| Belkin's WeMo home automation gear up for pre-order, iOS current control for under $100 Jun 21st 2012, 00:38  Been quietly pining for Belkin's couch potato home automation solutions? Well, the wait is (almost) over, as the company has finally put its WeMo Switch and Motion products up for pre-order. You can reserve yours through Belkin or Amazon, with the Switch costing $49.99 and the Motion / Switch bundle setting you back a neat $99.99. Apple likes it enough to add the gear to its home-friendly repertoire in-store on the 26th, while other retailers, Verizon included, will be stocking them shortly afterwards. Rig the Switch up to your WiFi at home and you can control the flow of juice from its outlet via the WeMo iOS app (sorry, no Android love). Add in the motion detector and you can set rules for power control based on proximity triggers. Interestingly, Belkin also reports IFTTT integration, meaning the devices can be used for a lot more than the simple on / off remote commands and scheduling we originally thought. For those with iDevices, the free WeMo app is available now, not that it's particularly useful just yet. Need Mo? Check out the official PR and a promotional vid after the break. Continue reading Belkin's WeMo home automation gear up for pre-order, iOS current control for under $100 Belkin's WeMo home automation gear up for pre-order, iOS current control for under $100 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jun 2012 20:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  Belkin | Email this | Comments | | The Engadget interview: Nokia's Kevin Shields talks Windows Phone 8 (video) Jun 20th 2012, 23:25  Today at the Windows Phone Developer Summit, we had the opportunity to sit down with Kevin Shields, SVP of Program and Product Management at Nokia, and chat about the day's announcements including Windows Phone 8. Our discussion started with the apps Nokia unveiled today -- PlayTo for DLNA support, Nokia Counter to monitor data usage, My Commute for personalized routing, an update of Nokia Music to 3.0 and the Camera Extras imaging suite -- which are rolling out next week for all Lumia handsets running Windows Phone 7.5. Kevin gave us a little more insight on Camera Extras, a set of four apps (Self Timer, Panorama Maker, Action Shot and Smart Group Shot) designed to enhance the camera experience which leverage technology from Nokia's recent Scalado acquisition. We then moved on to discussing Windows Phone 8 and specifically NFC support, with a small tangent spent on Kevin showing us the recently launched Lumia 610 NFC. The next topic was about what we can expect from Nokia in terms of hardware for upcoming phones running the latest iteration of Microsoft's mobile OS. We know that the first batch of Windows Phone 8 devices will be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 Plus dual-core SoC, but on the topic of quad-core processors Kevin said "where additional hardware makes a difference, then sure, let's talk about it," adding "we're going to stay committed to the experience." Finally we discussed the future of Nokia's PureView technology and how it fits in with the next generation mobile OS. PureView "is a core technology that we are dedicated to and invested in" said Kevin. Sounds quite promising, right? We can't wait to see what the next wave of Lumia handsets brings to the table. Until then, go ahead and watch our video interview. The Engadget interview: Nokia's Kevin Shields talks Windows Phone 8 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jun 2012 19:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | LeapFrog LeapPad 2 and Leapster GS Explorer hands-on (video) Jun 20th 2012, 23:18  If you've got little ones of your own, you're probably familiar with LeapFrog's various learning devices for children. Since last year, the company stepped things up a notch by offering up its LeapPad tablet breed for youngsters and pricing it at just $100. Not only did it ensure you'd never have to your precious iPad loose into rigors of the adolescence (read: having it tortured by kids in unimaginable ways), but it also packed LeapFrog's developmental education know-how into all of its apps. If you'll recall, it was just yesterday that the company announced its second iteration of the device, the LeapPad 2, and today we were able to spend some time with near production-quality engineering samples. On that note, the same can be said of its latest Leapster, the GS Explorer -- a $70 Gameboy-like portable unit focused more on educational gaming. Join us after the break for a brief rundown of what's been improved and our initial impressions of both. Continue reading LeapFrog LeapPad 2 and Leapster GS Explorer hands-on (video) LeapFrog LeapPad 2 and Leapster GS Explorer hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jun 2012 19:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | LeapFrog | Email this | Comments | |
