Dropcam can now tell the difference between your cat and boyfriend
Wi-Fi-connected surveillance camera Dropcam can be useful for checking on your special furball when you’re away from home. However, movement from an enthusiastic scratching post session registers the same as a burglar running off with your flatscreen, making it a less than ideal for security. That means you either have to deal with constant push notifications, or run the risk you’re getting robbed. Today Dropcam announced that an update coming August will allow the cams to differentiate between people and pets. The company created an algorithm for picking out Fluffy without using depth sensors like other systems by analyzing hours of publicly-shared videos. That means she can keep on frolicking in that sun spot, and you don’t have to hear about it all day.
Dropcam also unveiled new $29 motion sensors called Tabs. Unlike its cameras that have to be placed indoors, Tabs can be placed anywhere. The small weather-resistant sensors can last up to two years on a single battery, and be left places like your front gate or bedroom window (where the camera can’t see) to let you know someone is on their way in. They connect to your existing Dropcam Pro using Bluetooth Low Energy, and work alongside it to provide you push notifications when it senses movement. Tabs aren’t just for security. You can attach one to your washing machine to find out when the rinse cycle is over, or connect one to Mr. Tickle’s collar to let you know he’s escaped. Tabs can be pre-ordered now in black and while and will be available this spring.
Filed under: Household, Peripherals
Via: The Verge
Source: Dropcam
Join the Engadget HD Podcast live on Ustream at 9:30PM ET
It’s Tuesday, which is time for the Engadget HD Podcast and we hope you’ll join us for the live recording at 9:30PM. Once again we lead off with the latest trials and tribulations of net neutrality, as a few more companies throw opinions into the mix. Of course we wouldn’t even be having such discussions if more ISPs offered gigabit broadband, which is exactly what Cox is hoping to do. WSJ is spreading a rumor that AT&T is looking to purchase DirecTV and as you know, we’ll never miss an opportunity to theorize about a good rumor. Later, we’ll toss around all the other latest news in home theater and entertainment until we finish u with what we’re watching this week. If you’ll be joining us, take a peek at the topics after the break and then get ready to participate in the live chat.
FCC chairman to cable companies: forcing some net traffic into a slow lane will not be permitted
An ‘internet middleman’ calls out six ISPs for letting connections slow down
Mozilla asks the FCC to rethink net neutrality with content providers in mind
Cox wants to hop on the gigabit internet bandwagon this year
WSJ rumor has AT&T talking about buying DirecTV
ESPN makes it easy for you to watch the World Cup anytime, anywhere
You’ve selected Mad Men? Moviefone redesign tacks on TV listings
Microsoft wants you to help improve Kinect 2.0′s voice recognition
Redbox Instant for Android arrives on Chromecast
Play nearly any video on your Chromecast using this browser add-on
For HBO, it’s all about making ‘good shit’
Hulu will bring free TV shows to your phone, and it’s trying to reach your cable box
Dreamworks CEO believes films will be ready to buy 3 weeks after hitting cinemas
Orange is the New Black renewed for a third season before the second even debuts
Must See HDTV for the week of May 6th: 24, Louie and Weekend at Bernie’s
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Alibaba’s massive IPO plans shift the focus from Silicon Valley to China
The recent big tech IPOs of companies like Facebook, Twitter and Tesla could all be dwarfed soon by a company with roots far outside Silicon Valley. Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group just filed documents for its own offering (choosing to trade its stock in the US over Hong Kong) and while its value has not been determined, it could result in the biggest IPO ever when it’s all said and done. Alibaba built its empire on a number of online sales platforms described as a blend of Amazon, eBay and Paypal, and its reach is starting to include the US thanks to investments in companies like Lyft. Alibaba’s other well-known US links are from investment stakes held by Yahoo and Sprint’s owner Softbank, but once it offers shares on an exchange stateside — it hasn’t specified whether that’s NYSE or NASDAQ — that could change. So before its founder Jack Ma (who has retired as CEO last May but remains its executive chairman) snaps up the next Oculus VR out from under Mark Zuckerberg’s nose or we’re all shopping Tmall and Taobao for our same day-deliveries by drone, let’s get to know Alibaba.
[Image credit: Hong Wu/Getty Images]
[Image credit: PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images]
While the internet has connected the world in ways never seen before, many of the companies we’re familiar with have little direct contact with the 600 million+ people logged on in China. That extends not just to Alibaba, but also “China’s Google” search engine Baidu, fellow online store JD.com (which has already filed for an IPO in the US) and any number of others. Dr. Yan Anthea Zhang tells the New York Times we should expect to see competition between the sides heat up in the future, which in China has predictably gone the local’s way. Differences in the Chinese market and familiarity in dealing with government issues put your Silicon Valley standard bearers on awkward footing, and it will be interesting to see if the situation follows that pattern here.
In China, other than providing online shopping tools for other companies to build stores on and a PayPal-like electronics payment service called Alipay, Alibaba’s main consumer-facing offerings are Taobao and TaoBao Mall, or Tmall. The difference between Alibaba and Amazon is that even there, it doesn’t actually handle or ship the goods itself, it just provides the platform for a shop and customers deal with the brands directly. As analyst Kelland Willis describes to Mashable, it enables policies like paying cash on delivery, after the customer has a chance to inspect the item.
Alibaba’s initial SEC filing leaves a lot of questions left to be answered before its IPO actually commences later this year, like what exchange it will be listed on or how its shares will be priced. As a result, its true value is still unknown, but a couple of figures explain why the potential is so high. In the document, Alibaba reveals its partners shipped over 5 billion packages in 2013, more than UPS’ 4.3 billion global total last year. It claims more than 231 million active users in China, which Reuters points out is more than Amazon and eBay combined. As a shop that modestly calls itself “The largest online and mobile commerce company in the world,” expect its debut on the trading exchanges will have shockwaves that may impact Yahoo and Sprint first, but the rest of the internet won’t be far behind.
Source: Alibaba (SEC)
You know you want it: leaked HTC One M8 looks pretty in Pink
We know that the HTC One M8 can now be had in gold or even platinum, but what about a colour that’s slightly off the beaten path. Master of leaks, evleaks, has today leaked a press render of a HTC One M8 that is looking very pretty in pink. Given that its predecessor, the original HTC One, was available in additional colours like red and blue, it’s not surprising to see HTC coming out with more coloured variants for its new 2014 flagship.
Pink smartphones don’t generally get sold anywhere outside of Asia, however it would be interesting to see if they would make an impact in some of the bigger Western markets particularly if they are targeted at the female audience. Personally, I think the pink HTC One M8 is actually quite striking, and not in a bad way either.
Would you be interested in a pink HTC One M8 if it were available in your region? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Source: evleaks via Android Police
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Will the LG G3 have a brushed aluminium back? This leaked photo says “Yes”
For the longest time, we have asked questions about the materials going into the LG G3: will the LG G3 have a brushed aluminium back? Will it be plastic? Recent rumours appeared inconclusive as they appear to show the LG G3 shrouded in a plastic case, hiding the material beneath. Thank to evleaks though, we have our best look at the back of the LG G3 and it looks very much like brushed aluminium is going to be the material of choice.
In the photo, you can see the outline of what should be the button of the rear volume buttons as well as the LG logo adorning what is the middle of the back cover. The brushed aluminium is, of course, desperately good looking and looks to have taken a leaf out of the HTC One M8′s book. We likely won’t need long to find out if this is the truth as the LG G3 is expected to be announced at LG’s announcement event on May 27th.
What do you think about the brushed aluminium back of the LG G3? Are you more excited about the new flagship smartphone now? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Twitter via TalkAndroid
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Moves will share fitness data with Facebook after all
When Facebook bought Moves, the companies swore that they wouldn’t “commingle” data and raise hackles among privacy-minded users. Many took that to mean that Facebook would take a largely hands-off approach to the fitness tracker. However, it now looks like the two companies may have just been wording their plans very carefully — Moves has updated its privacy policy to say that it will share information with Facebook to “help provide, understand, and improve” services. On the surface, that sounds like the very data mixing that wasn’t supposed to happen. What gives?
Facebook isn’t clarifying things much: a spokeswoman reiterated to the Wall Street Journal that there wouldn’t be any mingling, but also acknowledged that Moves would be sharing info. The truth, as Ars Technica suggests, may be complicated. While Facebook may not may be incorporating Moves’ data with its own, the phrasing would let it pass statistics along to advertisers; there’s a concern that companies might cross-reference Moves content with Facebook users and target their ads accordingly. If you start getting a lot of pitches for running shoes on your news feed, you’ll know what’s up.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Facebook
Via: Ars Technica, The Verge
Source: Moves, Wall Street Journal
Engadget Daily: Chromebooks go mainstream, CleverPet trains dogs to solve puzzles, and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Google aims for the mainstream with 20 new, more powerful Chromebooks
Today, Intel announced its plans to release as many as 20 (!) new Chromebooks by the second half of this year. Just as important, this new crop will include a few models with Core i3 processors, making them by far the most powerful Chrome OS devices to date.
Razer Blade review (2014): a ‘no-compromise’ premium gaming laptop
In the past, Razer’s gaming laptops have mainly been criticized for two things: short battery life and lackluster displays. This year’s model, the fourth-gen Razer Blade, packs a beautiful 3,200 x 1,800 screen, but its battery life falls two hours short of the last-gen model.
Don’t touch this toilet
Toilets are gross: it’s a fact. But what if you didn’t ever have to touch them? Well, Kohler has an intuitive solution that lets you flush simply by waving your hand.
CleverPet makes every dog Pavlov’s dog
Are you looking for a way to keep your furry friend occupied while you’re out of the house? If so, CleverPet might be for you. The nifty contraption uses classical conditioning to train your dog to solve puzzles, rather than chew your seat cushion.
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Filed under: Misc
Captain America themed limited edition HTC One M8 contest underway for the Super Selfie
Are you the king or queen of selfies? Seems HTC wants you to use the power of seflies and give you all a chance at winning a limited edition HTC One M8 that is all Captain America orientated and themed. Mostly it looks like they have a number etches S.H.I.E.L.D on the rear of the device and a couple Captain America wallpapers.
Entering will drag you to HTC’s Facebook page or Twitter. The rules are pretty simple. Take your best super selfie that is Captain America inspired and share it to the Facebook contest post. If you choose to enter through Twitter, you need to follow @HTCUSA or @HTCCanada and share your photo with the hash – #superselfie – You have to be 18 to enter and it runs from May 1st, though May 15th at 11:559p.m. est. 5 from the Facebook posts and 5 from the Twitter posts in the U.S. while only 2 for Canada posts on Facebook and Twitter will be chosen. The winners will be announced May 19th. There are plenty of other rules you will probably want to read through. They can be found the official rules page.
You don’t have to enter o grab any or all of the killer wallpapers though.
Head over to the HTC One M8 Captain America page to check it all out and grab those wallpapers while you are there.
Source: HTC via Droid-Life
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For HBO, it’s all about making ‘good shit’
It’s not often that HBO CEO Richard Plepler is out doing some public speaking about his company. Today, however, Plepler took the stage at The Atlantic’s New York Ideas event in The Big Apple, where he was interviewed by NBC’s Willie Geist to talk about where HBO stands and where it’s headed. While Plepler may not have revealed any major secrets during the interview, it is always interesting to hear how the Home Box Office boss feels about the current status of the premium channel. For example, he talked about having lunch earlier in the day with a friend, who told him how HBO is known for making “good shit.” For Plepler, that’s music to the ears, as he said HBO is always striving to have the best contest possible. “We’re trying to create new addicts and build a new generation of viewers. What we’re trying to do is become a magnet for the best talent to come to work,” he stated.
One of the things Plepler also touched on was how the model of TV and HBO are completely different, stating that television measures its success by CPMs (cost per thousands, in relation to advertising), whereas HBO is focused on selling a brand. “All we’re trying to do is create the best product possible,” he said. “We don’t ask what the numbers are after a premiere; we ask if it delivered on our expectations.”
And, hey, of course Geist asked him about Netflix. In response to whether or not he considers the video-streaming giant a direct competitor, Plepler simply said, “No.” He went on to say, “As long as we are playing our game, we are going to have our fair share of attention.” Of course, a lot of that attention nowadays comes from people using HBO Go (some of whom don’t pay for it), and Plepler said the service is only going to get better. As he put it, “We are going to make sure we continue to advance the digital options of our brand.”
But regardless of who the competition may be, Plepler believes what’s important is that HBO focuses on making its content outstanding. “At the end of the day, it’s all about our product,” he said.
[Image credit: Getty Images North America]
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD
Your smartphone may soon double as a hearing aid, thanks to Mimi
Let’s face it: we live in a noisy world. If we’re not sitting on loud trains or traipsing past construction sites, we’re retreating into music with headphones. Alas, this also means hearing loss is a problem that can’t be ignored — that’s why a startup called Mimi cooked up an iOS app to help you really figure out how far gone your hearing is.
At flrst blush, it’s a little like those old grade school hearing tests: as soon as you hear that telltale pulsating tone, you tap your phone’s screen. After two minutes, voila — you’ve got your own personal hearing profile which shows you how well your ears respond to different frequencies. Once that’s all done, you can experiment with “masks” to experience life through the ears of a middle-aged person or a construction worker (among others). The notion of hearing a pre-recorded message through someone else’s ears is a little bizarre, but it does open your eyes (or ears) to what others live with everyday.
Calling Mimi a mere hearing test is technically accurate for now, but the team behind it aspires to greater things. A future version of the app (which co-founder Phillipp Skribanowitz graciously let us play with at TechCrunch Disrupt NY) brings real-time audio enhancement into the mix. That mode (which will eventually cost you) chews on your hearing test data to tune the sound coming in through your headset’s microphone for your own ears — think of it as a software-based hearing aid on your phone. At this stage it’s not terribly polished, but I did notice that the preset meant for construction workers did make a brief conversation a little easier to hear. Skribanowitz did say though that the team was more concerned about getting a functional product out the door, and that some of the more valuable stuff will come after the app gets a few coats of polish. Also coming down the pipeline are more traditional physical hearing aids that optimize the world’s audio in the same way, though Skribanowitz told TechCrunch that the team’s heart really lies in software. The biggest rub? For now, the app is tuned to work best with Apple’s stock white EarPods and a pair of Sennheiser HDA 200s.
AIVAnet 