Apple today released iOS 11.2.1, a small bug-fix update for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
Apple issues iOS 11.2.1 with HomeKit fix
Connected Home
Eglato’s firmware updates and iOS 11 make the Eve HomeKit lineup much faster and more reliable
Among all the other changes that iOS 11 brought to HomeKit, it completely reworked the way Bluetooth accessories communicated. Elgato updated the firmware on a trio of their popular HomeKit accessories to take advantage of these new changes and they now operate nearly instantly.
Ikea delays HomeKit support for its smart lighting products due to technical difficulties
Ikea's Trådfri family of smart lighting products won't be getting HomeKit support today due to “technical difficulties” in getting the connectivity to work, the company wrote in a blog post.
Review: Sylvania HomeKit Smart+ full color LED bulb works without a hub
The go-to HomeKit accessory that the majority of people jump to is lightbulbs. Everyone can use them, and they offer a ton of functionality. That is why products like the Philips Hue system took off. The Sylvania Smart+ LED bulb is a great alternative, because it requires no expensive networked hub, and instead talks directly with your devices.
Koogeek’s affordable HomeKit accessories are a great way to start your smart home
I've been one of the biggest proponents of the HomeKit smart home since it was announced by Apple. Since then, much has happened in this space but, there has historically been two major hurdles for early adopters. Prices have been high, and manufacturer support has been slow.
Now, thanks to companies like Koogeek, there is a huge number of HomeKit accessories on the market, and prices have been significantly dropping. We have three of Koogeek's HomeKit products to review today. The smart bulb socket, wall socket, and (my favorite) wall switch.
Hands on with new HomeKit features in iOS 11
As we previously outlined, quite thoroughly, iOS 11 and watchOS 4 introduce many cool new features for HomeKit across iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch devices.
Interactive HomeKit demos hit Apple Stores
If you don't own HomeKit accessories or haven't had a chance to try them in someone’s home or apartment, Apple has you covered. As TechCrunch reported Wednesday, Apple has unveiled cool HomeKit experiences in 46 of its retail stores worldwide.
For customers in the United States, these demos are currently available at Apple's Union Square store in San Francisco, the World Trade Center and Williamsburg outlets in New York and 28 other stores throughout the country.
Globally, as many as fifteen stores are currently hosting the new experience, including select outlets in the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Germany, Mexico, Singapore and Taiwan.
The interactive demos feature the Home app which can be used from either an Apple Watch, iPhone or iPad to control devices like the Phillips Hue light bulb and the Hunter ceiling fan.
This isn't a full show room. For instance, if you tell the Home app to lower the shades in the living room, you'll see simulated results of your action in the house shown on the huge screen.
The demos include HomeKit scenes which the user can set up to their liking in order to activate and control multiple devices with a single tap or Siri command. Apple last November invited select members of the press to a house in Alameda that it decked out with HomeKit gear.
Apple's renewed push for the living room and these interactive demos will play a bigger role later this year, when the company hopefully takes the wraps off a next-generation Apple TV with 4K resolution and releases the Siri-enabled HomePod smart speaker.
“Apple doesn’t have a clear timeline for how long this will be available inside retail stores, but it seems that it will be relatively constant, at least through December when the HomePod comes out,” according to writer Megan Rose Dickey.
Elgato debuts Eve Degree HomeKit sensor [video review]
Elgato has released the newest edition to their already impressive HomeKit lineup of Eve products, Eve Degree. The Eve Degree is a HomeKit temperature and humidity sensor that connects over Bluetooth Low Energy. It has a new aluminum enclosure, a much better look than the similar Eve Room and Eve Weather, with a large readable screen on the front for glanceable information.
Former Android chief unveils edge-to-edge phone and Echo-like speaker
Andy Rubin, the guy who came up with Android, today announced his new smartphone post-Google, featuring an edge-to-edge display that one-ups Samsung's Galaxy S8, in addition to an Amazon Echo-like appliance with on-device intelligence.
Both products debuted from Rubin's new company, Essential.
Essential Phone, as it's called, runs Android and has a 5.71-inch QHD edge-to-edge display with Gorilla Glass 5 protection. The display extends all the way to the the top of the device and wraps around the front-facing camera.
The Echo rival, called Essential Home, features compatibility with Apple's HomeKit framework and other software platforms for the connected home.
Both products can be pre-ordered today.
Essential PhoneEncased in a titanium body with a ceramic back, Essential Phone can survive a drop test “without blemish, unlike the aluminum competitor devices,” says the company. The premium smartphone with a high-resolution 5.71-inch, 2,560-by-1,312 pixel display is powered by Qualcomm's eight-core Snapdragon 835 processor with four gigabytes of RAM.
Essential Phone lacks the standard 3.5mm headphone jack and uses Bluetooth 5.0 and USB-C.
Customers will be able to use any Bluetooth or USB-C-based headset with the phone. The Verge has learned that Essential Phone will ship with a headphone dongle in the box.
Other features include a magnetic connector on the back side for connecting accessories like a new 360-degree camera, a 13-megapixel dual-lens camera with a second lens using a monochrome sensor for better low-light shots, an eight-megapixel selfie camera with 4K video capture, a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and other perks.
According to the company, the magnetic connector was designed with modularity in mind, to help keep Essential Phone “cord-free, future-proof and always up-to-date".
Essential HomeBuilt on the open-source Ambient OS software which can automatically discover and use new devices on its network, Essential Home has a built-in round display at the top which can be turned on just by glancing at it (or by tapping or using your voice) to quickly see contextual information.
The accessory uses on-device artificial intelligence rather than offload AI features to the cloud. Like with Apple's AI implementation, such an approach helps preserve user privacy. Its proactive assistant will support notifications and reminders with contextual information displayed on the built-in screen.
Essential Home should support Nest and SmartThings devices for the connected home. According to Wired, it will feature hooks for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
AvailabilityEssential Phone will be available in Black, Gray, White and Ocean Depths colors. At the time of this writing, only white models were able for pre-order. The contract-free phone costs $699.
Essential's 360-degree camera currently costs $50, but the price will eventually increase to $199. Pricing for Essential Home is yet to be announced, but we do know that the device will ship later this summer.
Andy Rubin is schedule to give a talk later today at Recode's Code Conference.
Upcoming HomeKit support will let you voice-control your Ikea smart lighting
Furniture, kitchen appliances and home accessories giant Ikea announced on Tuesday that its inexpensive Trådfri smart lighting system will soon gain support for HomeKit, Apple's smart home management platform.
German publication iPhone-ticker.de reports that Ikea is readying a software update to its Trådfri app to make its smart lighting products controllable not only via Apple's HomeKit system, but also through Amazon's Echo and Google's Home smart speakers.
The new firmware update should arrive in the summer.
HomeKit will let you use Siri to voice-control Ikea's smart bulbs and incorporate HomeKit-enabled Ikea products in your custom scenes through Apple's Home app on iPhone and iPad.
The official Trådfri app, seen below, allows different family members to easily customize the light and atmosphere however they want, depending on their activity (i.e. choose a light for early mornings, another for late evenings and a third for cooking or working at home).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5blA3EgaDpI
Announced in March 2017, Ikea's extensive smart lighting lineup sports plug-and-play simplicity at significantly lower prices than similar systems from the likes of Philips and others.
Starting at $12 a piece, for instance, Ikea's smart bulbs cost half as much as Philips' Hue range at $30 per white bulb (goes all the way up to $50 per bulb if you want color). With Ikea's app, you can dim, turn off, turn on and switch your Ikea smart bulbs from warm to cold light.
The full range of smart lighting systems from Ikea includes LED bulbs, dimming lights, illuminated panels, a motion sensor kit and a gateway device. It was unclear at the time of this writing whether or not Ikea is planning on eventually making its whole range of smart products for the connected home compatible with the HomeKit platform, which would be splendid.
Microsoft and Harman Kardon unveil Invoke smart speaker with Cortana, coming this fall
Battle of the smart speakers is intensifying as Microsoft and Harman Kardon announced today a new connected speaker with the Cortana personal assistant built-in and other artificial intelligence features.
Dubbed Invoke, the smart home accessory features premium 360 sound powered by Harman Kardon technology, a “touch to surprise” user interface panel at the top with interactive Cortana lighting and built-in controls, easy setup via Windows 10 or the dedicated Cortana app for iPhone and Android and more.
The metal housing packs in three tweeters, three woofers and and two passive radiators.
With Invoke, Microsoft fans will be able to ask Cortana questions and tell her to play music, as well as check calendar appointments, set reminders, check traffic, get weather, the latest sports scores and news headlines, and much more.
Invoke can be used to control home devices like lights and thermostats using voice. Microsoft says home automation features work with select providers only.
“We are excited to partner with Harman Kardon to create a speaker that combines premium audio and stylish design with the intelligence of Cortana.” said Jordi Ribas, CVP, AI Products at Microsoft. “This is our next step in bringing Cortana to even more devices to help users be more productive wherever they are.”
You'll recall that Samsung acquired Harman International last November.
Microsoft first teased the device in December 2016.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bikRuaJAv5g
One thing that will set Ivoke apart from rivals is integrated hands-free calling to cell phones, landlines and other Skype-enabled devices through Microsoft's Skype app. Not unlike the Echo range of smart speakers from Amazon, Microsoft's device features seven microphones and far-field technology allowing it to pick up voices from across a noisy room.
Far-field audio technology is based on Harman's beam forming, echo cancellation and noise reduction algorithms to ensure Cortana can hear you, “even in challenging environments.”
The key features on Invoke include:
Premium sound—Harman Kardon high-quality sound featuring 3 woofers and 3 tweeters give full range, true 360-degree sound. The 2 passive radiators are tuned to give a solid bass performance from a small enclosure. Cortana—Cortana is your truly personal digital assistant designed to help you be more productive. Cortana can set reminders, make lists, manage calendars, provide answers to questions, and much more. Cortana also works across devices, including PC and mobile, so she’s there whenever you need help. Skype calling—Make and receive hands-free calls to cell phones, landlines, and any Skype-enabled device. Smart home control—Control your smart home devices including lights and thermostat and more. Sonique far-field voice technology—Featuring 7 microphones embedded into the speaker, using Harman’s beam forming, echo cancellation, and noise reduction algorithms to ensure Cortana can hear you, even in challenging environments.Invoke is scheduled to arrive this fall via select retailers and Microsoft Stores. At launch, the gadget will be offered to customers in the United States, potentially rolling out globally at a later stage. Pricing has yet to be set.
Invoke will be available in Graphite (Black) or Pearl Silver (White).
For additional information, visit harmankardon.com/invoke.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JX-RawsYlw
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Apple is thought to have finalized design of its smart speaker that could debut at WWDC.
The device is said to integrate Siri and AirPlay features in a cylindrical form factor akin to Mac Pro sporting a concave top with built-in controls and a speaker mesh portion covering it all.
It will reportedly run a version of iOS and include Beats audio technology with “excellent acoustic performance” powered by seven tweeters, one woofer and possibly the company's W1 wireless chip which debuted in AirPods.
Smart light bulbs you can control with your iPhone
If you're looking to dip your toes in the smart home pool, there's perhaps no easier or less-expensive way than with smart light bulbs. Simply install them into the appropriate light sockets, pair them with their mobile app, and you're ready to go.
As with most electronics, there are a lot of choices out there, and some are much better than others. So to help you separate the good from the bad, we decided to compile a list of some of the best smart bulbs you can can control with you iPhone.