Remotely Possible

In Finnish, HUMU means ”humming” or ”commotion”. It's also the name of a new "augmented audio cushion" that the company, Flexound Systems (a Finish tech startup), says is "the first consumer product to add the sense of touch to entertainment."

MySmartBlinds new Home Automation Kit for roller shades is a followup to the company's existing Home Automation Kit for window blinds. Both kits are designed for DIY retrofits that turn existing manually operated blinds/shades into wirelessly controlled, motorized blinds/shades.

ConnectSense's Smart In-Wall Outlet adds a multitude of features not found on other "smart" outlets.

After walking into the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center today at around 11:15 AM, I noticed something was amiss. In an industry nearly 100 percent reliant on electricity, the entire hall's AC power was out. It was (and still is as I write this) an eerie feeling to be surrounded by so much AV gear hear only conversations. No loud music. No flashing TV screens. The overhead announcer has helpfully told us that "We are experiencing a power outage. We are addressing the problem." I'm glad they mentioned this, because I at first thought it was the aftereffects of having the flu that was causing my lack of sensory overstimulation.

If you’re still shopping for a Christmas or other holiday gift, you know time is of the essence right now.

Televisions are one of the most popular items to purchase during the myriad Black Friday sales extravaganza that’s already begun—even though it isn’t Friday, yet. Last year, for example, Target sold 3,200 televisions per minute in first hour of opening on Thanksgiving. With prices coming down on 4K UHD TVs with HDR, you can bet that TVs will be as big—if not a bigger—a sales success.

You wouldn’t expect to see a high-end, 17-seat “microcinema” in the middle of an airport, but that’s exactly what I found at Oregon’s Portland International Airport (PDX) after I’d landed there in late July of this year. After being in the air for hours, scurrying through DFW to make a connection in a different terminal, and then spending more hours in the air, I was in no mood to explore anything other than the baggage claim carousel once I finally shuffled off the plane. So, despite glancing at the 30-feet wide, neon-emblazoned Hollywood Theatre marquee as the moving walkway carried me passed it, I remained blissfully ignorant as to the who, what, why, and how of the whole thing. (Even in my air travel-induced stupor, I was able to deduce the “where” part…)