Darryl Wilkinson

Remotely Possible
Smart Watches? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Smart Watches!
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jan 23, 2013
It didn’t start out being about knowing what time it is. Nor did it have anything to do with making a techno-fashion statement. It all stemmed from a random comment I heard on the radio about so-called “smart watches”. “I’d have no use,” the voice declared, “for a smart watch of any kind...unless maybe it displayed the caller ID from my smart phone so I could look at my wrist instead of pulling my phone out of my pocket to decide whether or not to take the call.” That thought sent a tweet to my cerebral cortex, which then forwarded on an email to one of my frontal lobes which then flashed an Instagram picture. “I’d like that, too,” I thought. “But,” my normally incoherent pattern of thought went on, “I’d really like it if I could use the watch to control my home theater – or, better yet, control the entire Control4/Lutron automation system in my house.” Of course, once you’re on this kind of a roll, it’s hard to stop anywhere near reality. “And I want it to have voice recognition for commands – like Siri, but without the sulking “unable to take requests” rebuffs – so I can just talk to my watch and make things happen!”

Oh, Lady Technology, you can be such a tease...

Continue Reading >
Remotely PossibleCES 2013
Stick a USB HAPIfork In It: CES 2013 Is Done
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jan 18, 2013
From a sea of new earbuds and headphones to a jaw-dropping virtual surround demo, HT's resident comedian Darryl Wilkinson takes one last look at some of CES 2013's coolest things...
Continue Reading >
CES 2013
CES 2013: Wyrestrom HDMI Routers
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jan 13, 2013
CES 2013
CES 2013 Video: Wyrestorm HDBaseT Amp Sends HD 200 Feet
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jan 13, 2013
CES 2013
CES 2013: IGO Audio Integrated Speaker Cabinets
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jan 13, 2013
CES 2013
CES 2013: BDI Home Theater Furnishings
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jan 13, 2013
CES 2013
CES 2013: Aeon Labs ZWave Enabled Home Devices
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jan 13, 2013
CES 2013
CES 2013: Yale ZWave Enabled Door Locks
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jan 13, 2013
CES 2013
Sookbox Knows Where All of Your Digital Media Hides
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jan 12, 2013
Sookbox showed off a prototype of their modestly priced high-performance home media “personal cloud” server/computer in the Eureka Park section of the Venetian. Sookbox is designed to take all of your media content – whether it’s your personal media, a subscription service, or media available for free from the internet – and host it on a single, unified framework so you can access it anywhere using a smartphone or tablet and allow you to play that content on any target device. Sookbox says it’s different from the typical media server product because of three things: the Sookbox software includes a true internet browser that eliminates the need for proprietary apps; the Sookbox framework devices are all IP addressable and globally accessible; and the Sookbox control app is open-source API, something which will hopefully encourage a great deal of creative development by other companies and even users. The main components of the Sookbox include the Sookbox Server with four HDMI outputs, 16 analog audio outputs, 1.5 TB storage capacity, simultaneous multizone delivery of content, and more. The Sookbox Stream Runner is a small, black-box-style device that provides two-way IP connectivity along with an HDMI connection for a display, 3.5 mm analog audio output, and built-in Wi-Fi. Sookbox says an unlimited number of Stream Runners can connect with any one Sookbox Server. The Sookbox Software is what glues the system together, includes a built-in browser, is iOS, Android, and Windows compatible, and allows for gaming without a location-dependent console. Pricing and final form factor hasn’t been determined, but 50 beta units will go into production later this month.
CES 2013
You Ask – ivee Sleek Answers
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jan 12, 2013
Last year, one of the highlights of CES were the ivee voice-controlled talking radio and alarm clocks. This CES, ivee announced it’s tired of being just a bedtime companion. Later this year, ivee will introduce the ivee Sleek, a Wi-Fi, voice-activated intelligent “assistant” that can use natural language understanding, machine learning, and Wolfram Alpha’s computational knowledge engine to answer basic questions (regarding weather, stocks, or other internet-available information), obey commands (set alarms, reminders, and timers), and control a variety of Wi-Fi devices (thermostats, lights, security systems, etc.) ivee says the small, tabletop Sleek “assistant” will even be able to communicate with the super-slick Nest thermostat – something that most automation systems can’t do. The $199 ivee Sleek is available for preorder now and is scheduled to being shipping in May. (If you have any additional questions, you’ll have to ask ivee’s Sleek…)

Pages

X