How to set up and control smart thermostats using Amazon Echo
How do I control my thermostat with an Amazon Echo?
Using your phone to control your smart thermostat is cool, but using your voice is even better. If you’re using a smart thermostat and are planning on adding an Amazon Echo to your setup, there’s a good chance you’re able to connect the two and do some very interesting things. Here’s everything you need to know about setting up and controlling your smart thermostat through an Amazon Echo!
- Nest Thermostat
- Ecobee3 Thermostat
- Honeywell Thermostat
Nest Thermostat
Nest Thermostat is supposed to be the thermostat that learns from you and eventually makes it so you never have to touch it, but sometimes it’s nice to be able to speak and cool things down. To add Nest to your Amazon Echo:
Open the Alexa app on your phone.
Tap the menu button and select Smart Home from the list.
Swipe down until you see Get More Smart Home Skills and tap on the arrow.
Type “Nest” in the search box and tap the first result with the Nest logo.
Tap Enable Skill.
Log in to your Nest account.
Select Accept.
Once you have your Nest Thermostat connected to Amazon Echo, there’s a couple of ways you can give commands. You’ll need to know the name of your thermostat to give commands to your Echo, which can be found and adjusted in the Nest app. To control your Nest Thermostat with your voice:
- Set a specific temperature with “Alexa, set (thermostat name) to 70”
- Incrementally raise and lower temperature with “Alexa, lower the (thermostat name) by 5 degrees”
- Give 2 degree increase or decrease commands with “Alexa, cool down (thermostat name)”
These voice commands will not work if your Nest Thermostat is set to Away, Auto-Away, or Off. You also won’t have any voice control if Emergency Heat or Emergency Shutoff modes are active. To return normal functioning order with these modes enabled, you’ll need either the Nest app or be touching the Nest Thermostat.
See at Amazon
Ecobee3 Thermostat
Your Ecobee3 can already do a ton of clever things, but Amazon Echo opens up a massive array of voice commands. To connect your Ecobee3 to your Amazon Echo:
Open the Alexa app on your phone.
Tap the menu button and select Smart Home from the list.
Swipe down until you see Get More Smart Home Skills and tap on the arrow.
Type “Ecobee” in the search box and tap the first result with the Ecobee logo.
Tap Enable Skill.
Log in to your Ecobee account.
Select Accept.
Once your Amazon Echo and Ecobee3 Thermostat are connected, there are several kinds of commands you can speak. The only thing you have to keep in mind is the name of your thermostat, as designated by the Ecobee app. If you don’t give the specific name, Alexa will ask you to confirm with the name you have assigned to the thermostat. You can:
- Set a specific temperature with “Alexa, set (thermostat name) to 70”
- Incrementally raise and lower temperature with “Alexa, lower the (thermostat name) by 5 degrees”
- Give 2 degree increase or decrease commands with “Alexa, cool down (thermostat name)”
If your Ecobee 3 is set to Auto Mode, Alexa will reply to your commands by letting you know it is “aiming” for a set temperature. This means you can request the temperature will be set to 70 and Ecobee will keep the house in a range of 68 and 72 just as if you’d set it using the panel on the wall.
See at Amazon
Honeywell Thermostat
If you have a Honeywell Lyric, Lyric Round, or Total Connect Comfort thermostat, you can connect an Amazon Echo and use your voice to control the temperature. To connect any of these thermostats to your Echo:
Open the Alexa app on your phone.
Tap the menu button and select Smart Home from the list.
Swipe down until you see Get More Smart Home Skills and tap on the arrow.
Type “Honeywell” in the search box and tap the first result with the Ecobee logo.
Tap Enable Skill.
Log in to your Honeywell account.
Select Accept.
Controlling your Honeywell thermostat with Amazon Echo is simple. You just call out to Alexa just like you would for any other command and:
- Incrementally raise and lower temperature with “Alexa, lower the temperature by X degrees”
See? Simple. Most of your thermostat features still require the Honeywell app, but quick temperature changes are just a sentence away.
See at Amazon
Google Pixel event preview: How to watch, stream and vent
How to follow along with the Pixel event
Google’s Pixel event is one of the most anticipated announcements of the year. Sure, it’s going to have phones — we know all about those already — but it’s also likely to give a deep dive into a bunch of other stuff Google has been working on, much of which was teased at Google I/O this past summer.
What to expect
Aside from the phones, we’re likely getting a look at the new Chromecast Ultra, a 4K streaming stick that may cost less than most pairs of shoes. The Chromecast — and Google’s Cast platform — has been a quiet success over the past few years, selling in the millions and proving that people just want to easily stream content to their televisions or connected speakers. Now, in 4K.
More: What to expect from the Google Pixel event
We’re also looking forward to seeing Google Home, which was first teased at I/O in May, in its finished form. The ideal companion to the company’s Assistant platform, Google Home will take on Amazon’s Echo for $129, if rumors are to be believed.
And there are other things to expect, too, including the first Google Daydream headset that, once again, was introduced at Google I/O. Really looking forward to that.
We may also see the introduction of Andromeda, Google’s reported combined mobile/desktop operating system, finally fusing Android and ChromeOS. We’ll see.
Where to follow along
Google is streaming the event on YouTube, so if you want to follow along you can do that. We’re also going to be liveblogging the event from both San Francisco and Toronto, which will be even more fun.
Follow our Google Pixel liveblog starting at 9am PT / 12pm ET
Watch Google’s #madebygoogle livestream of the Pixel event
Join us to chat in our Pixel forums
Find us on social media!
- Snapchat
Google Pixel + Pixel XL
- Everything we know so far
- New navigation buttons
- Google UI + circular icons
- Android 7.1 Nougat
- Pixel vs Pixel XL
- Older Nexus phones
Best Android Phone With Removable Battery
There’s something to be said about removable batteries. They just save you time, which is often worth a lot! If you’re looking for the best phone with a removable battery, the LG V20 is your best bet.
Best overall
LG V20
See at LG
Note: The LG V20 isn’t widely available in the U.S. at the time of writing, but should be shortly. Nevertheless, we’ve used a pre-production unit for long enough to feel like it satisfies our evaluation criteria for this guide.
The V20 is probably LG’s best phone ever, and that’s not just because it has one of the most coveted features for many phone enthusiasts: a removable battery. No, the V20 is a powerhouse, featuring a Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, and all the audio and camera features to satisfy the most hardcore of spec heads.
But if you’re looking for a phone with that replaceable cell, the V20 is the tops: the back metal cover is easily removed, and the battery replaced in a snap. And because LG sells verified replacements, you can rest safe knowing that it is safe, and charged quickly, either inside the phone itself or through an optional external charger.
Bottom line: The V20 is one of the best smartphones of the year, period, but it’s definitely the best choice for someone looking at buying a high-end device with a replaceable battery.
One More thing: The V20 can shoot 4K video with SteadyShot 2.0, which keeps tracking and panning ultra-smooth. Of course, 4K video uses a lot of battery, which is where a second cell, and a tripod, could come in handy.
Why the LG V20 is best
A big phone that can last two or more days.intro
If you’re buying a phone with a removable battery, you likely know exactly why — because you don’t like the new trend towards sealed devices and the potential issues they cause. Imagine if the Note 7 had a removable battery, and how much easier the recall could have been.
The LG V20 has a 3,200mAh battery on its own, but the fact that the battery cell can easily be replaced with another fully-charged equivalent negates the need for fast charging. That the V20 still supports fast charging through its USB-C port is an added bonus, because it means you don’t necessarily need an external charger for the second battery. Just plug it in for an hour to top it up to 80% or so, and put back the primary cell, and you’re good to go.
Aside from battery life, the V20 is an amazing phone, with a unique Second Screen experience, Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box, and all the specs you could want from a top-tier phone.
Best for less
LG G5
See at Amazon
The LG G5 is better than the reviews let on. In fact, there’s a lot to like about LG’s first modular phone, its Friends notwithstanding: it has a beautiful 5.3-inch display, excellent performance, and great cameras. It also has, yes, a removable battery. While the 2,800mAh cell may not be as big as that inside the V20, who cares? This smaller phone has all the juice needed to power you through a whole day, and because it has been on the market for a few months already, it, and replacement battery cells, are easy to find for less.
Bottom-line: The G5 may not be the great follow-up to the G4 many were hoping for, it’s still a great, powerful phone with an awesome removable battery and plenty of character.
One more thing: If you are a fan of photography, the LG CAM Plus is a camera grip add-on with an additional 1,140mAh of battery power, along with a two-stage shutter button and more.
Conclusion
The V20 is the best phone with a removable battery you can buy right now. And because it seems like LG is the only company making high-end Android phones with removable batteries, it may stay that way for a long time.
Best overall
LG V20
See at LG
The V20 is probably LG’s best phone ever, and that’s not just because it has one of the most coveted features for many phone enthusiasts: a removable battery. No, the V20 is a powerhouse, featuring a Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, and all the audio and camera features to satisfy the most hardcore of spec heads.
But if you’re looking for a phone with that replaceable cell, the V20 is the tops: the back metal cover is easily removed, and the battery replaced in a snap. And because LG sells verified replacements, you can rest safe knowing that it is safe, and charged quickly, either inside the phone itself or through an optional external charger.
Bottom line: The V20 is one of the best smartphones of the year, period, but it’s definitely the best choice for someone looking at buying a high-end device with a replaceable battery.
One More thing: The V20 can shoot 4K video with SteadyShot 2.0, which keeps tracking and panning ultra-smooth. Of course, 4K video uses a lot of battery, which is where a second cell, and a tripod, could come in handy.
Samsung may manufacture Qualcomm’s 10nm Snapdragon 830
Samsung LSI currently manufactures Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 on its second-gen 14nm LPP FinFET node, and it looks like the South Korean company has bagged a contract for next year’s 10nm Snapdragon 830 as well. That’s according to Korea’s ET News, which states that the SoC will be used in the Galaxy S8. Samsung will likely retain the same strategy it followed for the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, wherein U.S. models are powered by the Snapdragon 830, while the global version runs its upcoming Exynos 8895.
Like the Snapdragon 830, Samsung’s in-house Exynos 8895 will also be based on the 10nm manufacturing process. ET News also writes that Qualcomm and Samsung are working in developing a FoPLP (Fan-out Panel Level Package) technology that eliminates the need for a printed circuit board for the package substrate that will be used in the Snapdragon 830 and Exynos 8895.
We don’t know much about either SoC, but it looks like Samsung is looking to hit vastly higher frequencies by moving to 10nm. An Exynos 8895 leak from August suggests Samsung is hitting 4GHz on its custom Mongoose core, and reaching 2.7GHz on the Cortex A53 core. It’ll be interesting to see the kind of performance gains Qualcomm achieves with its Kryo CPU implementation.
ICYMI: The NYPL’s book train and better-bouncing ‘bots
Today on In Case You Missed It: The New York Public Library will unveil a brand new “book train” at its Bryant Park branch that will ferry research materials up 11 floors from a subterranean storage vault to a newly refurbished reading room. Also, MIT’s CSAIL lab has developed a 3d-printed, “tuneable” shock absorber that can protect anything from autonomous drones to cellular phones from violent impacts.
Finally, we bring you the mesmerizing aerial ballet that is the world indoor skydiving championships. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
IBM gives its Watson IoT headquarters a $200 million boost
IBM is betting big on internet of things and setting aside $200 million for its Watson IoT division’s headquarters in Munich. The company says this investment, one of the biggest it’s ever made in Europe, is a response to the growing demand for AI technologies and the capability to connect everything to the internet. Part of the money will go to setting up hands-on labs where its clients can work with a thousand researchers, engineers, developers and business experts in the city. In fact, the tech corp has already secured new partnerships with German automotive parts supplier Schaeffler, Netherlands-based dronemaker Aerialtronics and three facilities at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals in Philadelphia.
Schaeffler will use the Watson-powered IoT platform to give the various products it manufactures for the wind turbine, train, auto and other industries a way to monitor their own conditions. The platform will also lend Aerialtronics’ drones the power to monitor traffic patterns and inspect towering structures, such as wind turbines, oil rigs and cell towers. Finally, the platform will allow patients at Thomas Jefferson to control the lights, windows and other objects in their rooms by issuing commands through a speaker.
Besides the $200 million investment, IBM has also announced that its Watson-powered blockchain service is now available for enterprise clients. Like the Bitcoin blockchain, Watson’s version will allow users to monitor the activities of connected devices. A Finnish company called Kinno, for instance, is using it to develop a way to track container status and location.
Since the tech titan plans to sink as much as $3 billion into its IoT business, this $200 million investment is but a small part of its overall plans. You can read more about the Watson IoT platform on its website if you’re interested, since you’ll likely hear about it often going forward.
Via: Venturebeat
Source: IBM (1), (2)
Amazon bans reviews posted in exchange for free products
Amazon has banned “incentivized reviews” done in exchange for free products after a large study showed that they’re biased. In a blog post, the retail giant said that it has updated its terms of service to ban the practice, while making an exception for its own Vine program.
Amazon doesn’t allow paid reviews, and has sued both providers and individuals that offer them. Until now, however, it has allowed reviews done in exchange for the product being rated, provided that reviewers add a disclaimer. Incentivized users are certainly prolific, writing an average of 232 reviews compared to just 31 for regular Amazon buyers.
The change was likely motivated by research done by ReviewMeta, as Techcrunch points out. The study of 7 million reviews, detailed in an article and video (below), found that the average review from incentivized users is much higher (4.74 stars) than a regular review (4.36 stars). Incentivized reviewers were also 12 times less likely to leave a one-star review, and gave overall positive reviews four times more often.
ReviewMeta says it noticed that consumers were becoming more distrustful of incentivized reviews and wanted to see if that they had reason to be. It also noticed that the problem has increased at an “alarming” rate. “Two years ago, incentivized reviews accounted for less than two percent of new reviews. Since February of this year, they make up the majority of all new reviews on Amazon,” it notes.
Incentivized reviews will only be allowed from now on if they come from Amazon’s Vine program. In that case, “Amazon — not the vendor or seller — identifies and invites trusted and helpful reviewers on Amazon to post opinions about new and pre-release products,” Customer Experience VP Chee Chew wrote. “We do not incentivize positive star ratings, attempt to influence the content of reviews, or even require a review to be written.”
Amazon told Techcrunch that it will retroactively pull reviews that are clearly “excessive,” but will still leave many others up. Hopefully, it will strike all the ratings from users like “Amazon Lover,” who has written 4,368 out of 4,379 hyperbole-laden five-star reviews (including those shown in the image, above) since March 23rd, 2015.
Via: Techcrunch
Source: Amazon
You’ll need the disc to play ‘Modern Warfare: Remastered’
Folks are salivating at the thought of playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered, but the new game it comes with? Not so much. But if you purchased the disc-based version of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare in the hope of playing Remastered and slinging the newer title back to Gamestop, we’ve got some bad news. Activision has mandated that you can’t relive the adventures of Soap and Price unless the Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare disc is sat in your console and your internet connection is live. Bummer.
In the run up to the game’s November 4th launch, Activision has published an updated FAQ revealing the list of restrictions gamers will have to tolerate. For PlayStation users, Remastered will have to be downloaded in its entirety via a voucher code, while those on team Xbox will get the bulk of the game on the disc, but will still need to pull down an update. Those on Steam, meanwhile, will get a key in the Legacy Edition of the title that’ll let you play both games and, yes, you still need to have your internet connected for it to work. Thanks, Activision.
Via: Polygon
Source: Activision
Cheaper Sky Q bundle marks the end for Sky+HD
When Sky launched its new Q service, it was only a matter of time before it became the default option for new and upgrading subscribers — we just didn’t expect it to happen so soon. As of today, Sky Q is no longer positioned as the premium offering, with Sky+HD packages now notably absent from the provider’s online store. And to make the transition from old to new that bit easier to swallow, Sky has added a cheaper, basic Q bundle to lower the cost of entry.
This means there are now three different channel packages to choose from. The new Original bundle is the cheapest at £20 per month, and includes 270 channels. The £32 Variety bundle ups that to over 300 channels and adds on-demand kids content, while the £38 Box Set bundle improves upon that with more than 350 channels and access to roughly the same number of TV box sets. Only the most expensive package includes HD channels, by the way. Right now, opting for any of these bundles will also get you a free 32-inch LG TV, a Lenovo laptop or £100 cashback in the form of a pre-paid card or Amazon/Tesco vouchers.
Optional extras include Sky’s movies and sports channels, which go for £18 and £27.50 per month, respectively, or £36 for the pair (though you need to add £6 to that if you want Sky Sports in HD). If you thought things couldn’t get any more complicated, let’s move onto hardware.
The 1TB Sky Q box demands a one-off payment of £15, which jumps up to £199 if you want the 2TB version. The two aren’t separated just by HDD capacities, though. The 2TB model supports 4K, can push broadcasts to more rooms and tablets than the 1TB version, and is now the only option that includes the fancy touchpad remote. If £199 is a bit too steep, you can reduce that to £60 if you add Multiscreen to your package for £12 per month.
You actually need Multiscreen to access Ultra HD broadcasts — and the right bundle, like Sky Sports HD. It’s also required if you want to watch TV in other rooms via a Sky Q Mini box, or stream/download recordings to tablets. Your first Sky Q Mini box isn’t free anymore, either, instead costing £30 with additional boxes still £99 thereafter.
If your brain hasn’t melted already, what Sky is trying to do here is make the 1TB box an attractively cheap option while keeping the 2TB box on a pedestal, thanks to value-adding features like 4K output, the touch remote and broader multiroom capabilities. In this way, the 1TB model is a replacement of sorts for Sky+HD, which is all but retired at this point.
Sky is keen to allay any concerns current Sky+ subscribers might be feeling, however. Their boxes will still be supported and updated with new features; plenty of boxes are still around to replace faulty ones; and in the niche instances where Sky Q is just not an option (such as in a block of flats that’s not Q-ready), Sky+HD boxes will be available as a stop-gap solution.
Via: TechRadar
Source: Sky
Mercedes grabs a spot on the Formula E grid from 2018
Mercedes is set to become the latest in a long line of traditional car makers entering the world of Formula E. The company confirmed today that it’s signed an agreement to reserve a spot on the grid of the electric racing championship from the 2018/19 season. With the all-electric series set to expand from 10 teams to 12 in season five, Mercedes can now decide whether it will take one of the two new available openings.
Formula E is gaining in popularity each year and manufacturers like Jaguar, BMW and Audi have decided to take stakes in the racing series. The E.Dams-Renault team clinched the first-ever team title, beating Dragon Racing, which recently teamed up with Faraday Future, to the top spot.
In 2018, the series will drop its current format of requiring racers to swap cars during the race, limiting it to just one. All 12 cars will also feature a new chassis, which has been redesigned to improve aerodynamics and house a more powerful battery.
Mercedes-Benz is, of course, competing in Formula One with the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One team. The auto giant believes it can use advancements in electric racing to further the development of its futuristic zero-emission road cars: “Electrification will play a major role in the future of the automotive industry – racing has always been a technology R&D platform for the motor industry,” says Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport. “This will make Formula E very relevant in the future.”
Source: Formula E
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