The Internet of Things (or connected home) is pretty sweet. You can turn on lights from the couch or across the country. You can start a delicious stew in a crook pot on your way home. All of which are great, as long as you buy the products that actually do those things. So if you want to do something out of the ordinary, there’s littleBits .
The company launched its cloudBit device back in July to let users add virtually anything to their connected home via the littleBits hardware and the companion app. Today it’s introducing its Smart Home kit with 14 bits including the cloudBit, and five new bits including an MP3 player, number displaying bit, threshold, temperature sensors and IR transmitter. It also ships with an AC switch.
The littleBits Smart Home Kit is on sale now for $249.
➤ Smart Home Kit [littleBits]
Stuff-tracking Tiles will keep you from losing your fancy Blunt Umbrella
Umbrella’s disappear. So you buy a cheap umbrella, but as soon as the wind picks up it’s inside-out and now you’re drenched. Blunt and Tile have teamed up for a quality umbrella that you can find when left behind or accidentally taken by a co-worker or stranger.
Starting today you can pre-order the Blunt + Tile umbrellas with the same abilities as the stand-alone Tile to help you track the umbrella when it’s misplaced. The Blunt umbrellas are able to handle wind gust up to 70MPH.
There are two umbrellas available : the portable Blunt Metro X_S + Tile that folds up and can fit in a hand bag or backpack for $69 and the Blunt Classic + Tile, a regular sized umbrella that’ll set you back $99.
The built in Tiles can be tracked and located within 100 feet of a smartphone with the companion iOS app (an Android app is in the works) via BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy). If the umbrella does disappear, other Tiles users anonymously track the lost item to help you pin down its location.
The umbrellas are expected to ship in November.
➤ Blunt Umbrellas
Apple warns some iPhone power adapters may ‘pose safety risk’, offers replacement
Apple is warning that some users of its 5W European USB power adapter – the one that shipped with the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and iPhone 4S between October 2009 and September 2012 – should swap the charger for a new one as the existing unit “may overheat and pose a safety risk”.
The replacement scheme for affected chargers announced today and spotted by 9to5Mac will, of course, see all potentially affected adapters replaced free of charge. Apple notes that other 5W USB power adapters are not included in this scheme.
The affected adapter is the A1300 model, which have the letters CE in solid gray. The new adapter, which isn’t affected, is an A1400 model and has the letters CE outlined in gray.
So, if you have one of the devices listed above and live in one of the countries shown below, then you should get in touch with your local Apple store or other Apple Authorized Service Provider.
The company says it’ll need to verify your serial number in order to carry out the exchange, so don’t forget to take your phone along too. If you can’t make it in-store, you can contact technical support to arrange an exchange.
➤ Apple 5W European USB Power Adapter Exchange Program
Featured Image Credit – Paul Robertson/Flickr