Scientists gave gerbils a futuristic ear implant that lets them hear light

You may have heard of the condition synesthesia, which describes the cross-wiring of the brain’s senses that can lead to people hearing colors, seeing sounds, and assorted other unusual phenomena. Researchers at Germany’s University Medical Center Göttingen have demonstrated a useful variation on this idea: A technique that involves using flashes of light to restore hearing. As researcher Dr. Marcus Jeschke told Digital Trends, it allows subjects — in this case, gerbils — to “actually hear light.”

Their demonstration involved injecting the ears’ cochlea with a virus that genetically codes the cells to be sensitive to light. The researchers then implanted optical fibers to deliver light to the neurons. It proved effective, and the researchers were able to show that the animals experienced light from these optical fibers as sound. Going forward, they hope that this technique could be used to make superior cochlear implants for humans.

“Hearing loss is a big problem for many people,” Jeschke said. “It’s also a problem that pretty much all of us will face during our lifetime. As you get older, you hear less and less well. You may end up hearing so poorly that you need a hearing aid or an implanted hearing system. What we’ve been doing is trying to come up with a way to make cochlear implants work better, and we’ve done that by using light to stimulate the auditory nerve neurons, thereby providing patients with a much finer frequency resolution. That means more sound information channels.”

This higher-resolution sound is important for future cochlear implants since current models can often make hearing sounds in certain contexts difficult — for instance, conversation in a crowded room. Right now, the research is still in its embryonic stages, and Jeschke noted that there is much more to be done before this can be applied to humans in the form of clinical trials.

“There are two main next steps for us,” he said. “The first is to understand much better how the auditory system is activated by this light stimulation in the cochlea. We need to know how, if at all, it differs from normal auditory stimulation. The second is to transfer this beyond rodent models. There’s a big step in going from a rodent to a human model. We need to find a step in between, where we look at a nervous system and an immune system that is much closer to that of a human.”

A paper describing the work was recently published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

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U.S. government signs an agreement with ZTE to lift export ban [Update]

ZTE will once again be able to conduct business with American component vendors.

Updated July 13, 2018: It’s official! Just a day after ZTE signed its agreement with the DOC, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced that the ban on ZTE has officially been lifted. The past three months have undoubtedly put a damper on ZTE, but at least it’s finally done with this massive setback.

ZTE’s woes in the U.S. are about to come to a close. The Chinese telecommunications giant has signed an agreement with the Department of Commerce that will lift the export ban — which will allow ZTE to do business with American suppliers like Qualcomm. ZTE was issued a denial order in April after it was revealed that the manufacturer violated sanctions against North Korea and Iran.

ZTE is now required to complete a $400 million escrow payment, following which the ban will be lifted:

Our statement on #ZTE and the escrow agreement: pic.twitter.com/w0Bbej1mAU

— U.S. Commerce Dept. (@CommerceGov) July 11, 2018

The three-month saga is estimated to have cost ZTE upwards of $3 billion, according to Bloomberg. The company had to appoint a new chairman and replace its senior management, and while the export ban is set to be lifted, ZTE could face further penalties from the U.S. Senate.

Best Amazon Prime Day Deals 2018

The celebrations have already begun!

Amazon Prime Day doesn’t officially begin until July 16 at 3pm ET, but that hasn’t stopped the company from beginning the deals a little bit early. Alongside the announcement, Amazon stated that a few deals would be available instantly for Prime members, and there are a few that you definitely won’t want to miss. In the coming days, we expect to see more deals leak, and our continuously updated tracker will highlight all the best Amazon Prime Day deals.

Be sure to check back often, as this page will be constantly adding fresh new deals. If you’re looking for deals on Amazon’s Echo hardware, Kindle Unlimited, Prime Pantry and more, we’ve got you covered.

Prime Exclusive Deals of the Day

In the lead-up to Prime Day, Amazon has switched over its Gold Box deals of the day to be all Prime member exclusive deals. Unlike some of the offers below, these prices expire at the end of the day, so you won’t have much time to think about them.

Today’s deals include:

• Women’s sleepwear and intimates – Starting at $10
• Cauldryn Fyre temperature-controlled vacuum-insulated bottle – Starting at $90
• Soylent Meal Replacement 12-pack 14-ounce strawberry shakes – Starting at $25
• Dyson Ball Multi-floor Upright Vacuum Cleaner refurbished – Starting at $150
• Intex Pillow Rest Raised twin-sized airbed with electric pump – Starting at $34
• Mayfair Linen 100% Egyptian cotton 800 thread count white queen sheet set – Starting at $49
• Anker speakers, headphones, and mini projectors – Starting at $20
• Flybar Pogo Ball trick board – Starting at $19
• Calvin Klein shoes, accessories, and fragrances – Up to 50% off
• Keezel premium wireless portable VPN and 8000mAh power bank – Starting at $172
• Spikeball sport sets and balls – Starting at $8

Echo Hardware

To kick things off, the company slashed $100 on the price of the Echo Show, dropping it down to just $129.99. This is the lowest we’ve ever seen it go and makes it the same price as the smaller screened Echo Spot. We’ve seen Amazon offer Voice Shopping exclusive deals in the past during Prime Day, so if you don’t have an Alexa device, or want another, this is a no-brainer purchase.

The Echo Dot is also down to $34.99, which is the lowest we’ve seen it hit this year.

Kindle Unlimited and Amazon Music Unlimited

If you’ve yet to try out Amazon’s Music Unlimited service, you can get a four-month membership for just $0.99. That’s right, all four months of unlimited access to all the music in the company’s library (which is rather extensive) for just one dollar. Prefer to read books instead of listening to music? No worries, Amazon has three months of Kindle Unlimited available for $0.99 as well. This gets you access to over a million book titles, and you can read as many of them as your heart desires during that time frame.

You can also go all-in on a Kindle Unlimited subscription and save 40% when you checkout with the coupon code PDKU18. This drops the one-year subscription down to $80.32 and the two-year subscription to $143.86. If you want to just buy a few books, you can get $10 towards any Kindle, print, or Audible book purchase when you buy any Kindle book for $5 or more before July 15.

Audible

Through the end of July, Amazon is offering Audible subscriptions at just $5 per month to new and returning members. The deal will remain active for three months, after which the service will begin billing you at its regular monthly price of $14.95. You can also choose to cancel the service at any time if you decide it’s not for you.

Amazon’s In-house brands

Amazon has a bunch of its own brands, and right now it’s offering 20% off home, kitchen, and other AmazonBasics gear, 30% off Amazon Elements multivitamins, and up to 25% off Stone & Beam furniture. There are a bunch of other Amazon brands from AmazonFresh to Mama Bear and Goodthreads that will also have discounted items available.

Twitch Prime Games and Gear

For the gamers out there, Amazon is offering a free PC game each day through July 18 via Twitch Prime. There are popular titles like Pillars of Eternity, Q.U.B.E, Hue, and more. You’ll also get exclusive in-game look for Warframe and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, and if you’re looking to load up on Twitch apparel, the merch is 50% off right now.

Prime Credit Cardholder Offers

Normally, the Amazon Prime Store Card and Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Card extend shoppers 5% cash back on all Amazon.com orders. You can put the cash back rewards towards your monthly statements or a future Amazon purchase.

Last year during Prime Day, Amazon upped its cash back offer from the standard 5% to 20% on thousands of items exclusively for cardholders. That means smart deal hunters with an Amazon Prime Store Card or Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Card were essentially saving an additional 15% on Prime Day. Eligible items included GoPro action cameras and Garmin fitness trackers. In fact, Amazon’s already running some bonus cash back offers for cardholders including 10% back on LG 4K OLED TVs and 20% back on the GoPro Hero action camera.

What’s more, Amazon is sweetening the pot by throwing in a free gift card upon approval. New Prime Store cardholders will receive a $20 gift card, while Prime Rewards Visa cardholders will get a $70 gift card. Both the credit card and gift card are automatically loaded into your Amazon account following the approval process, meaning if you apply now both will be ready to use during the big event.

American Express Rewards points

We already know that we will see millions of deals across the world on Prime Day, but did you know that you could drop the prices even lower by just shopping with your American Express points? Amazon frequently offers an additional percentage off select purchases when you checkout and pay for part of the transaction using your Rewards points, and come Prime Day, the company is offering 20% off on a variety of items.

When it comes to saving money, this may be one of the easiest ways you’ll be able to do it on Prime Day. The first step is to head to this page and click to activate the offer. Once the offer is activated, you’ll want to make sure that your American Express card is one of the payment methods in your account, and that you have linked your accounts successfully. The last, and easiest part, is to find an eligible item, add it to your cart, and pay using at least one American Express Reward point.

This discount can be redeemed on any item physical goods that are sold and shipped by Amazon. You won’t be able to redeem it on items sold by third parties, digital goods, or Amazon gift cards. It can only be redeemed once and has a maximum benefit of $100. The offer is currently live, so if there is something you want to buy now, you can save 20%. The promotion can end at any time, so be sure to activate the offer now and link your accounts to avoid missing out.

Of course, to take advantage of any of these offers you need to be an Amazon Prime member. If you aren’t already, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial so you can access all these deals and save during the big event.

The Thrifter team is going to be covering ALL things Prime Day, and you won’t want to miss out. Sign up now to have tips, tricks, deals, and more delivered right to your inbox.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 rumors: Release date, specs, price, and features!

This will probably be the Android tablet to buy in 2018.

Android tablets are pretty much MIA in 2018. Huawei’s got a few different models to check out and Amazon’s still pushing its Fire lineup, but that’s about it.

Within the next couple of months or so, however, Samsung will once again throw its hat in this ring with the Galaxy Tab S4 — a successor to last year’s Galaxy Tab S3. Here’s what we know about the device so far!

The latest Galaxy Tab S4 news

July 11, 2018 — Galaxy Tab S4 shown off in white w/ keyboard and pen accessories

A little over a week since that first render was released, Evan Blass how now taken to Twitter to share two more pictures of the Tab S4.

The first of the two photos (the one at the very top of this article) shows the Tab S4 in what’s likely a first-party keyboard cover next to an official pen/stylus.

The other render gives us another look at the back of the tablet, this time showing it in a white paint job.

July 2, 2018 — First render reveals the Tab S4’s design

Thanks to the renders sent into AndroidHeadlines, we now have our very first look at the Samsung Galaxy Tab S4.

To not much surprise, this looks a lot like a modernized version of the Tab S3. There’s a single camera on the back, large display up front, and what appears to be a metal or glass design.

Although nothing’s radically different, one of the biggest changes compared to last year can be seen with the shrunken bezels. The Tab S4 appears to make even better use of its screen, and while it’s not entirely bezel-less, this is still a big step in the right direction.

Also different is the absence of a physical home button. The Tab S3’s button doubled as a fingerprint sensor, so when it comes to biometric authentication, we’re probably looking at Samsung’s iris scanning rather than an in-display fingerprint sensor.

All the big details

When will the Galaxy Tab S4 be released?

Similar to the upcoming Galaxy Watch, there are two possibilities as to when we’ll get our first official look at the Galaxy Tab S4.

Samsung’s holding an event on August 9 to announce the Note 9, and while there’s a chance we could see the Tab S4 here, my bet is that Samsung will keep this event exclusive for Note 9 talk.

Instead, I think it’s more likely that the Tab S4 will be unveiled during IFA. This is also where Samsung will probably announce the Galaxy Watch and the trade show’s scheduled to take place between August 31 and September 5.

How much will it cost?

As great of a tablet as the Tab S3 was, we were never fans of its $599 asking price.

Samsung was clearly trying to compete with the iPad Pro with that pricing, but in 2018, I can’t imagine anyone willing to hand over $600+ for an Android tablet.

Since the specs for the Tab S4 are still up in the air, it’s difficult to say what the price tag will look like. If Samsung’s once again trying to target the iPad Pro market, we could be looking at something between $600 and $650. If it wants to instead go for the regular iPad, it’ll likely be priced around $350 or so.

Surface Go vs. Chromebook: Which is better for you?

Chromebooks are more than likely enough for your school needs.

Microsoft’s Surface Go is going to be available soon, and it’s an intriguing device: $400 gets you a well-built tablet with full Windows. You can use any piece of Windows software built in the last twenty years, or stick to the store and web for an easier experience. Microsoft is positioning this as the perfect device for students, schools, and businesses.

But Chromebooks may be a better option for all of those. Chromebooks don’t have the backlog of software that Windows does, but most users can get by with the web and Android apps. Chromebooks are also easier on budgets and IT administrators’ time

For this comparison, we’ll take a look at the Lenovo 500e since that is this year’s best Chromebook for students. There aren’t any Chromebooks with the same processor as the Surface Go, but this is close enough for comparison’s sake.

• Storage
• Design
• Ports
• Software
• Maintenance
• Price and Availability
• Which is best for you?

Storage

To be fair, students shouldn’t actually use local storage. Google Drive and OneDrive are both available and plentiful for all of your files, so you don’t need to worry about losing your thesis on a thumb drive. On both Chrome OS and Windows, you’ll need a bit of local space for your Android or Microsoft Store applications and their data. Chrome OS is much smaller than Windows, so it uses less of the disk space.

The Lenovo 500e comes with 32GB of EMMC storage. This isn’t a huge amount, and it won’t be blazing fast, but it will be enough for what users will do on a Chromebook. Meanwhile, the Surface Go comes with either 64GB of EMMC storage, or 128GB of faster SSD storage.

Another issue to consider when looking at storage — both capacity and speed — is updates. Chrome OS downloads and installs updates in the background, as the user is going about their day. Windows downloads updates in the background, but only some updates install in the background. The semi-annual giant Windows updates are going to be especially painful on the slower EMMC storage. Chrome OS just needs one minute of downtime for updates, while the lower end Surface Go will need much, much more time.

Windows also needs a lot of space for updates, in case a user needs to roll back to previous versions. Two-thirds of your total space is going to be taken up for 2 months out of the year, stressing cloud storage even more.

Design

The biggest draw of the Surface Go for some students will be the lightweight: it clocks in at 1.15 pounds (without the Surface Cover) — much lighter than the three pounds the Lenovo 500e weighs. If you want something to use as an e-reader or for inking, the Surface Go’s lighter weight will make either of those a much more enjoyable experience. Even the detachable HP Chromebook X2 weighs in at 1.6 pounds, making it heavy compared to the Surface Go.

Ports

The Surface Go includes a USB-C port that allows for charging, data transfer and Display-Out, the proprietary Surface Connect port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The Lenovo 500e comes with two USB-C ports that both allow for charging, data transfer and display out, two USB-A ports, a microSD slot, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The Surface Go isn’t a bad option if your school or business has invested in Surface Docks, but for most consumers, the wider range and number of ports on the Chromebook will be better.

Software

Nothing else about a computer matters if it can’t run the programs you need it to. If something you need to use isn’t available in a website or as an Android application, you’re not going to have much luck with Chromebooks. Conversely, 60% of U.S. schools have been able to use Chromebooks to do everything they need students to do, so you’re likely to find success.

The Surface Go ships with Windows 10 Home in S Mode. This is the same Windows 10 you know and love, but out of the box it’s locked to the Microsoft Store. This is more secure than the wild wild west of normal Windows programs, and your machine will be better for it. If you DO need an application that isn’t in the Microsoft Store, you can switch to the “normal” mode of Windows for free.

There’s nothing that says you ONLY have to use Chromebooks or Surface Go’s. If budgets allow, your school corporation could issue a Chromebook to every student, then pick up some Surface Go’s for specific courses.

Maintenance

As someone who professionally manages both Chromebooks and Windows laptops, I can say without a shred of doubt that Chromebooks are going to be easier for school IT administrators to configure and deploy. Setting up a Chromebook for Enterprise use takes about one minute, and moving the device to a different student is as easy as having them sign in with their email address. Windows laptops will take much longer, especially installing and updating a custom image on the slow EMMC storage. You’ll also need to factor in the downtime every six months for major updates, and even a little bit of time each month for smaller updates.

Price and Availability

The Surface Go, uh, goes for $400 for the 64GB storage/4GB RAM model or $550 for the 128GB/8GB version. But that’s just the tablet. You’ll need a Type Cover keyboard for any serious amount of typing, which adds another $100. And stylus users will need to shell out another $100 for the Surface Pen. $600 isn’t terrible for a single student, but the extra money adds up quickly for cash-strapped schools or non-profits.

See at Microsoft Store

This Chromebook is $300 outright. The keyboard is attached, and there’s a pen in the box. The stylus isn’t nearly as capable as the Surface Pen, but that means it’s inexpensive enough to be included and inexpensive to replace if need be.

You — or your school corporation — can order the Lenovo 500e or other comparable Chromebooks today, while the Surface Go won’t be available until early August. That’s great timing for individual students going to college, but it’ll be a bit tight for school corporations that need to get the tablet imaged, configured and ready to hand out when school starts in mid- to late-August.

See at Lenovo

Which is best for you?

Unless there’s a specific, Windows-only program you need for coursework — or you intend to do A LOT of inking — the Chromebook is going to be a better buy. It’s at least half the price of the Surface Go when you factor in the price of the keyboard and pen, Chrome OS is a more secure operating system than Windows, and Chromebooks do what a majority of students and teachers needs them to.

Chromebooks also require less time (and therefore money) for schools to set up and administrate, letting them spend their money on more machines for more students.

What are your thoughts?

Are you thinking about buying a Surface Go? Let us know in the comments section!

Chromebooks

• The best Chromebooks
• Chromebooks in education: Everything you need to know
• Should you buy a Chromebook?
• Chromebook Buyers Guide
• Google Pixelbook review
• Join our Chromebook forums

Gaming monitors, Anker electronics, mechanical keyboards, and more are all discounted today

Whether you’re looking for new tech gear or household items, we’ve got you covered.

We found plenty of great deals today that include big discounts on the TCL 32-inch Roku TV, LG’s 24-inch FreeSync gaming monitor, Anker electronics, and more! Time’s running out to take advantage of these prices, so hurry!

View the rest of the deals

If you want to know about the deals as soon as they are happening, you’ll want to follow Thrifter on Twitter, and sign up for the newsletter, because missing out on a great deal stinks!

Google might face a $2.82 billion fine for pushing its services on Android

The European Commission is behind this.

When you get a new Android phone, you probably don’t think too much about the Google Search widget on your home screen, Chrome being set as the default browser, or all of Google’s big apps pre-installed out of the box. However, the European Commission certainly has and is planning on fining Google billions of dollars for these actions.

According to a report this week from The Wall Street Journal, it’s expected that the Commission will fine Google more than $2.88 billion USD as it allegedly “abused the dominance of its Android operating system for mobile phones.”

As WSJ reports:

The EU has alleged that Google strong-arms phone makers into pre-installing Google Search and the company’s Chrome internet browser on their mobile devices by bundling them with its popular Play store for Android applications, and at times paying them to pre-install Google exclusively.

Furthermore, the European Union is targeting Google for restricting OEMs from marketing devices with Android if those companies also promote devices with unofficial versions/forks of the OS. However, Google says that it retains the right to do this as an effort to keep official versions of Android safe.

Google has yet to respond to this most recent allegation, but in the past, the company’s tended to deny these sort of threats from the EU.

What do you think? Should Google be charged for its actions?

Surface Go vs. Chromebook: Which is better for you?

Pixel and Nexus dialer will send spam calls directly to voicemail [Update]

This will be available for all users in the next few weeks.

Updated July 13, 2018: Well, looks like those “few weeks” ended up being a few months. Either way, this feature is now widely rolling out to all users. To access it, open the Phone app and go to Settings -> Caller ID & Spam and you’ll see a new toggle labeled “Filter spam calls.” Once you turn this on, you’ll never be interrupted by a spam call again.

You know what’s not fun? Spam calls. Picking up the phone to be told you’ve won an all-expense-paid cruise after simply handing over your credit card info gets old real fast, and to help filter these out of your day, the Google Phone app for Pixel and Nexus devices is getting a new direct-to-voicemail feature for them.

First spotted by 9to5Google, this will send any calls that are detected as spam right to your voicemail. You’ll be able to listen to the messages on the voicemail tab in Google Phone and you’ll see the calls show up in your call history, but your phone won’t ring and you won’t get a notification when a voicemail is left.

Google Phone already offers some protection against spam calls by showing a red screen when it detects one with a “Suspected spam caller” message, but this still rings your phone like a regular incoming call. Not being notified of these calls altogether is a big change, but it’s one I imagine most people will be perfectly fine with.

You can access this now by signing up for the Google Phone beta testing program. If you’re not a tester yet but want to become one, just find the Google Phone app in the Play Store, scroll down to the bottom of its page, and tap “I’m in” on the “Become a beta tester” card.

Alternatively, you can just wait for this to come to the public version of the app in the next few weeks.

Download: Google Phone (free)

True Tone in 2018 MacBook Pro Extends to LG UltraFine and Apple Thunderbolt Displays

When using certain external monitors with the new 2018 MacBook Pro models, the built-in True Tone feature that matches the color of the MacBook Pro’s screen to the ambient lighting in a room will also extend to the connected display.

According to a support document published this morning by Apple, True Tone can adjust the Apple Thunderbolt Display using an Apple Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter, the LG UltraFine 5K Display, and the LG UltraFine 4K display.

When using these displays, you can activate or deactivate True Tone by clicking on the Apple logo in the menu bar, opening up System Preferences, choosing the Displays section, selecting the Display tab and then selecting or unselecting the True Tone checkbox.

With other third-party monitors, True Tone will not be an available option.

True Tone, first introduced on the iPad Pro and then the iPhone X, uses the sensors in the MacBook Pro to measure the white balance in the room, adjusting the tone of the display for a more natural viewing experience.

True Tone can cut down on eyestrain and it allows for a more paper-like look for websites, documents, and more.

The True Tone feature is available in the new 13 and 15-inch 2018 MacBook Pro models, which Apple unveiled yesterday. You can purchase the new machines from the Apple online store, with stock configurations set to arrive in just a few days after purchase.

Related Roundup: MacBook ProBuyer’s Guide: MacBook Pro (Buy Now)
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MacRumors Giveaway: Win a HomeKit-Compatible Smart Home Bundle From Eve

For this week’s giveaway, we’ve teamed up with Eve Systems to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win the company’s entire HomeKit product line, which includes an Eve Motion, an Eve Energy, an Eve Door & Window sensor, an Eve Button, an Eve Light Switch, an Eve Degree, and an Eve Aqua.

Eve Systems, formerly known as Elgato, was one of the first companies to create HomeKit products for Apple’s smart home platform, and today, there are a wide selection of Bluetooth-enabled HomeKit products available from Eve.

All Eve products work over Bluetooth so there’s no need for a WiFi connection or a hub, and because we here at MacRumors have reviewed many of the Eve products, we can confirm that they work well with any HomeKit setup. Eve offers a lot of nice little HomeKit add-on features for automation and monitoring, so it’s worth checking out the product lineup if you’re looking to improve your HomeKit setup.

– Eve Motion ($50) – Eve Motion is a wireless motion sensor that can be used as a trigger device that works with other HomeKit products. Eve Motion can do things like turn the lights on when you enter a room or turn them off when you leave, let you know if motion is detected in a room in the home while you’re away, or trigger a product like a light or a fan when movement is detected. It works in complex scene and automation setups.

– Eve Energy ($50) – Eve Energy is a smart plug solution that turns any appliance into a HomeKit-connected appliance. You can turn an appliance on or off using Eve Energy, even when away from home, and you can see just how much power it’s using. Like all other Eve products, Eve Energy can be paired with other HomeKit devices, included in scenes and automations, and controlled via Siri.

– Eve Door & Window ($40) – Eve Door & Window is a two part sensor that goes on a door or a window to let you know whether it’s open or closed for peace of mind. With a door, for example, one side of the sensor goes on the door while the other goes on the door frame, with Eve Door & Window able to send an alert when the door is opened or closed. Eve Door Window can be used as a trigger in HomeKit scenes, turning on the lights and adjusting the thermostat when the door is opened.

– Eve Button ($50) – Eve Button is a physical remote control device that lets you activate scenes with a single press, double press, or long press. You can assign up to three scenes to the Eve Button that can be activated by anyone in the home. So you could set up a “Good Night” scene, for example, that shuts off the lights, turns down the thermostat, and locks the doors, all of which could be activated with a single button press without the need to get out your iPhone or use a Siri command.

– Eve Light Switch ($50) – Designed to replace a traditional wall switch, Eve Light Switch lets you turn your lights on and off using Siri and it allows them to be paired up with other HomeKit-enabled products in scenes, while retaining the functionality of a standard light switch.

– Eve Degree ($60) – Eve Degree is Eve’s mini weather station, designed to provide the temperature, humidity, and air pressure. It has an LCD display so you can see the temperature at a glance, and it lets you view the temperature in the home when away or ask Siri for temperature details. Eve Degree lets you see and monitor temperature trends over months, weeks, and days, and it lets you use temperature or humidity-based triggers for other HomeKit products.

– Eve Aqua ($100) – Eve Aqua is Eve’s latest product, designed to automate sprinklers and irrigation systems, converting an outdoor water faucet into a smart faucet. With Eve Aqua, you can turn the sprinklers on via Siri voice command or your iPhone, and you can automate watering times. You can also keep an eye on how much water you’re using, both day to day and over time.

We have three bundles with all of the above listed Eve products included. To enter to win the giveaway, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

a Rafflecopter giveawayThe contest will run from today (July 13) at 11:15 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:15 a.m. Pacific Time on July 20. The winners will be chosen randomly on July 20 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.

Tags: giveaway, Eve
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