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Samsung’s Tizen-Powered Remote Will Control Your Smart Home

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Samsung's Tizen-Powered Remote Will Control Your Smart Home

Samsung’s Tizen-powered remote will control your smart home – in the future, that is.

Simplicity is a core facet of Samsung’s 2016 line of Smart TVs. Building an universal remote control and an improved  Smart Hub user interface might just make the Korean company the choice for many smart home enthusiasts.

Even now, there are quite a few modern living rooms that have several devices connected to a big screen TV – a gaming console, a Blu-Ray player, a video-streaming box and other gadgets. Controlling all of them means that the consumer has to manage, let’s say, more than five remotes.

Samsung understands that this is just absurd and comes with the solution in the form of the Tizen-powered device. This will serve as the sole controller for every device that connects to a Samsung Smart TV.

The company claims that it can immediately detect set-top boxes that are connected via the HDMI port, among other devices.

However, the Korean-based company doesn’t say if the remote control will ship with 2016 Samsung Smart TVs, or if consumers will have to acquire the controller separately.

Yet, if it is indeed included in the box, then it could very well put Logitech’s department of third-party universal remotes out of business.

Samsung also revealed at the end of 2015 that they will be making their Smart TVs fully compatible with IoT – the Internet of Things; via SmartThings. This means that you will be able to control everything connected in your home, from light bulbs to thermostats, via the Tizen-powered device.

This turns Samsung’s Smart Control into a direct competitor to Logitech’s Harmony Remotes.

Samsung has announced that the company is trying to bring a more unified approach to its TV OS. It intends to make it easier for users to switch from a content service to another, as well as between devices. Take linear TVs, gaming consoles – read, Microsoft’s Xbox One, Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Nintendo’s Wii U; and set-top boxes.

This means that users will be able to search for content across all of their devices via a single search box.

Samsung has also announced that they will be present at this year’s CES event in Las Vegas. The Consumer Electronics Show is the biggest tech event in the world, and it’s going to start on January the 6th. Until then, we can only speculate how awesome the tech giant’s new device will be. Stay tuned as we will report the biggest and most thrilling devices from this year’s CES event.

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Qualcomm Connected House Impressions

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We have been teased with a concept of a smart home or connected home for many years now. This year’s edition of CES revealed that a connected home is more of a reality than ever before. Qualcomm has revealed its smart home and showed just how technology is able to impact the way we live our lives. However, this year, the focus was on things people can buy separately; install them in their homes and how we can make use of them in our day to day lives.

Home can be much more when it is connected. Kids spend time on tablets, the adults spend their time on computers while everyone uses a smartphone. Our activities revolve around playing games, surfing the Web, watching movies and listening to music. There are five or more devices that are connected in our homes these days but in the future that number could rise to 50 or even more than that. Qualcomm asks what’s the use of so many smart devices when there is not a smart network capable of bringing together all of them.

Qualcomm networking claims to be able to make your home more digital, smarter and a lot more connected. From Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Powerline that are able of handling media traffic, to hybrid networks and small cells that are able of maximizing flexibility and performance, Qualcomm’s connected home is supposed to redefine how and where we live so we can enjoy a better lifestyle.

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Image source: geek.com

Qualcomm Connected House is proof that the future is now. The front door “speaks” to the smoke alarms inside the house and lights flash when you leave the fridge door open. Everything inside the house can be controlled remotely with a smartphone and is linked together.

Some interesting features include a smart lock that unlocks the door when someone who lives in the house is near it. Smart TVs inside the house warn parents when their children are surfing the internet when they are supposed to be sleeping and a system allows the users to set all the clocks inside the house with just one touch of a button.

All the products Qualcomm uses in its house can also be bought separately and are developed by Qualcomm and other companies. All of these devices run the AllJoyn Software which is an open source project initiated in 2011 by Qualcomm. It lets devices using the software to communicate between each other. Qualcomm partnered with numerous other companies to create more smart devices for the house and to develop the software even further.

Events are triggered when the user performs actions within the house. For example, if a person opens the door on the fridge an event will be triggered and lights will flash or a sound will be heard.

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Image source: slashgear.com

In the front door of the house the August smart lock can be found. The lock works by sensing the August app on the home owner’s tablet or smartphone. In order for the lock to be opened, a person with a code must approach the door with Bluetooth enabled on their tablet or smartphone and access the address from the August app. The lock verifies the identity of the user via Bluetooth and allows him or her access inside the house. Red lights on the front panel of the smart lock will turn green and the device will open the door by unlocking it. In order of having access to another person’s home, the home owner must send you an invitation via Facebook or using the address book.

CES 2015 proved that we’re all already living inside the connected dream. Numerous new products presented at CES 2015 were improvements on previous ones. One of our favorite things from CES 2015 regarding a connected home was Parrot Pot. Parrot Pot uses the concept of the Flower Power sensor and improved it by developing a flower pot that is able of keeping someone’s plants alive without them having to worry about when and how much to water them.

Another interesting device was the Misfit Bolt. There is nothing new about smart light bulbs but Misfit Bolt significantly lowered how much the these kinds of products cost and made it a lot easier for everyone to install such things into their own home. D-Link and Honeywell had their share of the spotlight and many other companies besides them presented a series of sensors, hubs and cameras that are able to make our homes smarter.

Smart homes have been dreamed about for years now and they have even been present in entertainment from anywhere between the McFly home in Back to the Future to one of the Halloween specials in The Simpsons. Qualcomm and other companies seem to bring the dream closer to reality and we can’t wait to see if the future will find us living in such homes or at least using some of these devices separately.

Top 10 Gadgets from CES 2015

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CES-on-Ice

The annual Consumer Electronics Show attracts millions of tech enthusiasts and hundreds of companies who want to unveil their latest innovations. Although most of the time you are stuck starring at the same laptops, trying to figure out which of them is better, there is the occasional gadget that somehow stands out from the rest.

This year there have been many interesting innovations, which we consider, are worth mentioning. The technology presented at CES 2015 was certainly impressive and this is our pick of the Top 10 gadgets from CES 2015.

10. Tobii’s Eye Tracker

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Image source: pstnet.com

Tobii always surprises us with an awesome thing at CES and this year was no exception either. Their SteelSeries Eye Tracker certainly topped any expectations of ours and impressed a lot of people. The technology allows a player to control the camera simply by moving his head around. This is an awesome feature for FPS games and Tobii showed exactly that in their demo at CES 2015.

9. Nvidia Tegra X1 Chip

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Image source: nvidia.com

Nvidia has shown the newest generation of the mobile CPU at CES 2015 and even had the spunk to compare it to Apple’s own CPU. Demos showed that the new Nvidia CPU is 1.7 times more efficient than the A8X CPU by Apple and delivers the same performance drawing less power. As for visuals, a demo of the Unreal Engine 4 Elemental showed just how incredibly well the new Nvidia Tegra X1 chip performs with high end graphics.

8. New ASUS Transformer Book

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Image source: rackcdn.com

ASUS showed off its new generation of Transformer Books. The “laptop” has a detachable keyboard and runs the Windows operating system. Depending on configuration, screen size and processor, the Chi Series includes three models with prices ranging from $299 to $799.

7. Origin Omega Pc Gaming Console

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Image source: aolcdn.com

The Origin PC is a serious competition for the Xbox and Playstation as the new console from Origin is able to dual-boot both Windows 8 and Steam OS and has enough power to bring 4K gaming into your living room because of its powerful dual Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 graphics cards. The new gaming console also feature four swappable hard drive bays.

6. Dell XPS 13

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Image source: techpowerup.com

Already available, the new XPS 13 laptop from Dell features a 13 inch display crammed into an 11 inch housing. The laptop only weighs 2.2 pounds and has a 1080p touch screen display. The laptop also comes in another version weighing 2.8 pounds with a display capable of showing a WQHD resolution of 2560 x 1440, also touch screen. This amazing portable device comes in a very sturdy carbon fiber and aluminum casing. The laptop starts at $799.

5. Rapoo’s New Line of Gaming Keyboards and Mice

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Image source: bestofmicro.com

Rapoo, the well-known gaming peripheral manufacturer has introduced its new line of premium gaming keyboards and mice at this year’s edition of CES. They presented five new products this year and our pick of the litter is the V900 gaming mouse that features a laser sensor that can be adjusted, an amazing 1 millisecond time of response and a system of lights that supports a whopping 16 million colors setup. The mouse retails at a price of $70.

4. Philips Smart Laser 4K TV

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Image source: bestofmicro.com

Philips was able to create a new way of showing amazing colors on a television set. Their new UHD TV has a greater picture quality and color depth than most other 4K TV sets. They used lasers to achieve this. Philips’ newest TV, the Smart Laser Backlight UHD TV takes advantage of a red laser to show UHD images on the display. This means that the reds, greens and blues displayed on the TV are far richer than what you can find on a standard 4K TV.

3. CyberPowerPC Fang Trinity

CyberPowerPC Fang Trinity

Image source: bestofmicro.com

The CyberPowerPC might very well be the PC you were looking for. Even though the gaming PC most probably won’t catch your attention, its specifications are nothing to ignore. The three parts of this PC consist of three SSDs and a Nvidia GeForce GTX 980M graphics card in one part, an optical and hard drive in another part and in the last part of the PC, a 4GHz Intel Core i7-4790K CPU with a liquid system of cooling. This is truly an amazing PC and every hardcore gamer should at least find out more about it.

2. Mad Catz New Peripherals

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Image source: droid-life.com

Because of its design that allows it to detach parts, the new L.Y.N.X. 9 Mobile Hybrid Controller from Mad Catz can dock with smartphones and tablets, work with a keyboard for TV sets and TV boxes or function as a controller for gaming consoles and the Amazon Fire TV.

The gaming mouse called R.A.T. PRO X from Mad Catz is so deeply customizable that even its wheel can be removed. The TRITTON Swarm Mobile Headset is capable of pairing to numerous devices at the same time, so users can chat in Call of Duty and answer phone calls at the same time.

1. Alcatel Onetouch Watch

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Image source: futurecdn.net

Alcatel’s own smartwatch could be a serious competition for Apple as it includes an NFC antenna for quick pairing, a heart-rate monitor and a very beautiful 1.22 inch touchscreen. The device is capable to connect to both iOS devices and Android ones. The company’s demo at the CES 2015 of its smartwatch was pretty amazing and the device itself performed amazingly well. Not to mention that the Alcatel Onetouch Watch is a lot less expensive than Apple’s own Watch.

The Onetouch Watch works with both iOS devices and Android devices and has a retail price of $149, far less than the starting price of $350 for Apple Watch. It will hit the market in March.

So there you have it. This was our list of what we think were the Top gadgets from CES 2015. We can’t wait to see some of these devices in person and review them more in-depth in the future.

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