bulb that lets users personalize their home lighting.” Misfit points out that its Bolt connected light bulbs won’t require a hub and actually integrate with the company’s existing sleep tracking devices (Shine, Flash, Beddit) to gently wake you up with lighting during light sleep.
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Insteon unveils its HomeKit-enabled Hub and automation app

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HomeKit, Apple’s framework for connecting automation accessories and Siri together, is already proving to be a big hit at CES 2015. Today home automation company Insteon unveiled its own HomeKit plans as part of the Consumer Electronics Show. Specifically, Insteon announced its new app that will support the automation framework allowing you to control any HomeKit-enabled device. Additionally, the company announced its new HomeKit-enabled Insteon Hub.
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Belkin expanding WeMo smart home range with four new sensors, as BeeWi plans to compete

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Belkin has announced four new products for its WeMo home automation range, with a focus on home security. You won’t be able to get your hands on them for a while, though: they aren’t set to go on sale until the second half of the year.

All four new products are sensors, capable of sending alerts to the WeMo app and triggering other WeMo devices such as switches, plug sockets and lightbulbs … 
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iDevices talks working w/ Apple to fast track HomeKit product development w/ its own SDK

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Apple introduced HomeKit during its WWDC Keynote presentation last June. Since then we’ve heard HomeKit-enabled chips are on the move, but you still can’t buy a HomeKit-certified device. They are on the way, however, as Apple just started accepting product plans from manufacturers following a yearly summit for companies in its Made-for-iPhone program.

iDevices, maker of the iGrill, is hoping it’ll help push HomeKit into the mainstream. Since early last year, the Connecticut-based company has invested over 10 million dollars into HomeKit development and has been closely working with Apple to create its own HomeKit SDK. We recently spoke with the CEO of iDevices to learn more about how the company is working with Apple to build its own HomeKit SDK meant to help fast track hardware product development for the platform.
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Holiday gift guide: Smart home products – get a jump on HomeKit for 2015

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I wondered earlier this year whether Apple’s HomeKit system would bring home automation to the masses. The good news is that you don’t need to wait for HomeKit to start bringing smart home technology to your family and friends – and we’ve put together a gift guide covering some of the main products that might bring a smile to their faces during the holidays.

With the right gadgets, they will be able to control lighting, heating, cooking, sound systems … even have their kettle switch on when they walk up to their front door, which will automatically unlock as they approach. Best of all, you can get them in on the smart home action from just $30 …


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Review: Jawbone UP 24, a smart fitness band that gets you up 24/7

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The Jawbone UP bracelet has been on the market for three years receiving improvements every year. The Jawbone UP 24 received a major update: Bluetooth LE. Initially to sync the data onto the phone, the user had to plug the band into the phone’s headphone jack and wait, typically about fifteen seconds, for the data to sync into the app.

Now, since the UP 24 has Bluetooth LE capabilities, it is compatible with the iPhone 4S and later, the fifth generation iPod Touch, the third generation iPad and newer as well as the iPad Minis. Jawbone has made the UP 24 to be compatible with Android phones. Bluetooth LE allows the band to automatically connect with the Jawbone UP app.


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