Hasta La Gadget!

Nest was not the first smart thermostat to reach the hands of consumers. But it was the first that made our parents (and maybe even some of our grandparents) raise an eyebrow. Its cylindrical form and simple GUI are nothing, if not inviting to use, and its ability to learn from your usage habits not only offers convenience, but possible savings when it comes to the power bill. Now with the second generation iteration of Nest—one that is slimmer and guaranteed to work with 95% of home heating systems—the product wants to go from being a buzzy new product to a mainstream, must-have home gadget. More »

[CEATEC 2102] In Japan, phone scamming is a regarded as a pretty big issue, but there aren’t a lot of ways to prevent it right now. However, it looks like Fujitsu is currently working on a solution to the problem. For those of you not in the know, these phone scams usually involve perpetrators calling up victims and asking them to wire money to their account because of some outrageous reasons (i.e. “your son was just hit by a car and if you want me to save him, bank the money into my account first.”) that a lot of people, especially the elderly, fall for. Fujitsu’s phone scam detection technology aims to put an end to that.
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By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Fujitsu brings pet care to the cloud, TDK’s contactless charging system makes it easy to charge your EV,

TiVo has announced a trio of new devices for the coming holiday season, where they are the Stream, Premiere 4 and Premiere XL4. For starters, the TiVo Stream will allow you to seamlessly deliver content stored on any TiVo Premiere box to mobile displays (including those like iPads and iPhones), where you are able to stream up to a quartet of shows simultaneously to four devices that are hooked to a home network. Not only that, it lets you perform wireless transfer of recorded content to a supported mobile device, letting you carry your favorite TV shows along.

As for TiVo Premiere 4, it also offers a quartet of tuners, letting you record up to four shows at once even when you are viewing a fifth recorded program. Capable of recording 75 hours of HD content, it can carry nearly double of what a generic DVR offers.

Last but not least, the TiVo Premiere XL4 lets you record a whopping 300 hours of HD programming, boasting four tuners so that you can simultaneously record four different shows even when viewing a fifth recorded program.

The TiVo Stream, TiVo Premiere 4, and TiVo Premiere XL4 will retail for $129.99, $249.99 and $399.99, respectively. The TiVo Stream will have no monthly service fee, while the TiVo Premiere 4 and TiVo Premiere XL4 will both carry a monthly service fee of $14.99 with a one year commitment.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: TiVo Premiere Elite is finally here, TiVo Premiere Elite officially launched,

We have seen our fair share of Doctor Who products in the past, and just a couple of days ago, we spotted the Doctor Who TARDIS Night Light which would definitely come in handy when helping out Time Lords who want to make their way to the bathroom for a leak in the middle of the night, and yet are afraid of monsters lurking in the dark. Well, that’s all and good, and here we are with another iteration of the TARDIS which should be able to ensure your house has an overall Doctor Who festive mood with the $19.99 Doctor Who TARDIS String Lights.

You can now party like a Time Lord with this unique piece of home decorative equipment. Each 9-foot cord will hold 10 lights, where each of these lights come in the form of a small TARDIS. Don’t worry about the lights blowing after a while, you need not travel to the future to obtain some replacements (four, actually) as each purchase already comes with replacement lights just in case the untoward happened. This is an officially licensed Doctor Who collectible just in case you are concerned about the authenticity of such products.

[ Doctor Who TARDIS String Lights copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

It seems every year we’re treated to promises that lightbulbs are going next-gen, complete with networking features that will help us automate our homes. Few of these products get past the concept stage, so Phil Bosua decided to use a Kickstarter to make the networked bulb a reality. Fully funded in less than one week, the LIFX Lightbulb is a multicolored LED lightbulb which can be both networked and controlled from your smartphone.

Networked lightbulbs offer potential ranging from automated setups to increased energy efficiency, but you’ll probably notice the remote control features first. The Kickstarter promises that you’ll be able to change the color and brightness from your phone, or even have the quality of light match the beat of the song you’re playing. And since it’s all packed into the bulb, all you have to do is simply change your existing bulbs, instead of installing a whole new system. We haven’t tried it out yet, but it seems pretty cool. If you pledge $65 right now, you’ll get a LIFX lightbulb when they come out later this year.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Hitachi G-Connect: A Wireless Storage + Router for Mobiles, Philips Fidelio SoundSphere docking speakers work with AirPlay,