i3 - March/April 2016 - 21

THE FUTURE OF STREAMING MEDIA
One of the standout devices in the connected category comes from Amazon. The Echo is generating
buzz (thanks, Super Bowl 50) as a truly intuitive
hands-free device that streams music from multiple destinations, like Prime, Spotify, Pandora and
iHeartRadio. With voice recognition and a built-in
cloud assistant called Alexa, Echo answers questions, reports weather, news and traffic and provides sports scores and schedules. Since its launch,
Amazon has added even more features to the smart
hub-like being able to link and control smart
home devices from WeMo, Philips, Samsung, Wink
and Insteon.
"The customer response to Amazon Echo has
been incredibly positive, and we've been working hard to build more as quickly as possible. We
are grateful to our early customers for their incredible
engagement and for providing us with invaluable feed-

Choi. The smart device can adjust the temperature
according to when someone is at home or away, and
can be controlled from anywhere with a smartphone.
All Nest products (including the Nest Protect and
Nest Cam) are interconnected. For example, if Nest
Protect detects CO in a home, it will signal to the Nest
Thermostat to shut down the furnace, a possible cause
of a CO leak. The company also offers a Works with
Nest developer program that allows third parties to
build meaningful integrations with products, some
of which can be found on the company's online store.
"More than 14,000 developers have accessed Nest's
APIs to connect with Nest products through the
cloud," says Choi, "and one in eight Nest homes are
using a Works with Nest integration."

Bottom: courtesty Philips; Top: courtesy Amazon

back to help shape Echo as it evolves," says Greg Hart, vice president
of Amazon Echo. Its growing popularity marks a notable move away
from standalone devices like the iPod with a focus on streaming media
services rather than content ownership. The impact will likely be felt in
a huge way in the next year.
TAKING THE TEMPERATURE
Nest's third-generation Nest Learning Thermostat may not pack the
glamour of an Echo, but it does appeal to green high-tech enthusiasts,
a burgeoning consumer market not to be ignored. The new thermostat
was showcased at CES to drive home the idea of digital automation
with the promise of a return on investment.
"It saves people, on average, about 10 to 12 percent on their heating
bills," says Ivy Choi, company spokesperson, "and about 15 percent on
their cooling bills." She says the Nest pays for itself in most households
within two years. It also reduces overall energy consumption by automating its operating system. "It learns from you to program itself," says
C TA . t e c h / i 3

THE SMARTER HOME
The smart home concept went a step further at CES
this year with the introduction of a smart refrigerator.
While these high-tech appliances have been around
awhile, the concept behind Samsung's new Family
Hub fridge rests on a few popular trends, which could
push this smart fridge into the mainstream.
With online grocery ordering becoming more popular, a smart fridge that tells you when you're out of
milk could be a selling point for busy families. Though
the $5,000 price may still be steep for most households, the device delivers with an internal camera
that helps catalog fridge contents and a touchscreen
to access recipes and nutritional information for the
growing (and lucrative) foodie market.
Smart foodies may also want to stock up on the
Philips ChefConnect Multicooker, a slow cooker that
works with a smartphone to design and cook healthy
meal choices using an app.
MARCH/APRIL 2016

http://www.amazon.com/Amazon-SK705DI-Echo/dp/B00X4WHP5E http://www.samsung.com/us/explore/family-hub-refrigerator/ http://www.samsung.com/us/explore/family-hub-refrigerator/ https://nest.com/thermostat/meet-nest-thermostat/?alt=2 http://www.CTA.tech/i3

i3 - March/April 2016

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