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The Smart Home: More Productive, Efficient, Emotive, And Economical

By Frugaling 1 Comment

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Her Film Spike Jonze Smart Home Automation
Her by Spike Jonze.

The OS: Into our homes, hearts

Our brains are wired for interpersonal relations. Human-to-human contact reduces depression, anxiety, and a host of psychological concerns. When a child exhibits facial expressions that are more reminiscent of adults, there’s usually a cute relation to it. When a cat brushes up against you and purrs when you rub it, there’s a feeling of mutual connection. As adults, we connect with these as-if experiences – they’re so adult-like.

Skeptical Baby Meme Smart Home
Skeptical Baby Meme

Automated devices can be adult-like, too – mimicking that human-to-human experience and connection. In the recent film, Her, a lonely man falls in love with an operating system (“OS”). The OS predicts his needs, sends and organizes emails, and offers romantic companionship. The main character, Theodore, loves the anticipatory brilliance and personality of the device. Suddenly, this inanimate object becomes a vital part of his life – personally and professionally.

After watching the movie, a friend of mine asked if that predictive, assistive, and somewhat convivial system could ever exist. It made me chuckle. Frankly, these capabilities are nearly a reality and they’re going to lead to tremendous savings.

Beyond suggestions, you’ll find automation

If you ask Apple’s Siri (personal assistant software) how long it takes to drive from point A to point B, it’ll plainly explain how long and offer a map. The directions will account for changing traffic patterns, as well. Looking for the latest showtimes and reviews? Just ask Google Now and it’ll give you all the local theaters, films, and reviews. They all are at your service, waiting for your questions, concerns, and comments.

If an application can predict what you might like next (and is incentivized to offer paid suggestions), you’ll likely hear about some special deal at your favorite local restaurant. This could lead to budgetary problems from predictive advertising for some consumers, but there’s another side that is far more positive, environmentally friendly, economical, and a true productivity booster.

The power of smart homes, technology

Nest Thermostat Smart Home Appliances
The Nest Thermostat

If you’re a discerning automation expert, you may realize that asking a question and getting a simple response aren’t quite the same as engaging in full-length dialogue (back and forth) with a software package. This Her-like capability is coming to many devices. It’s going to completely revolutionize our homes, heads, and hearts.

Imagine walking up to your apartment/house, seeing the lights turn on, feeling the heat match your immediate needs, seeing the oven beginning to preheat (knowing that you got your favorite type of take-and-bake pizza); all the while, a virtual assistant checks in with you to see how your day went. This is the not so distant future.

By automating the simple tasks and leaving them to computers, we can appreciate from electricity, heating, and gas savings. Have you ever left your house’s air conditioning or heating on too high while away? How many times do you accidentally leave lights on in your house after you leave? These forgetful moments can seriously hurt your bottom line. Smart homes can predict and prevent these errors.

A few devices are already leading to serious savings. For instance, Nest has created a thermostat and smoke detector that can communicate with each other. Used in conjunction, these devices can tell when you’re presently in your home – changing the temperature to something more economical when you leave. All of it is automatic – no more adjustments. The thermostat can even be locked to prevent tampering. By properly controlling your thermostat, you can save $173 a year.

By allowing these devices into our home, we can actually be safer and more prepared if anything happens. The Nest Protect (smoke detector) sends alerts if it senses smoke and/or carbon monoxide. This is just the beginning of a serious technological evolution. The future will bring these systems in unison, and give them a voice.

The future looks frugal

There are many players in the smart home market. This has led to fractured, expensive devices. Companies are investing billions to create automation technologies with sharp designs, but they aren’t universally connected – they can’t necessarily communicate with other systems. This is where competition can hurt innovation.

These tech stalwarts and startups are battling for space in your home. Google has been on a buying spree – getting everything from Nest Labs to Boston Dynamics (a robotics company). Apple is developing and modifying Siri constantly – aiming to make it more interactive and available. Each of these iterations will further a sci-fi reality that includes a smarter home.

As the leaders emerge and prices begin to fall, the demands that technology and regular household devices ask of us will swiftly decline. We should have more time for work, family, and enjoying what’s really important in life. This the essence of frugality and it’s coming to fruition one smart device at a time.

In case you haven’t seen Her, here’s the trailer:

Filed Under: Save Money Tagged With: Apple, applications, automated, automation, connection, emotions, Google, her, ios, nest, now, os, play, remote, saving money, siri, smart home, wemo, wireless

Hack Your Data Plan To Save Money, Browse Faster

By Frugaling 4 Comments

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Hacking a Computer and Smartphone Data Plan
Hackers Gonna Hack. Photo: Mr. Cacahuate/Flickr

Cellular data plans still cost a small fortune for many users. Data (measured in KB, MB, and GB) is being sent from cellular towers to main Internet lines, and this process often begets a premium to traditional broadband or cable. Unlimited data plans are often more expensive than limited options; if you’re frugal, you’re likely sticking with a pre-paid option.

If you’re stuck on pre-paid, family, or limited data plans, you might have lofty bills, angry siblings, and/or go data-less if you’re over the limit. The inherent problem with many apps is that they are constructed to be data intensive, rich. All the flash and pomp adds up. This can leave your monthly data plan on empty. With some forethought and these three applications, you’ll see your data plan have new power.

1. Google Chrome for Mobile (Android/iOS)

Chrome for OS Data Plan
The All-New Chrome For OS Will Save Your Data Plan

Over the last week, Google released major updates to the iPhone iOS version of its app. Branded as Chrome for iOS, users can activate bandwidth compression technologies that can reduce your data traffic substantially and speed up browsing. Here’s some more information about this development:

By having your web browsing flow through Google’s servers, the company can compress your data (and especially images) to help you save up to 50 percent of bandwidth while you are browsing. Google will not, however, use the proxy for any connections to any sites that use secure connections (HTTPS). (Techcrunch.com)

Like the rest of these apps, some settings must be enabled to engage in data savings. Most everything that Google releases requires an opt-in (especially if it has new privacy implications). The Google Chrome Blog details the necessary settings:

To start saving data and turn on an even more secure browsing experience, visit “Settings” > “Bandwidth management” > “Reduce data usage.” Then simply turn the toggle to “On.” From this menu, you’ll also be able to track how much bandwidth you save each month as you browse on Chrome.

2. Pocket (Android/iOS)

Pocket App Logo Data Plan Savings Hack
Save Your Favorite Articles Offline For Easy Browsing And No Data Plan Usage

Oftentimes, when flying, in no-service areas, and/or nearing the end of my data plan budget for the month, I need an app that gives me access to news offline and on the go. That’s why Pocket is perfect! It downloads everything to the app, in the background (whether open or not). When I save an article on my computer, it automatically syncs the article to my phone for access anywhere, anytime.

The app works smoothly on every platform I’ve ever used and the staff is inspirational in their design. It could not be simpler to use and setup. Once you start syncing articles for access offline (pictures and all), you may find that your data use is escalating. That’s why you need to go into the app and enable a simple setting.

Start by going to “Offline Downloading” within “Settings.” Under this main section, slide the switch on to “Download Only on Wi-Fi.” Now, you can have all the news articles and financial info downloaded right to your phone – no more browsing necessary – and without the massive bandwidth usage.

3. Mailbox (iOS)

The founder of Mailbox app wanted to design a program that finally treated email in a new, functional way. Instead of slowly going through the massive piles of email, the creative team at Mailbox devised a way to organize the clutter for easy reading and task management.

Data Plan Mailbox App Savings
Mailbox App Putting Mail In Its Place And Saving You Data

Unlike most mail apps for mobile platforms, Mailbox strips all messages of rich text, images, and videos. By limiting the type of information to pass through the email system, your phone can receive messages that are comparable to the size of a text message (very small). Moreover, you can expect email to be delivered faster and with less latency. A pretty wicked combo!

What smartphone apps do you use to save data? Do you have any programs that hog much of your plan? Any other apps that you’d recommend?

Filed Under: Save Money Tagged With: app, apps, cellular, chrome, Contract, data, Gmail, Google, ios, mailbox, os, plan, play, pocket, smartphone, wireless

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