Home Automation

Kitchen Peeler with built-in chamber for catching peelings

1 Comment / Gizmo of the Day, Home Automation / By /

Who can have too many kitchen gadgets?! This take on the ubiquitous kitchen peeler is pretty nice – it has a chamber built-in that catches the peelings. The blade itself is double-sided and made of stainless steel. Snap open the chamber lid to empty and stick it in the dishwasher for fast and easy clean-up.

Buy now!

Price: $19.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Clock That Adjusts For Daylight Saving – By Tipping It

Gizmo of the Day, Home Automation / By /

Simply tip the clock over to activate daylight saving

Today’s Gizmo of the Day is probably more notable for its artsy look than it’s gadgetiness, but it is cool – a clock that adjusts for daylight saving time simply by being tipped. Everything I have, except my watch, adjusts automatically for daylight savings time so perhaps a little unnecessary for me, but it does make a great talking point and looks pretty cool as well. Designed by NAVA who haven’t as yet released any details on price or availability – watch this space!

All you have to do now is remember to tip it…

via Cool-Gadgets.com.

Aerolatte To Go – Milk Frother

Gizmo of the Day, Home Automation, Tools, DIY, Home, Office / By /

Aerolatte To Go - Black

Aerolatte’s cappuccino/latte/milkshake/you-name-it milk frothers have been around for years, but here’s a new twist – the Aerolatte To Go. Essentially still their original design, this new version comes in a suave matte black with a sophisticated travel case for the modern man on the go and won’t look out of place sitting in your BMW’s glove compartment. Well… your call.

With the new paint job, it still does the same thing beautifully – it really can make a lovely frothy milk in under 20 seconds, running on 2 AA batteries. No more violent hand pressing on your part. Get that froth for your latte or cappuccino.

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Buy now!
More info from the manufacturer

Price: $12.20
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Talking Remote Meat Thermometer

Gizmo of the Day, Home Automation / By /

Certainly not the first meat thermometer out there, and it won’t be the last, but this one from Grill Alert is pretty nifty. Stick the stainless steel probe into the meat and the transmitter wirelessly sends updates to the receiver which you can wear on your belt if you’d like.

The receiver/display shows you information like the temperature, the desired temperature based on the type of meat being cooked. It also has a small database of meat types and recommended temperatures. And the best part is that you don’t need to continuously look at it, because it has voice prompts that say when the meat is almost ready and ready.

In case this one is a bit too pricey for you and you don’t care for the voice and/or wireless features, take a look at some of the other meat thermometers we’ve featured.

Buy now!

Price: $69.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Moshi Voice-Controlled Digital Alarm Clock

Home Automation / By /

You already know how we love our alarm clocks here on GfG! Well we love the sound of this one, or more precisely, it loves the sound of us. You see, the Moshi alarm clock is voice-controlled. Start off by saying “Hello Moshi” and it will ask you for the command to perform.

Features include the typical alarm clock, but some other niceties like the current temperature, the date, sleep sounds and a night light. Moshi has a nice large, bright display and is elegantly styled.

Buy now!
More info from the manufacturer
Price: $49.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Google’s Android OS to appear in more than just cell phone handsets?

2 Comments / Home Automation, Miscellaneous, Phones / By /

Android appears set to start appearing in more than just cell phones. A few reports point the way. Although Google appears mum, one touchscreen manufacturer, Touch Revolution, says they’re working on Android-based devices for quite a few companies. Another company, MIPS Technologies, reported this week that they’ve ported the open-source Android to their architecture, which is used on their home devices.

What types of devices? Well, the sky’s the limit really. Think landline handsets, kitchen Net-appliances, DVRs, even photo frames. It’s possible some of these devices may start appearing this year.

ZZZ Checker – monitors and analyzes your sleep

Home Automation, Sports, Health & Fitness, Outdoors / By /

Add another sleep analysis gadget to the growing list. This time around, Japanese company Spec Computer has a product that does not require you to wear a wristband. Instead the ZZZ Checker uses audio and visual sensors to tell what you’re doing.

This is not a tool like the aXbo alarm clock that wakes you up at optimum points during your sleep cycle. However, it records things like snoring, teeth grinding, tossing and figures out if your sleep is light, medium or deep.

You can transfer the data from the ZZZ Checker to your PC and analyze with the included software.

Sorry sleep-deprived Westerners, but it’s currently only available in Japan, although if the display is any clue, they’ve probably designed it with English speakers in mind too. If you’d like to get your hands on something similar, take a look at the SleepTracker Pro Watch.

via dvice.

Axxis Biotmetrics USB Fingerprint Lock

Gizmo of the Day, Home Automation / By /

Sure, fingerprint-based locks have been around for a while, but we particularly like this one for its USB port so that you can easily program it and download records. The Axxis Biotmetrics USB Fingerprint Lock is perfect if you’re building your evil genius hideaway or more tamely, if you have a business and want to better secure the buildings and/or some rooms.

A user needs to enter a PIN as well, so just cutting some guy’s thumb off isn’t going to do the trick alone! There are 2 add-on accessories that you can get for this lock. First is the AT (audit trail) upgrade which lets you download all the accesses (successful and failed) to a USB thumb drive and display them on a computer.
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InterHome – smart house ‘learns’ from its inhabitants

Home Automation / By /

More good (and cool) news from the home automation field. The University of Hertfordshire has put together a working demo of a house they called InterHome that is able to ‘learn’ and adapt to its inhabitants lifestyles. Using X10 technology and embedded devices, the house can text its owners in the event of unlocked doors or wasted energy (ex: lights unused or thermostat too high/low). In turn the owner can control the InterHome via web browsers, smartphones and SMS messages.

As more such projects are unveiled and their cost to implement comes down, we’ll should see more homeowners jump at the chance to add their houses to the list of eco-friendly, energy-saving, carbon-neutral abodes. For example, take a look at the wireless temperature monitoring project. In time, such features will no longer be add-ons, but standard. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Wireless temperature monitoring can save you money

Home Automation, Networking & Internet / By /

Typical central air systems for homes have a fatal flaw – a single thermostat for the entire floor if not the entire house. You then typically end up with different rooms being at different temperatures.

Today’s technology lets you manage this problem cheaply. Snag a bunch of wireless sensors and deploy them around the home. They in turn report back to a central system that you can monitor to figure out where you may need to improve the insulation and/or adjust the airflow into that room.

You may be able to take it a step further by having the vents motorized and automatically controlled to open/close based on temperature thresholds.

You can find more details at Embedded.com.

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