Tony Fadell Says Nest Has 100 Patents Granted, 200 Filed, And 200 More Ready To File

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Many in the tech world and Washington have railed against the encroaching and limiting effect of patents on innovation, but when the chips are down, IP and patents remain key cornerstones in how tech companies and their founders are making sure they will be able to build their businesses and stick around for the long haul. Tony Fadell, the legendary former hardware supremo at Apple and now CEO and co-founder of new smart home device startup Nest, today revealed that Nest already had 100 patents granted, with 200 more on file with the USPTO and another 200 ready to file.

“At Nest what we did was make sure that we are putting [effort in] a ton of patents,” he said on stage today at the LeWeb conference on Paris. “This is what you have to do to disrupt major revenue streams.”

Nest, which first hit the market last year with a smart, design-friendly thermostat that you can control remotely with an iPhone app, this year added to its range with a smart smoke and carbon monoxide detection and alarm system. But the company has also had its share of patent heat.

nest-vs-honeywellIt has been embroiled in a thermostat-related patent infringement suit brought by appliance maker Honeywell initially in February 2012, and in November 2013 saw another patent suit get filed from BRK, makers of the First Alert smoke alarms, for infringements related to Nest’s second product.

Nest has also taken steps to buy insurance from elsewhere to shore up its patent position. In September it announced a deal with Intellectual Ventures — one of the most well-known of the patent hoarders — for access to some 40,000 patents via IV’s “IP for Defense” subscription-based product. Nest can draw on these patents as a defendant or in the event of a counterclaim — as it happens to be in the case of Honeywell.

Part of the IV deal also included the acquisition of an unspecified number of patents, “in areas of interest to Nest, including systems and methods for automatic registration of devices.” It is unclear whether Fadell’s patent citation today — totalling some 500 in all if you count granted patents, those waiting approval, and those yet to be filed — include the patents that Nest would have picked up from IV.

You might argue that part of Fadell’s bullishness about patents comes out of necessity because of these suits, but on the other hand you have to remember that he comes from Apple, one of the most aggressive technology companies when it comes to using patents to defend its products, and also filing a lot of them almost as a smokescreen to mask what it may be planning next.

Patents are not the only game in town, of course. In talking about what he saw as important elements of building a business, Fadell also touched on the challenges of hardware startups, and the pitfalls of Kickstarter. You can get a lot of public support (and even financial support) for an idea, but “if you do not plant the seeds early enough” for how you will manufacture and distribute that concept at scale, he said, you will not go anywhere. (Yes, he said this last year at LeWeb, too.)

The other area that Fadell believes we are seeing a shortfall is in how disruptive products are being marketed to consumers.

“You have to communicate what the problem is and what the benefit of the solution is,” as well as giving people an easy way to purchase it, he said. That is part of how you build trust for new, intelligent devices. “If people cannot trust our brand, our things will never sell,” said Fadell. “The ‘Internet of Things’ will never take off if people do not trust the products.”

Meet Kubo, The Crowdfunded Electric Cargo Scooter Made By Lit Motors

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Lit Motors, the electric car startup that launched last year with its first vehicle called the C1, has debuted another sleek looking electricity-fueled vehicle called the Kubo.

The Kubo is a uniquely designed vehicle that brings together the best of both worlds from scooters and cars: It has a small two-wheeled form factor, but a nice amount of storage space. Lit describes it as “combining the beautiful design of Apple and Vespa with the basic utility of a pickup truck.” I’d liken it to a modern two-wheeled version of the El Camino, only much more beautifully designed (and eco-friendly!) Either way, it’s a very nifty piece of work. Once you see it, you wonder why something like it hasn’t been made already.

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Lit Motors is hoping to crowdfund the initial production of the Kubo through a Kickstarter campaign launched last month. So far, the company has a ways to go — a little over $45,000 has been pledged out of the $300,000 goal, so with nine days left in the campaign the clock is certainly ticking. As sleek as the Kubo is, it might have been a bit ambitious to expect dozens of people to each put down $5,000 to reserve a yet-to-be-built scooter from a small startup.

But whatever happens with this particular Kickstarter campaign, Lit’s chief marketing officer Ryan James tells me that the company will figure out a way to get the Kubo into production for all the people who want it. There are lots of people rooting for Lit, and it will be exciting to see how its designs are made into a reality (and eventually come to our roads.)

We swung by Lit Motors HQ to get a first-person look at the Kubo and watch Lit’s CMO Ryan James take it for a spin. Check it out in the video embedded above.

Video credits: Shooting: John Murillo and Yashad Kulkarni, Editing: Yashad Kulkarni, Production: Felicia Williams

Gift Guide: The Tech-Loving Outdoors Enthusiast

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Technology and nature seem in constant conflict, but they can be better together. And being a tech enthusiast isn’t necessarily mutually exclusive with loving the outdoors, which is why we’ve put together a whole gift guide featuring stuff that scratches that techie itch but also should help you conquer (or live in peaceful harmony with, if that’s what you’re into) nature.

AR Drone 2.0 ($299)

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Soon, drones will be everywhere, and we’ll need to retreat to the forests just to escape their interminable whirring. But until then, nature is the perfect harbor for them. The AR Drone 2.0 by Parrot is a smartphone-controlled quadcopter that you’ve probably seen on TV, the web or at a trade show, and it’s a great device for winging around the forest for some easy outdoor aerial photography. Bonus points if you can buzz a deer.

Nike+ Fuelband SE ($149.95)

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The woods doesn’t count if you can’t quantify what you did there, and that’s where Nike’s new Fuelband device comes into play. Upgrading with much-improved activity tracking that can distinguish between biking, running, and even tennis and more. The Fuelband SE can also track sleep for you while you’re toughing it out on the cold, hard ground, but it’s only an on/off state, so if you’re more concerned about that, look to something like the Jawbone UP24.

Oru Kayak ($1,095)

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An entire kayak that folds up into a convenient suitcase sized carrying package. That’s the only pitch you should need to hear with the Oru Kayak. Made of durable corrugated plastic, it comes with a number of options, including a two-pack for the outdoor-loving couple. It’s well-reviewed by many kayakers, packs up smaller and is in many ways easier to assemble than most other so-called folding kayaks. Plus, as far as kayaks go, it’s not even actually all that expensive.

Olympus TG-2 iHS ($379.99)

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If you want a camera ready for the wilderness, the Olympus TG-2 iHS is the best one that will still fit in your pocket. Dust, shock, water and freeze proof, it also offers a very wide maximum aperture and good image quality all around. This is the prevailing leader when it comes to the pocket toughcam market, and you can usually pick it up at a discounted price if you look around a little.

Boombot Rex ($119.99)

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You go to nature to enjoy the silence, not rock out to sick beats, but sometimes it’s okay to combine those two. And the Boombot Rex can hold up to adverse weather conditions, including mud and dust, and it doubles as a very capable Bluetooth speakerphone with a long-lasting battery.

White Nexus 7 Now Available In 32GB Model In The US, UK And Japan For $269

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Google has just released a white version of the Nexus 7 tablet, in white and packing 32GB of storage, available now for $269 on the Google Play Devices store, so long as you’re in the U.S., U.K. or Japan. There’s no LTE version and no 16GB model, unlike with the black Nexus 7, but if you’re looking for a color match tablet for your white Nexus 5 you’re now in luck.

The bezel retains the same black paint scheme, and there’s no change beyond the back panel color job in terms of performance or specs. The Nexus 7 is a fairly capable Android tablet, however, and most likely the best deal available at that particular price point depending on your needs. If you’re looking to grab one, it’s probably a good idea to pull the trigger on that order, quickly, since these are probably going to be in fairly limited supply at launch.

You do have a little more choice, however, as LG has just announced a Google Play edition of the G Pad Android tablet, which has an 8.3-inch screen and costs a bit more at $349.

Google Outs Play Edition LG G Pad And Sony Z Ultra, But They’re Still US-Only

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Well, that was fast. LG inadvertently outed a G-Pad tablet that would be getting the Google Play Edition treatment earlier today, and Google has just followed up with a confirmation, a price tag ($349) and another device to add to the mix. Sony’s $649 Z Ultra is also available in the Google Play store, much to the chagrin of rumormongers who have long claimed that Sony would soon get a crack at crafting a Nexus device.

Alas, global gadget fiends won’t be able to join in the fun — like the Google Play Edition HTC One and Galaxy S 4 before it, these devices aren’t yet slated for an international launch.

The spec sheet on the G Pad 8.3 hasn’t changed since last we saw it (8.3-inch 1920×1200 display, 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 chipset with 2GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal storage) but the announcement of the Sony Z Ultra largely came out of the blue. If that name sounds mildly familiar, it’s because the X Ultra is a lightly modified version of the Xperia Z Ultra smartphone that debuted to positive critical feedback earlier this year. The exclusion of the Xperia branding is honestly a little confusing though — it’s not like the brand couldn’t use a publicity boost in the United States, and Samsung’s Galaxy moniker is still slapped on its Google Play Edition phone.

Branding or not, the Z Ultra is still a hot little number with its 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 chip, 2GB of RAM, 6.4-inch 1080p display, LTE support, and waterproof chassis. It’s one of Sony’s best handsets to date, and frankly it’s heartening to see that the company is finally seems to be finding its footing in a hectic smartphone market after it discontinued its efforts on lower-end devices. Then again, the Google Play Edition badge (and the accoutrements that come with us) don’t always translate into sales success. Both devices are available for sale now if you’re living within the confines of the 50 states, so have at it if you’re itching for a little pre-holiday shopping spree.

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This is a developing story, please refresh for updates.

How Matternet Wants To Bring Drone Delivery To The People Who Need It Most

An image from Matternet's drone delivery pilot in Haiti

Last week, the media world was abuzz with the news that e-commerce giant Amazon was experimenting with a new program dubbed “Amazon Prime Air,” which would use small automated “drone” aircraft to make customer deliveries. But while Jeff Bezos’ primetime television announcement of Amazon’s drone ambitions certainly attracted a lot of attention, it’s important to note that he is not the first person to express interest in the drone delivery space.

A small Silicon Valley startup called Matternet has been developing drone delivery technology for several years now. The company’s co-founder and CEO Andreas Raptopoulos’ TED talk from this past summer about the potential to use small drones for delivery purposes has garnered more than 200,000 views since it was posted online last month — and perhaps helped to inspire Bezos himself, as Bezos used some of the same language used in Raptopoulos’ TED talk when unveiling the concept of Amazon Prime Air on 60 Minutes.

An image from Matternet's drone delivery pilot in Haiti

An image from Matternet’s drone delivery pilot in Haiti

One very interesting thing about Matternet is that the company believes drone delivery technology should be first used in the developing world, to deliver food, medicine, and other necessities to areas that are less accessible by car or truck. Often, consumer technologies start by serving a higher end market and trickle down to attain widespread utility — think computers, cell phones, automobiles, and the like. Matternet says its approach is to introduce drone delivery technology to the “people who need it the most,” and build the network from there.

It was a pleasure to have Raptopoulos and his Matternet co-founder Paola Santana stop by TechCrunch’s San Francisco headquarters last week to talk more about how their technology is progressing, the unique technical and regulatory challenges that drones face, and their reaction to learning that Amazon is working in the space as well. Watch that in the video embedded above.

And in the video embedded below, you can see footage from one of Matternet’s drone delivery pilot programs in Haiti.

Matternet in Haiti from Matternet on Vimeo.

iBeacon Pioneers Estimote Raise $3.1M Seed Round

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Jakub Krzych, founder of Estimote, has announced a $3.1 million seed round raise from Innovation Endeavors, Betaworks, Bessemer Venture Partners, Birchmere Ventures, Valiant Capital Partners and others. The company is already shipping its small Bluetooth products, called Beacons, to retailers and they expect a huge rush in orders as they line up large clients next year.

“In the future apps will not be designed just for smartphones. They will also be developed and installed on top of retail stores and other real world locations – like airports, museums or hospitals,” said Krzych. “We are shipping thousands of beacons per week and more than 10,000 developers around the world are already experimenting with Estimote beacons in contextual computing applications.”

Macy’s is already experimenting with the technology while Apple plans to add iBeacon to 254 of their retail stores. Estimote is poised to grab hundreds of those locations with its low-cost devices. They are also building a digital platform for handling iBeacon interaction with cellphones as well as improved wireless payment solutions. Estimote won Best Hardware Startup at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco.

“Estimote is bringing on Steve Cheney as SVP of Business Operations, who will open a New York office and build out Estimote’s business and operations teams,” said Krzych. The company already has headquarters in Krakow, Poland and San Francisco. The company hopes to announce further partners over the coming months.

Source Code Says LG’s G-Pad Tablet Will Get The Google Play Edition Treatment

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Google and LG have been getting awfully cozy lately — the web giant tasked the Korean company with delivering its two most recent Nexus smartphones, and if you’re the type to put stock in rumors, it seemed like a new Nexus tablet (bearing the model number “LG-V510″) would be the next fruit of their union.

Well, according some files posted to LG’s own site, it isn’t. Not exactly, anyway. Some industrious redditors (via Droid-Life) discovered that LG posted a source code update for that very device on its Open Source Code Distribution page, and a little bit of unzipping revealed the truth of the matter. The tablet in question isn’t a shiny new Nexus model, it’s a version of the company’s 8.3-inch G-Pad that’s getting the Google Play Edition treatment.

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Google launched the Google Play Edition initiative earlier this year with special versions of the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy S 4 that featured nearly-stock versions of Android instead of the highly-customized builds that their cousins ship with. I’d argue the benefits only really appeal to the real nerds and tinkerers among you — being SIM unlocked is nice, but more importantly those GPE phones generally get updates awfully quickly to boot. Granted, the update process isn’t quite as fast it is for members the Nexus line since their software build contains small additions to power non-standard features like the One’s BoomSound speakers.

Still, this is a pretty big deal for a company that doesn’t have much experience in crafting tablets and seems to speak to how closely the Google-LG relationship has grown in recent years. Like the One and the Galaxy S 4 before it, the G-Pad is no slouch: it sports an 8.3-inch IPS display running at 1920 x 1200, along with a Snapdragon 600 chipset, and 2GB of RAM. If LG’s source code files are legit and not some intricate prank, the tablet won’t be the speediest thing to grace the Google Play store, though early reviews of the thing are generally positive.

There are still plenty of questions surrounding this thing, not least of which is when it’ll officially see the light of day for the first time. CES 2014 is right around the corner and LG has snapped up the very first press conference slot on the pre-show press day so it would have a captive audience of reporters to show the thing off too. Then again, Google was in charge of unveiling both previous Google Play Edition devices, so the tablet may wind up headlining its own event. I’ve reached out to Google for comment, and will update this story if/when they respond.

Chromecast Gets 10 New Apps, Including Songza, VEVO, And Revision 3

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Slowly but surely, Google’s Chromecast devices is beefing up with content partners. The company just announced 10 new apps landing on the $35 smart TV dongle, including VEVO, Revision 3, PostTV, and Songza, to name a few.

For those of you who don’t already know, Chromecast is a device developed by Google that plugs right into your TV to add various streaming services like YouTube, Netflix and most recently HBO Go.

Here’s what Google had to say about the new apps:

Beginning today you can enjoy action sports, news, music videos, and more with the addition of VEVO, Red Bull.TV, Songza, PostTV, Viki, Revision 3 and BeyondPod.

And for those many holiday gatherings, you can also cast your personal media straight to your TV using Plex, Avia, or RealPlayer Cloud apps. There’s no need to huddle around small screens when you can share your own photos and videos using your phone, tablet, or laptop.

To learn more about Google Chromecast, click here.

Songza Holidays

Along with the launch on Chromecast, Songza is also launching new Holiday Playlists.

Songza has been relatively quiet since the launch of iTunes Radio in September, but that might have to do with raising $4.7 million and launching Club Songza, the company’s ad-free premium service.

Or perhaps they were just hard at work on bringing a variety of holiday-related playlists to the apps. Songza has developed over 75 different Christmas playlists ranging from Drunken Christmas Party to Christmas on the Beach.

You can check out the app here.

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Meet Revolv, The Missing Link To The Modern Smart Home

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Automated homes are nothing new. For decades, people have toiled over connecting household object to intranets and servers in a desperate attempt to simplify lives. But the work rarely justified the results. Then came the so-called Internet of Things. Nest, Sonos, Hue, Yale Locks; all these products eliminated the need for a Ph.D in geekery. Just remove the item from the swanky packaging, follow the instructions and install the smartphone app and voila, a smart device.

Enter Revolv. This $299 device connects all these smart devices, effectively making a unified smart home. This might be the quintessential first world problem, but as smart devices grow in popularity, there will increase a need for a device to make everything run together. And the Revolv does just that. It’s the missing link in today’s Internet of Things.

In my house, I have several smart devices: A Nest Thermostat, WeMo outlets and a Kwikset deadbolt. All these items previously operated independently of each other. They didn’t know they existed within the same house. The Nest couldn’t talk to the Kwikset lock. The Kwikset couldn’t tell the Nest to fire up the furnace when the front door is unlocked.

The complication can get more troublesome in houses with Sonos systems, Philips Hue lights, and Insteon and GE smart systems. All of these items require a separate app to control their functions. The Revolv not only consolidates control to a central app, but allows for all sorts of macros and pre-programmed functions.

The smart actions allows owners to group logical functions together. Using location sensing, when the owner is, say, 100 yards away from home, the Revolv can lock your front door, turn down the heat, and turn on a Sonos system to give the dog some background music. Or, alternatively, when the owner is within 100 yards of his home, the Revolv can unlock the front door, turn up the heat and kick on the Sonos.

Combined with Belkin WeMo remote outlets and Philip Hue lights, the possibilities are nearly endless. The Revolv could turn on a candle warmer and foot bath, dim the lights and tune into your Fleet Foxes station for a relaxing evening at home.

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Setup was surprisingly trivial. Plug the Revolv into power, install the app, and follow the on-screen instructions. Some devices automatically connect to the Revolv. Others require manual syncing. I had to hit a couple small buttons on the backside of my Kiwkset lock.

The device is not without flaws. The Revolv’s current logic doesn’t recognize multiple smartphones. If I happen to leave the geofenced areas, the Revolv doesn’t know that my wife happens to still be in the house and doesn’t want the temperature to drop to 62 degrees. But those are trivial annoyances in an otherwise fantastic device.

If you own multiple smart devices that you control through a smartphone, buy the Revolv. Its novelty alone makes it worth the cost of admission. Upon installation, a lightbulb will go off over your head as you realize this was the device missing from your home. It combines all your devices into universe. It’s akin to the formation of The Avengers. Separate, all your devices are like superheros that can stand their own. Together they can take on thousands of aliens dumping out of a wormhole in the sky.