Zonoff Links Home Automation Silos Via Staples Connect

zonoff-hubs

As our homes acquire sentience, a few are attempting to traverse the technological silos… in an approachable way, suitable for civilians and geeks alike. While companies like Zonoff, Revolv, and Smarthings each strive to take home automation mainstream with somewhat differing technological and marketing approaches, they share a vendor- and network-neutral approach as they aim to provide an alternative to the security and telecom firms that are likewise pushing into this realm. And, as you might guess from the tweets and pics, I came away from CES quite enamored with Zonoff.

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Massive TiVo Discounts Offered To Advisors & Resellers

Post holiday sales, TiVo is testing the waters with some amazing offers for “Advisors” and rates that roughly line up with their existing reseller offers. I assume uptake will be strong amongst this market microcosm… and hopefully influences the broader TiVo Roamio pricing strategy. As we’re still awaiting the compelling upgrade promos previously alluded to by … Read more

Finding a LogMeIn Alternative

logmein-eol

After ten years of service, LogMeIn has abruptly terminated their free tier of remote access. And my pal Janice speaks for many of us when she says, “That sound is parental tech support reps everywhere imploding at their desks.” Of course we don’t fault the company for wanting to make money and I’ve always been somewhat skeptical of the “freemium” model (and suspect its limitations are why Evernote now sells socks) – it’s the communication we take issue with.

Those who’ve purchased the $30 LogMeIn Ignition app for iOS and Android are being comped 6 months of Pro service, after which point we can move on or receive 50% off an annual two-computer plan for $49. Everyone else has 7 days after their next login to upgrade to a paid plan. As infrequent users, many of us will abstain… and are left wondering what else is out there.

As for me,

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Nintendo Considers Pulling A Sega

wiiu-tivo-scheduling

As Wii U sales plummet, despite price cuts, it appears the Japanese gaming pioneer may finally be ready to embrace third-party hardware. From Nintendo President Satoru Iwata:

If we stay in one place, we will become outdated. We are thinking about a new business structure. Given the expansion of smart devices, we are naturally studying how smart devices can be used to grow the game-player business.

While Nintendo has produced all sorts of compelling hardware (Virtualboy!) over the years, they haven’t always found sales success and aren’t nearly as relevant as Microsoft and Sony in the console space… which I attribute to their slow embrace of HD.

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Anker Saves The Day (Again)

As I’ve yet to find that perfect gadget caddy, we’ve gone ahead and implemented Plan B. When picking out a new bedroom set about 18 months ago, we went with a collection that we otherwise may have passed over due to tricked out nightstands housing a power squid in the top drawer (and undercarriage lighting). … Read more