When David Gregg, Senior Editor of BehindTheBuy.com is at CES, we just can’t get enough! Here he is with some more of his cool discoveries.
Panasonic A500: Point-of-View Wearable 4K Camcorder
Featuring Wi-Fi and NFC to connect to your phone, incredible image quality and straightforward functionality, the Panasonic A500 wearable camera enables the user to capture scenes that puts viewers right there, in the thick of the action. The A500 features gorgeous 4 K/30p image quality, allowing you to capture beautiful video with heightened realism. With a powerful lens, sensor and engine, you can now enjoy clean and clear low-noise video. The A500 comes standard with the newly designed main unit with an LCD and other features that improve operability. Via your smartphone or tablet, you can also quickly and easily upload your video to the internet. Panasonic designed the A500 wearable camera so that users can simply shoot and enjoy sharing, high-quality action video. Waterproof for 30 minutes in nearly 10 feet of water* and dustproof **, the A500 lets you actively shoot video in all kinds of sports and leisure situations without a housing.
PRICE: $399.99; www.panasonic.com
Chamberlain Notifi
Millions of people use a Chamberlain product everyday with some of the top garage door openers, and their MyQ Garage works with any opener to let you see, open and close your garage door from anywhere using your smartphone. Chamberlain is now taking their innovations from the garage door to the front door with their Notifi connected video door chime. Chamberlain Notifi is the first smartphone connected video door chime to combine lights, video, notification and communication – essentially several connected home products rolled into one. Notifi will turn on the porch light when motion is detected at your front door, then send an alert to your phone when the doorbell rings so you’ll know and see who’s at your door and can communicate with them from wherever you are. Notifi makes it look like you’re always home, whether you’re too busy to come to the door, or hundreds of miles away. Chamberlain is showing Notifi for the first time at CES and will introduce it in mid-2015 at The Home Depot and on the Chamberlain website (www.chamberlain.com) for about $199.
Lutron Caséta Wireless System
Lutron, the inventor of the light dimmer, is here at CES and showing you that Creating a smarter and more connected home has never been easier. The Lutron Caséta Wireless system gives you the ability to control lights and shades— either from a remote control or the Lutron app – from anywhere, at any time. The wireless Smart Bridge and software application connects Lutron’s Caséta ® Wireless dimmers, Pico® remote controls, Serena™ remote-controlled shades, and other third-party devices, while providing convenient home control from any iOS or Android-based smart phone or tablet. The dimmers are easy to install yourself and work with numerous bulb types, including LEDs. Available at your local electrical distributor, lighting showroom, serenashades.com, select Home Depot and Staples stores, or ask your lighting or design professional.
Whirlpool Smart Top Load Washer and Dryer
The Whirlpool Smart Top Load Washer and Dryer is their next generation connected laundry pair. Whirlpool views “connected” as a whole new level of custom care. There’s a reason they engineer every feature they do for their appliances – it’s not technology for the sake of technology, but for a better level of care. For example, Whirlpool used cues from the language families’ use every day to design an intuitive console that simply asks “what to wash” and “how to wash.” They’ve also loaded optional custom cycles for bulky comforters, baby clothes, and hand-wash fabrics that are automatically refreshed through a mobile app.
Additionally, Whirlpool’s Connect to care platform is very special to the company because they have a longstanding partnership with Habitat for Humanity. You can use this feature on Whirlpool’s mobile app to automate donations. Families can designate a desired amount and each time they do a load of laundry their preferred donation will automatically go to benefiting Habitat. The best technology should make us more human, right?
Both the washer and dryer also have remote settings, providing peace of mind. Even if you’re away from home when your dryer finishes its cycle, the machine will recognize that and automatically tumble clothes to prevent wrinkles. Another great feature is the new diagnostics tool which guides you through simple how-to videos and step-by-step processes to solve for some of the most common user errors on your own instead of calling for service.