Newfangled NEST is Hot! Your home thermostat will now know you!!!

Article 5: Newfangled NEST is hot!  By Edward C. Baig

A new thermostat device that connects to Wi_Fi or via iPhone or iPad that also has technology of ‘learned behavior” of its home owner.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/edwardbaig/story/2011-10-25/nest-thermostat-review/50917506/1   By Edward C. Baig

So leave it to the latest mother of invention to select the next common/uncommon device from right underneath of tech savvy noses and make it as hi-tech as it comes…the common boring (hasn’t been changed since Leave it to Beaver) thermostat. How many of us have the round dial mustard beige device circa 1960s or 70s device in our home. Heck even if you have a 80s or 90s home chances are your thermostat was non-descript.

So just as you iphone or ipad is loaded with apps so to soon the same level of water cooler dialogue will apply with your home thermostat. How’s that for office conversation, “have you downloaded that new app that links to Pepco, and issues alerts for too high of thermostat setting warning of increase of heating bill by 40%, I just love that!!! I keep my heat at 52 degrees! “.   And most importantly  how scary will it be when  thermostat automatically decreases the heating temperature by 5 degrees every 3.5 weeks of a  woman’s home because like clockwork she typically decreases the temp to adjust to her PMS symptoms.  Now that’s scary!   Personalization at its finest…soon there will be no more secrets to tell.

Article Snapshot Summary:

Unless heating or cooling is on your mind, there isn't much reason you'd turn to the digital Nest Learning Thermostat, either. Except that this is the coolest thermostat I've ever come across. Nest smashes any preconceived notions of what a thermostat ought to look like and how it should operate, whether you're in front of it or accessing it remotely from an iPhone or iPad. It takes advantage of cloud computing, and it learns from your behavior.

The $249 thermostat was created by Silicon Valley start-up Nest Labs, whose co-founder Tony Fadell used to be in charge of iPods at Apple. Fadell brings the Apple aesthetic to Nest.

Nest gets smarter over time based on the way you raise or lower the temperature when you come or go at different times. In a week's time, Nest will automatically turn down heating or cooling when you're not around. As part of the setup, you can select the high and low temperatures that your heating and cooling system will deliver while you're away. And if you're leaving for vacation, you can manually choose an "Away" setting.

During setup, you can connect Nest to your Wi-Fi network, then change your settings remotely — from the Web or via an app on an iPhone or iPad. (An Android app is due in December.)

Article 4 - From Adobe Sneaks Conference "No More Blurring Pictures"

Team, I had the pleasure of attending the Adobe Conference in Los Angeles the week of Oct 2^nd. I say pleasure because it has been a while since I have been in the company of such a large  creative pool of people. This was a youthful set, full of the technologies to build the Angry Birds of the world and other high tech games with state of the art 3D technologies. All the top video, gaming industries were represented because Adobe creative suite, products and code helps those companies with state of the art graphics displays. 

At the awards event, hosted by Raiin Wilson, a dedicated segment called Sneaks was introduced. The premise of Sneaks is that, key Adobe developers get the opportunity to introduced new technologies they have developed. These are products that will take 2-3 years to come to market but are considered ground breaking technologies among technologists themselves. One such introduction was Adobe’s latest feature for Photoshop. The proposed feature demonstrated how you can scan a blurry picture and using the latest feature’s algorithm technology, the pictures pixels are analyzed and new pixels are generated to what the software assumes will make the most accurate representation. The developer demonstrated this five times and each time the technology produced a clean crisp picture. Can you imagine never having a blurry picture again, even if we take one, this software will auto-correct it for you? I can’t wait.

Article and Associated Adobe Youtube video for Sneaks: No more Blurry Pictures

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/fuzzy-photo-photoshop-could-soon-fix-that/

FuzzyPhoto? Photoshop Could Soon Fix That Posted on October 13, 2011 Author Liz Klimas

Article 3- Siri Voice Recognition

Article Snapshot: Apple iPhone 4S personal assistant: Siri

By: Marguerite Reardon October 4, 2011

Apple demonstrated an intelligent voice recognition app that turns the  pihone 4S into a personal assistant.

The app, which uses natural language, is still in beta tests. But it will likely become a feature on the soon-to-be-released iPhone 4S. Scott Forstall, head of Apple iOS, spent a considerable amount of time demonstrating the new app at the Apple event in Cupertino, Calif., on Tuesday.

By simply holding down the home or "I" button on the device, users can launch the app and be given a list of commands that will allow them to play songs, call people, create text messages, set up meetings and reminders, get directions, and dictate e-mails by simply speaking at their phones. Other commands that can be activated by voice are checking the weather and stock prices, setting alarms, looking up addresses, writing notes in the Notes app, and searching the Web.

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There is no limit on how to use this technology and no media constraints. Think of the power of integration with NFC (Near Fear Communication device). Imagine going to the grocery store and starting the purchase of a product without taking your wallet where NFC auto detects the potential purchase from prompts of register and credit card inputs: Siri prompts: would u like to use a purchase (your answer YES), Siri answers: please confirm your password. You type it in (security data should never be a audible attribute ???). Siri prompts: confirm purchase: your response YES.

There could also be the introduction of Siri to the car in combination with Satellite radio and any online musical purchasing. Imaging driving along and you hear this hot new song. You prompt Siri: Siri?  Siri answers: yes, confirm user. Your response: Mizlhojo1, please purchase song. Siri confirms song currently playing on Sirius/XM: Artist Beyonce, Song: Best Thing I Never Had; is this the song you would like to purchase? Your response: Yes.  Siri prompts: your password,etc

The thought is that a lot of day to day conveniences of instant gratification could be at our fingertips? Does this add greater flexibility to our lives or more complexity?