An offshoot of the mobile device thread: what would you like your device to do???

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Originally Posted by Bagwan

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Originally Posted by BleAivano

Bagwan, these are legitimate questions but imo a strong encryption (pretty much like your WLAN) would prevent
any unauthorized from eavesdropping on your network. I use WPA2 personal for my WLAN.
My passkey is a 69 character long (mixed upper and lower case + numbers) which take some
659 trigintillion years to crack with existing technology.

Sure if you had a quantum computer it'll go allot faster but quantum computers does not exist (at least not officially) and
it wouldn't be something that anyone would walk around with in their pockets.

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Boy , I know how to kill a thread , don't I ?
Sorry , Jag .

It was the first thing that came to mind as you opened the premise of what your computer could do for you .
What your computer could do TO you , in the wrong hands , is kinda scary .

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Oh no, to the contrary, I also believe you raise legitimate concerns. This type of technology truly fascinates me, mainly because of the positive potential it has in the way of automation. But as you say, there is also a dark side. There is also the potential for abuse. And the more personal data and information you give to any system that is interconnected to some larger, outside system, the more privacy you're giving up. In order for these systems to work effectively, they have to "know" you. And if the system knows you, then the gatekeepers of that system also know you. And you have to ask yourself what they might do with this information.

This is why I will never own an Android device. It's not that I'm James Bond or that I'm doing any sort of super secret important work. But whatever I do, I don't feel that any OS should be mining my address book, contact list, emails, spending habits, etc. and forwarding that data back to HQ. And even worse, I don't like the idea that the OS is intentionally set up in such a way that various apps (like the FaceBook and flashlight apps for Android) should be able to transmit personal information about me without my approval or even my knowledge. And if Daniel was here, I'm sure he'd say that I feel this way about Android just because I'm an "Apple fanboi". But that's not it at all. It's not that I trust Apple. It's that I distrust Google, FaceBook and (now) Yahoo more than I distrust Apple or even Microsoft. But no, I don't trust any of them. I don't agree with what the NSA has been doing. But let's face it, Google and FaceBook have forgotten more about data mining than the goofs at the NSA will ever know. And this is why I would cross the Nest devices off my purchase list. Despite Google's (empty) promises about respecting user privacy, now that they have bought Nest, I'll never have one of those products anywhere even near my house.

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All that said , I do like the idea of the house warming to my arrival , but , with a programmable thermostat , and a little more order to my life , I would almost have that already .

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True. But I have never had that much order to my life. And it's not just about thermostats. Though I'd be hesitant to allow any system to know where I was or where I was going 24/7, having interconnected devices which would start my car at predetermined times (and even select the right car to start based on weather or temperature) or based on my schedule for that day, start my coffee maker, select TV shows and movies based on my personal preferences, control the lighting in my home depending on where I am in or outside the home and/or perform automated "personal assistant" type tasks depending on what I have told it... that would be pretty amazing... in concept... in theory.

There's a movie, "Her", coming out which sort of plays with this concept.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVIpm6fpjGE#t=81

"based on my personal preferences" is one of those things that has always stuck in my craw about this microchip future we're enduring .

It drove me crazy a couple of years ago , when my wife had searched a number of sites , looking at E-readers for my son .
It was a Christmas present , so it was meant to be a surprise , but every time he walked past the computer , he'd see an ad for a reader .

When I said " Boy , they must be desperate to sell those things for Christmas !" , he bought my story , and so , was genuinely surprised on the big day .

It all just made me think of big brother , and I'm not referencing a TV program .

Now that I mention it , having it control my TV would have me instantly worrying that I might not get to see a documentary that was ever contrary to the sponsors point of view .
Given that I both Joni Mitchell and the Sex Pistols in my record collection , I am skeptical they could ever get my tastes right at all .

Can Google, Apple, or Samsung Lead the Internet of Things?

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MarketWatch reports that neither Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) nor Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) made Goldman Sachs’s (NYSE:GS) list of companies best positioned to lead the innovation that will drive the development of the Internet of Things, a far-reaching network of everyday devices, which Goldman Sachs projects will connect 28 billion devices to the Internet by 2020.

Both Apple and Google have made moves toward building out successful mobile ecosystems — iOS for Apple and Android for Google — into hubs for innovation for Internet of Things fixtures, particularly smart homes. Google acquired Nest Labs, which then opened its Nest Developer Program to make its smart home platform an open-source hub through which third-party manufacturers’ devices and outside developers’ apps can communicate. Apple’s HomeKit, similarly, is being developed as a framework for the communication and control of smart home devices.

MarketWatch reports that Goldman Sachs cites two categories of technology as particularly crucial to the Internet of Things revolution. Those are “communications technology” — like Wi-Fi, cellular service, and “fog” computing — and hardware, like sensors, connectivity devices, and microcontrollers. It’s widely expected that Wi-Fi connectivity, rather than cellular connectivity, will drive the Internet of Things, and Goldman Sachs expects manufacturers of Wi-Fi chips, like Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), plus hardware manufacturers, like Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) and Ruckus (NYSE:RKUS), to benefit.

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Bumping an older thread, just to keep up with things that change....

While investigating options with programmable/remote access/smart thermostats I realized that things are changing for the better.

Several now allow settings specific to the type of units you use for your heating. This includes settings for when auxiliary heat is used for those with heat pumps. You can set them to conserve more energy with a wider temp range allowed, or kick the extra heat up early to keep you more comfortable. This includes thermostats that consider this factor when heating the home up from a cooler night setting.

A number of thermostats now include motion sensors. If your programmed "away" temps are in effect and you or someone else walks in the door, it detects the motion and turns on the appropriate climate control. Some use sensors on the thermostat itself to "learn" the habits of the occupants, and when they all leave.

At least a few models now look at outside weather, along with forecasts, to save you money. This includes looking at humidity levels and in some cases quick moving weather. If a big cold front is coming and your house is in "away" mode,it might start warming the house earlier than usual for your arrival, if that is more energy efficient.

And at least a couple models now use geofencing, and at least one of those has an option for the distance you must be from the home for the thermostat to put things to the "home" setting, anticipating your arrival.



And I hate to admit this, but choosing a new thermostat has now for me become like building a new computer or picking a new phone. I may well end up spending more just to have the fun of the tech side of experimenting with it. And it looks like I might be picking a model with geofencing, since it seems more suited to our less than predictable routines.

Tech can be fun!

All sounds pretty fun! I've looked into that sort of thing before and things like remote activation but it's nothing that can't be done with a more basic timer based model.

Have any of you looked into Peel lately? Seems like they've made some changes and improvements over what they were all about at first.

TV-remote app Peel adds connected-home commands to its repertoire

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Peel is about to truly become the “smart universal remote” app that it has always claimed to be. The company, fresh off a $50 million investment from Chinese internet giant Alibaba, has announced that it plans to add connected-home commands to its TV remote app, which it claims handles over 7 billion infrared (IR) remote commands each month from upwards of 100 million smartphone and tablet users.
The app—named Best Mobile Photo, Art, Video, or TV App during the 2015 Global Mobile Awards at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona today—can already control TVs, set-top boxes, game consoles, and other entertainment devices by either tapping the host device’s onboard infrared or—in the case of an iPhone or iPad—using Wi-Fi. Next month, the app will updated with a new feature that enables it to relay commands to a large assortment of connected home devices—thermostats, lighting, garage doors, security systems, smart plugs, air conditioners, blinds, locks, etc.—over Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and infrared.
To spare you the hassle of always having to deal with multiple devices separately, the expanded Peel app will allow for the creation of so-called “Peel-in” presets for controlling multiple devices simultaneously.
“A Peel-in living-room experience might involve simultaneously turning on the TV and sound system, closing the blinds, adjusting room temperature, and lowering the lights, all with the tap of one button,” Peel co-founder and chief product officer Bala Krishnan explained in a press release.

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Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior

Which mobile OS does all of that with voice commands in Europe or anywhere else? Or are you asking the question if there is one which can do that in Europe? :confused:

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For me, let's assume it's an Apple device, so I'll audacity temp mail origin use Siri. But whatever Google/Android, BlackBerry or Windows Phone is using for voice commands would work too.

Hey, I think that technology has some really amazing potential that really isn't in wide use at this point. And that one touches more on the predictive side of things that I originally mentioned.