Philips has outed two new Hue-compatible LED multicolor lights as part of its “Friends of Hue” range, the LivingColors Bloom and LightStrips, each working with the remote control app and open API. The LightStrips is 6.6 feet of flexible LED light cord, with self-adhesive backing the ability to trim the length to suit your particular […]
When you’re visiting somewhere either on vacation or business, we’re sure you can’t help but to tweet or publish a status update talking about where you are and your experience there. Not only do we want to share our experience, but deep down, we also like to secretly brag to our friends and family where we are, and where they aren’t. Now there’s a hotel that specifically wants you to use Twitter to help share your experience as well as communicate with them called @SolWaveHouse.
Sol Wave House offers a number of ways for you to communicate with its staff through the use of hashtags. Need your mini fridge to be filled? Just tweet with the hashtag #FillMyFridge, and you can expect a refill soon. That’s not all as the entire facility seems to have a number of signs with their appropriate hashtag to help them as well as your friends know where you are in the hotel, such as tweeting #BaliBed6 to let them know you’re hanging out at the pool.
If you’re a Twitter addict, pack your bags and head on over to Spain, which is where Sol Wave House is located.
Twitter-Powered Hotel Encourages Visitors To Tweet Their Experience original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Last year, we talked about Satis, a new luxury toilet (only in Japan!) that can be controlled by a smartphone app. Well, considering how smartphone apps are not well known for their security capabilities and does not have a particularly strong and secure background, it is not surprising to hear that the Satis luxury toilet which boasts of automatic flushing functionality, a bidet spray, as well as music and fragrance release capabilities, is vulnerable to hacks – at least, its smartphone app is. I guess this is more of a traditional “hack” per se, but rather, an oversight on Lixil’s part when churning out the Satis.
Considering how you would have forked out somewhere in the region of $5,686 for this bad boy to be installed in your bathroom, the last thing you would have expected would be to have your toilet hacked. Once access to the smartphone app (it runs on Android and is called My Satis) is gained, it could be used to activate any of the toilets, which might give rise to some folks thinking that it is another case of The Conjuring in the making.
Since the toilet relies on Bluetooth connectivity to receive instructions via the app, the weakness lies in the PIN code – every model has been hardwired to be four zeros (0000), which means it cannot be reset and can be activated by any phone with the My Satis app. All one mischievous person needs to do is download the My Satis app and start wreaking havoc to the actual owner.
Satis Luxury Toilet’s Smartphone App Can Be “Hacked” original content from Ubergizmo. 
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We’ve seen some really impressive pieces of furniture that certainly think outside the box over the past couple of months that allow you to have several pieces of furniture or seat as many guests as possible, but we’re sure you haven’t thought of having cardboard used as furniture in your home. (more…)
Cardboard Furniture Could Be The Future Of Home Furnishings original content from Ubergizmo. 
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With everything being connected these days and with the tag line “There’s an app for that” becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy, it seems that even our toilets are not spared. For those wondering what we’re talking back, back in 2012 we reported how a Japanese company was rolling out an Android app for its Satis-line of “smart” toilets that would basically allow the user to control several functions of it, such as choosing how much water they want to flush with, operating the bidet and choosing the level of water pressure, and so on. (more…)
Smart Toilet App Is Not As Secure As You Think, Pranks Are Foreseeable original content from Ubergizmo. 
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While IKEA might be primarily known as a manufacturer of furniture, recently the company has begun to embrace technology by offering up an augmented reality catalogue in which those reading the catalogue will be able to scan the magazine with their smartphone and the accompanying app, and be able to get a better idea of the furniture without having to pop by the IKEA store themselves. Well it looks like with their 2014 IKEA Catalogue app, the furniture manufacturer will be taking this to the next level by allowing users to get an idea of how a particular piece of furniture will look like in their home. (more…)
IKEA Unveils New Augmented Reality Catalogue original content from Ubergizmo. 
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We’ve come across themes on both iOS and Android that were inspired by Microsoft’s Windows Phone’s user interface. Given that it is a pretty unique interface, we can see why there is a certain amount of appeal, but it looks like that appeal has extended beyond software and smartphones and into actual objects in real life. One particular furniture company based on Los Angeles, California, has started to offer up furniture which they claim were inspired by the Windows Phone Live Tiles.
Designed by the company’s founder, Dan Maddox, Stanton True’s press release claims that the furniture are “sophisticated, neatly designed layout that’s functional as it is attractive, much like the user interface found in Microsoft’s three-screen approach.” Personally we don’t see the Windows Phone inspiration in the furniture, but we guess the more ardent Windows Phone fan might. In any case if you love the Windows Phone UI and you think that you’d love to deck your home out with it, the furniture will cost you anywhere between $250 to $1,400 and the entire collection can be found on Stanton True’s website.
Like It , +1 , Tweet It , Pin It | Microsoft’s Windows Phone Live Tiles Inspired This Furniture Maker original content from Ubergizmo. 
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When it comes to the Android operating system, the number of devices that it runs on are pretty vast. Majority of these would comprise of smartphones as well as tablets, but this does not mean that other kinds of hardware around the home are exempt – the smart TV is one of them, while Google’s recently introduced Chromecast too, falls under the Android category in some way. How about the humble home phone? Panasonic seems to have a soft spot for this particular piece of consumer electronics, having announced the Panasonic KX-PRX120, which is a home phone that runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and accompanied by a 3.5” touchscreen display. This is not the first of its kind, and I don’t think it will be the last, either.
Basically, you can say that the Panasonic KX-PRX120 sports all the basic features of an Android device, although it is far more suitable for use around the house – and not on the move. It happens to be a digital cordless (DECT) phone that boasts of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS capabilities, in addition to a VGA camera in front that enables you to perform video calls. Other hardware specifications include a microSD memory card slot, a micro USB charging port, and a 1450mAh battery.
Like It , +1 , Tweet It , Pin It | Panasonic KX-PRX120 Android-Powered Home Phone original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Since apps and operating systems do get updated versions from time to time, it is not surprising to see home appliances, too, be on the receiving end of a refresh. In fact, a spanking new version of DoorBot was unveiled officially recently at the launch of PSFK’s Future of Home Living Experience in New York. If that name sounds familiar to you, that is because we did talk about the original DoorBot at the end of last year, it being a Wi-Fi enabled video doorbell which will hook up to smartphones and tablets, allowing you to see whether it is the pizza delivery boy at the door, or a Mafia gang member who is pretending to be one.
It takes just minutes to install the $199 DoorBot, where you can then access it’s “view” from the free DoorBot app, regardless of where you are around the home (or from outside, as long as there is a decent Internet connection). Additional improvements made in recent months have seen the DoorBot be more efficient and easy to use, where shipping will commence from September onwards. Other than a new sleek design and smaller size, the refreshed DoorBot will be able to attach to an existing traditional legacy doorbell for charging and ringing purposes, being able to run on an internal rechargeable lithium ion battery for approximately one year before requiring a recharge, improved faceplate and mounting elements, and an optional remote Wi-Fi enabled USB powered bell.
Like It , +1 , Tweet It , Pin It | New DoorBot Unveiled original content from Ubergizmo. 
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