The Galileo is a motorized iPhone holder that allows a remote user to pan or tilt the phone 360 degrees to leverage a better view with the camera. Galileo was invented by the same minds behind the popular Gorillapod tripod, Josh Guyot and JoeBen Bevirt.
To use Galileo, the person receiving the video call would place their phone in the device. The person making the call could then use their iPhone, iPad or web browser to pan or tilt the device, using either a touchscreen interface or their mouse.
Power is provided through a USB cable, or by the onboard rechargeable battery. The dock can also serve as a charging station for the phone and is expected to retail for $129.95
The new line of GE’ French door refrigerators come with some interesting new features like “Hands-free Autofill” and “PreciseFill” systems which utilize an ultrasonic sensor to detect how much water the fridge needs to dispense into your containers. It might not be particularly useful for a small cup, but it might make your morning pot of coffee easier to make.
“Our commitment first and foremost is to simplify and streamline the consumer’s world, applying innovations in a way that makes home life easier,” said John Boyd, refrigeration marketing manager for GE Appliances. “There’s more to a refrigerator than just storing food and beverages and keeping them cold. The industry-first features in our new French door models provide convenience, efficiency and bring ease to the hectic lives of busy consumers.”
The new models will also integrate a “smart meter” that gives the user maintenance information on all their GE appliances so you know how much energy each item consumes and receive service alerts whenever necessary. The information can be accessed on a computer or straight through a smartphone app.
PlayLater is a new online service that, according to its creators, “works like a DVR for online videos.”
“PlayLater works very much like a DVR. Simply select the show you want to record and PlayLater will either record it or add it to your queue to be recorded once the current recording is finished. The show will record in real time on your computer just as it would on a DVR. The recording will take place in the background on your computer so you can continue to do other things while PlayLater works. “
Right now PlayLater only works on Windows systems (and recommends 100GB of storage space) and can be purchased for $19.99 per year. A lifetime subscription is also available for $49.99
Josh recently finished a remodel on his home theater, and I’d say it looks pretty good.
Remember: MHA has a new home theater division that you can check out here.
Sony’s “cure for the common tablet”, the foldable Tablet P, went on sale yesterday and can be purchased for $400 with a two-year service agreement with AT&T. Customers can also opt for a more flexible month-to-month or prepaid-service data plan, but that’ll raise the price further north to $550.
The Tablet P weighs 0.83 pounds and features dual 5.5-inch displays that fold together. It’s powered by Google’s Honeycomb operating system and allows users to download and play original PlayStation games.
For better or worse, there’s nothing else quite like Tablet P on the market. If you’re a fan of Sony’s hardware and entertainment options (and you don’t mind AT&T), Tablet P is worth checking out.
The above video shows a rather neat (if impractical) Kinect-powered shopping cart that can follow a user around the store and monitor what they buy. Putting aside how expensive a single cart would be (and the obvious problems in the demo), it’s still hard to envision this thing in my neighborhood grocery store. I shudder to imagine that creepy robot voice announcing every item that everyone puts in their cart. Plus, call me old fashioned, but I think I’d prefer to push my cart.
Still, it is a cool amalgamation of tech and who knows what the final product will be.
Barnes & Noble is launching a new 8GB version of their Nook Tablet that’s set to go on sale for $199. The new Nook will have the same basic features as the existing Nook Tablet but half the storage capacity. Still, at 8GBs it’s both the same size as the Kindle Fire and the same price. The Nook Color is also getting a price drop to $169, and both are available now on BN’s website.
Here’s a video of Jeff Singer, Crestron director of global marketing campaigns, demonstrating Crestron’s integration with Kinect gestures.
The info-graphic above illustrates how MHA utilizes Cloud Technology in each of the home automation systems we sell.
One of the coolest products at CES this year isn’t a smartphone or an ultrabook, but Wi3’s MoCA product, the WiPNET. Wi3 has won a number of accolades for the produce including the CES 2012 Innovations Award in the home networking category.
Wi3’s website describes the product as “a simple solution to the myriad of problems facing in-home networks and the hassles of connecting multiple Internet devices to a single access point. “
The WipNET uses a home’s existing coax cable and MoCA® technology to provide reliable and full-strength ethernet connections anywhere they are needed.
What makes MoCA and the WipNET so impressive is that it enhances technology that is already found in most homes, coaxial cables and outlets, to distribute media in a household.
rss twitter facebook linkd-in