Garmin’s satellite handhelds make it really hard to get lost

Garmin isn’t just using CES to show off new fitness watches and software updates. The company also used the massive tradeshow to unveil two new mobile devices designed for international travelers and backcountry explorers alike. The InReach SE+ and inReach Explorer+ both rely on Iridium satellite coverage from Garmin’s DeLorme acquisition to provide two-way messaging and worldwide GPS coverage.

The SE+ is the entry-level model, which will retail for $400 when it becomes available later this quarter. It offers “pole to pole” GPS guidance, messaging and GEOS SOS alerts. Users can send text messages to any cellphone number, email address or other InReach device, regardless of current cell coverage. The Explorer+, which costs $450, incorporates all of the SE+’s features as well as DeLorme topographic maps, built-in digital compass, barometric altimeter and an accelerometer. Each manages 100 hours of battery life in active tracking mode and up to 30 days in standby/power saver.

You will, however, need a subscription to the Iridium satellite network to get these features to work. Subscription plans are available either annually or monthly. Annual rates run from $12 to $80 per month (plus an activation fee); monthly plans will set you back $15 to $100 per year.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.

Garmin’s newest ‘Drive’ navigation systems focus on road safety

Whether you’re on the open road or just trying to make it work in one piece, getting where you’re going is hassle enough — even when there isn’t traffic to be stuck in. Garmin’s latest iterations of its Drive GPS navigation systems, will soon be receiving a host of new features that will deliver live updates and easier-to-follow directions in hopes of changing driver behaviors for the safer.

The Drive will now offer a number of driver alerts such as warnings for upcoming sharp curves, train crossings and red-light cameras. They’re also receiving Garmin’s Real Directions feature, which adds contextual notes — like passing landmarks or large buildings — to simplify navigation. Live Track is another new feature that will enable drivers to share their vehicle’s location with friends and family.

Plus, if you pair the Drive to your smartphone via Bluetooth, the nav systems will provide live traffic and parking conditions to and around your destination. And Garmin is also releasing a Watch Link app which will guide drivers back to their parked cars via a connected wearable. Finally, no more level-by-level parking garage searches.

The Drive Smart offers all of those same features but can also connect to your home WiFi network to quickly download new maps and software updates. It also handles calls and texts through the nav screen, for hands-free functionality while your phone is linked via Bluetooth.

Building on that, the Drive Assist, adds a dash cam which records to an included microSD card. That camera doesn’t just record traffic; it also incorporates forward collision and lane departure warnings. The top-of-the-line Drive Lux does all of that but in a more stylish metal housing. The Drive navigation systems will retail from $150 to $330 when they go on sale in February.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.

Garmin’s outdoorsy fenix5 smartwatches are pretty small

Smartwatches, especially those designed for the rigors of outdoor adventuring, tend to be on the beefy side. But at CES this week, Garmin announced three new smaller-form factor iterations to its fenix smartwatch line called the Fenix5. At 1.6 to to 2 inches in face diameter, they’re up to a half inch smaller around than the previous Fenix3 line.

All three fenixes — the 5, the 5X and the 5S — are designed to be worn continually, even when you aren’t getting your sweat on. They last between eight days and two weeks on a charge in smartwatch mode, though those figures drop to between 13 and 24 hours if you run the GPS radio continuously. They’re also water resistant up to 100 meters and offer the same daily activity tracking toolkit as Garmin’s other wearables. As you might expect, they’re compatible with the company’s “Connect IQ” app platform as well.

What sets them apart from Garmin’s other multi-sport offerings is their size. The fenix line is specifically designed to be lighter and smaller than its previous smartwatches. The fenix 5, for example, is only 47mm in diameter but incorporates the same degree of heart rate and activity tracking as the older fenix 3HR. It also offers a range of hot-swappable leather, metal or silicone watchbands, which are of course sold separately. The fenix 5S is even smaller, at 42mm, and built specifically for “petite wrists.” Users can choose between a standard mineral glass lens or upgrade to a scratch-resistant “sapphire” version.

The fenix 5X is the largest of the three, measuring 51mm, and includes additional mapping features that the others do not. It comes preloaded with TOPO US mapping, which enables the watch to suggest routes based on how long the user wants to run or ride. Additionally, they can use an Around Me map, which notes points of interest in the immediate area. The 5X comes with the scratch-resistant sapphire lens as a standard option.

All three watches will be available later this quarter. The 5 and regular 5S will retail for $600, while the 5 sapphire, 5S sapphire and 5x will set you back $700.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.

Live NBA is coming to Google’s VR platform

NextVR has expanded its NBA virtual reality coverage, now offering it on more than one headset and in countries other than the US. Along with the current Samsung Gear VR offering, you can now catch broadcasts on Google’s Daydream platform in Canada, the UK, Germany and Australia. If you’re willing to pay a hefty $200 for the NBA League Pass, that means you can see one live game per week in 180 degree VR on Daydream View or Cardboard headsets, along with highlights and features like “Best Dunks.”

You’ll need to download the NextVR app on Google Play to use Daydream (and have a Daydream-compatible Android phone), or visit the Oculus Store with a Gear VR. From there, you’ll get an experience that is more akin to sitting courtside than watching TV, in terms of how it feels, though NextVR does switch between eight RED-based cameras to give you the best view. As I noticed with the Rio Olympics, the feed can reportedly get very pixelated, which isn’t surprising considering the bandwidth requirements and headset resolution limitations.

In all, NextVR broadcasts have received generally good reviews, though. If you already have an NBA League Pass and a Samsung or Google Pixel phone, we’d call it a no-brainer to get the Daydream View or Gear VR headset, since they’re both less than $100. However, it’d be a stretch to sign up for the service just to get VR matches, given the quality limitations. In a year or two, however, VR sports might be good enough to become a fan destination on their own.

Toyota and Ford Create Automaker Group to Promote Open Source Smartphone Interfaces

Ford and Toyota have formed a four-automaker consortium to speed up the deployment of open source software for connected in-car systems, according to a report by Bloomberg on Wednesday.

The SmartDeviceLink Consortium, which includes Mazda, PSA Group, Fuji, and Suzuki, aims to prevent Apple and Google from controlling how drivers connect smartphones to their vehicles. Suppliers Elektrobit, Harma, Luxoft, QNX, and Xevo have also joined the organization, which is named after an open source version of Ford’s AppLink connectivity interface, a system used in over 5 million vehicles globally.

The non-profit group’s goal is to promote more choice in how drivers connect to in-car technologies like dashboard displays, steering wheel controls and voice recognition systems. By using an open source platform, the automakers hope to set a standard by which they and their suppliers can integrate smartphones with vehicles, and thereby attract developers who can then integrate the universal linking technology into their software.

Toyota has so far resisted including Apple’s CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto in its vehicles, arguing that doing so would diminish safety and security standards. Ford offers them on all its 2017 model vehicles, but remains supportive of an open-source software platform that all app developers can use as an alternative to Carplay and Android Auto.

The open source project will be managed by Livio, a software startup Ford acquired in 2013. Livio will work with early adopters to build the interfaces and infotainment systems for each vehicle environment.

Apple’s own system, CarPlay, brings Maps, Phone, Messages, Music, Podcasts, and a number of third-party apps, such as Spotify, to a vehicle’s dashboard. Apple announced CarPlay with several big-name partners already on board, like BMW, Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, and more.

Due to Apple’s commitment to user privacy, CarPlay collects very little data from users and car manufacturers. According to information released by Porsche, Apple only collects information on whether a car is accelerating while CarPlay is in use. This is in stark contrast to Android Auto, which collects a lot more car data when in use.

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C-Way Memoo Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Any parent of young children knows the extra layer of consideration required before buying a digital assistant — do I really want to put up with my kid asking Google to play that “Raining Tacos” song on YouTube every five minutes?

C-Way, a new kid-tech startup, offers an out: Memoo, a device that houses Amazon’s Alexa, but includes parental controls and extra kid-friendly features. Problem is, Memoo costs $175 (AU$240, £140) — nearly four times the price of an Echo Dot.

Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Here’s how Memoo works. First, parents connect the device to an app on their phone, from which they can send voice messages, set basic alarms and set up daily agendas to be read aloud each morning.

In addition, kids can access games, music, and info on the internet — all via voice commands. Using pictograms and colors, Memoo will also indicate how the weather outside is, so kids can dress accordingly, and at night, Memoo can trigger connected humidifiers and thermostats.

Memoo also lets users access Amazon’s parental controls for Alexa. Parents can approve Spotify playlists for their children, limit Wi-Fi access to certain hours and choose particular family members for the kids to be able to contact via voice message through the app.

Tyler Lizenby/CNET

C-Way’s idea isn’t a bad one. The problem is, Memoo seems to go a long way to supplant the day-to-day interactions that characterize parent-child relationships. It’s those small interactions, like waking up a child in the morning or reminding them to grab their lunch on the way out the door, that define parenthood. And while Memoo might appear to be an expedient solution to everyday issues in parenting, my question is, since when is expedience such a priority in caring for a child?

C-Way plans to make Memoo available in Fall 2017.

Whirlpool Door-Within-Door French Door Refrigerator Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Whirlpool’s new Door-Within-Door French Door Refrigerator.

Whirlpool

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the last few years of covering appliances at CES, it’s to keep an eye out for the proliferation of doors.

First came LG’s Door-in-Door refrigerators, followed soon by Samsung’s “Food Showcase” fridges, both of which let you open the front panel of the door without opening the door itself so you can access the shelves inside without actually opening the fridge. We’ve even seen Samsung trot out a dual door, “Flex Duo” oven and a door-in-a-door washer built for errant socks.

Now, Whirlpool’s jumping in on the trend with the new “Door-Within-Door” French door refrigerator. Like the name suggests, it showcases the same door-in-a-door feature as we’ve seen from LG and Samsung — but Whirlpool claims theirs is better, thanks to dedicated cooling designed specifically to keep the bottom section of that Door-Within-Door compartment nice and cold.

In many cases, door-in-a-door compartments like the one in this LG fridge tend to run a little warm. Whirlpool wants to fix that with a design that feeds the coolest air directly into the Door-Within-Door compartment.

Chris Monroe/CNET

They might be onto something. I’ve tested and reviewed several door-in-a-door refrigerators over the past few years, and almost all of them run a little warm in those in-door shelves. That’s not uncommon for refrigerators at all, but it’s also not ideal if you’re pitching those door shelves as an especially convenient place to put everyday necessities like milk. After all, why pay more for a fridge with a special compartment in the door if that compartment is the last place you’d want to store your perishable groceries?

Aside from the promise of a colder in-door compartment, Whirlpool’s Door-Within-Door fridge offers a lot of the same design touches that we saw a year ago from the Wi-Fi enabled French door model the brand showed off at CES 2016. That includes Whirlpool’s movable “Infinity Shelves” — really just narrow, sliding shelves that can slide out of the way to make room for oversized items in the center of the fridge. It also boasts the biggest crisper bins of any Whirlpool fridge currently on the market.

The new Door-Within-Door fridge will include the gliding “Infinity Shelves” from last year’s smart French door model, seen here.

Sarah Tew/CNET

There’s good reason Whirlpool is mounting such a direct and obvious challenge to its Korean competitors, Samsung and LG. Both have made significant inroads into the American appliance market in recent years by introducing high-end designs with flashy features. As a traditionally top-selling brand, Whirlpool has plenty to lose if it doesn’t defend its turf.

Pricing and availability for the new Door-Within-Door fridge isn’t locked down yet, but given what we’ve seen from the fridges it seeks to compete with, I’d expect it to cost at least a few thousand dollars. We’ll know more when it makes its retail debut sometime later this year.

Lego Boost Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

CES is full of robots, but Lego robots…well, that doesn’t happen every year.

Educational codable robot toys have been a mega-trend in kid tech over the last year, from Jimu to Cozmo. Lego has had its own Mindstorm educational robotics kit for years, but its pieces come from the older-skewed Technics sets, as opposed to the piles of multicolored bricks everyone’s basements are full of.

Lego Boost is the idea that Lego was overdue to debut. It’s a set of motors and programmable bricks that can work with existing Lego kits and turn them into motorized or motion-sensitive toys. And the app can record voice effects…so, yes, you can make your robot Lego-cat speak.

Lego

The $160 set, coming in the second half of 2017, comes with instructions to build five different things out of the box: “Vernie the Robot, Frankie the Cat, the Guitar 4000, the Multi-Tool Rover 4 (M.T.R.4), and the Autobuilder.” After that, any existing Legos can be glommed onto new creations, according to Lego: “a walking base for making animals like a dragon or a pony, a driving base for building vehicles like a dune buggy or rover, and an entrance base so that children can make their own castle, fort, or even a futuristic space station.” The kit is targeted at kids 7 and older.

A companion Android and iOS app will handle the programming parts, using what Lego claims are basic coding instructions. Similar ideas live in most toy robot kits made over the last couple of years. Lego’s advantage is, clearly, that you could potentially make a dancing dinosaur, a DIY Batmobile or a robotic Star Wars base. Or something of the sort.

Some of the starting robot designs.

Lego

The Lego Boost comes with three Boost bricks that do most of the robotic heavy lifting, including a tilt sensor, a color and distance sensor and a motor. The set also comes with 843 pieces and a special playmat that the robots can move on.

Stay tuned for hands-on impressions at CES, but this sounds like the Lego holiday gift to beat all Lego gifts.

Eugene Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

The Eugene Wi-Fi scanner will tell you if your food containers are recyclable.

Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Garbage might be the next big thing to hit this year’s CES. First, we saw the GeniCan, a Wi-Fi-enabled attachment for your garbage cans that scans the bar codes of your empty food containers to build a grocery list and automatically order items you need through Amazon’s Dash Replenishment service. And on Tuesday night, a French company called Uzer demonstrated the Eugene, another Wi-Fi-enabled scanner that reads the bar codes on your garbage and tells you if you can recycle the container.

The makers of Eugene said they want the scanner to be available in the US and the UK by the end of 2017 for $99 and £99, respectively.

The Eugene is about as big as a fist, and you mount it to the wall above your garbage or recycling bin. After you’ve devoured a box of your favorite snack, you wave the bar code of your empty food container in front of the Eugene, and it will tell you if you can recycle it or throw it away.

Like the GeniCan, you can also use the Eugene’s app to build grocery lists based on the items you toss and order more groceries from retailers like Amazon or Walmart. The Eugene app, however, will also use the information on the amount of goods that you’ve recycled to tell you how much energy you’ve saved by recycling.

Bloomlife Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Complications during pregnancy happen for a surprising number of women, and a new startup called Bloomlife has a solution: a wearable monitor that helps women tell the difference between normal abdominal aches and pains, natural contractions, and signs of complications.

In theory, I like Bloomlife. It’s a device that won’t help most women — but it could give the minority who encounter complications the confidence to either relax or seek proper attention. There are two problems with the actual product, though. First, its monthly fees for the monitoring are overpriced: The first month is $150, the second is $100, and subsequent months are $50. Second, Bloomlife doesn’t have the FDA certification of a medical device.

Chris Monroe/CNET

The price problem is the biggest one, simply because most women won’t really need Bloomlife. Contractions are a natural step toward delivery, and few women experience them without knowing what they are, or don’t notice them. So paying upwards of $300, depending when you start monitoring the pregnancy, seems unnecessary — especially at a stage of life that is far more financially demanding than most others.

The problem of reliability, by contrast, might not affect as many users, but it could dramatically affect a few. Bloomlife does rely on longitudinal data, gathered over time from the user, so the information it offers is valid. And even with that data, it doesn’t purport to offer diagnoses. But users will naturally look to a device like Bloomlife for actionable advice, and without proper third-party testing, it simply isn’t equipped to provide such advice.

Bloomlife is available for order now.