07
May
2013-05-07_05-32-56

[Video] Must-See Home Automation Project Controls Lights And Entertainment Center By Voice, Starfleet Captain's Chair Still On Backorder

Posted by in News, Tips & Tutorials, Videos

Let's be honest, most of us will never get to live in a crazy futuristic home like the Jetsons, but that doesn't mean we can't strive for a few of the simple luxuries. To that end, Doug Gregory is on track to make his living room smarter than the bridge of the USS Enterprise, all with a few electronic controllers and extensive use of Tasker. There's no way around it, you really need to see the video for this one.

Not counting home theater equipment and the Nexus 4, Doug was able to put everything together for less than $300, but he appears to have had the advantage of working for an authorized dealer.

01
May
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Automagic Is Tasker With Easy-To-Use Flowcharts, But Is That Enough? [Hands-On]

Posted by in App Reviews, Applications, News

Automagic attempts to be Tasker, only easier to use. The problem is that Tasker is already pretty straightforward, and while Automagic makes certain things easier, it makes others more difficult. Still, a little competition never hurt anyone, and there are many ways Automagic challenges Tasker to step up its game.

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What it Does

The premise behind Automagic is nothing new. It is an app that automates tasks based on a wide range of variables. For example, you can tell Automagic to turn off auto-brightness when your phone's battery dips below 50%. If you don't want to receive any distractions while you're at your sweetheart's house, you can automagically set your phone to airplane mode when you're within 200 meters of their address.

25
Apr
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AT&T Launches Digital Life App For Android, Announces Service For 15 US Markets, Promising 50 Markets By Year's End

Posted by in AT&T, News

After a brief delay, it looks like AT&T's Digital Life service is finally ready for prime time. The service, which promises extensive home automation from temperature control to security monitoring to door lock control, will launch first in fifteen markets including Atlanta GA, Austin, Houston, and Dallas TX, Boulder and Denver CO, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Riverside CA, Miami FL, Philadelphia PA, Seattle WA, St Louis MI, and "select areas of the New York and New Jersey metropolitan area." By the end of the year, AT&T says it plans to expand the service to fifty markets.

So, what is Digital Life and why should you care?

23
Jul
pushover

Pushover Goes On Sale For $0.99 To Celebrate Teaming Up With Ifttt To Bend The Internet To Your Will

Posted by in Applications, News

Alright, follow me on this one. Pushover is an app for Android that allows web apps, scripts, and a ton of other fancy developer things to plug in to your notification shade on your phone or tablet. Ifttt (short for 'If This, Then That') is a web app that lets you script actions that will be performed when predetermined conditions like new emails, new dropbox files, new RSS feed posts, etc., are met. Ifttt now supports Pushover notifications. The internet is officially subject to your whims. Now you can be notified of virtually anything that Ifttt is aware of, directly in the most convenient notification system you have.

30
Jun
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The Nexus Q: Massive Misstep Or Misunderstood Science Experiment?

Posted by in Editorials, Nexus Q (Steelhead)

When Google unveiled the Nexus Q at I/O on Wednesday, there were cheers. But not until the designers and creators of the hardware came on stage to explain what it was for a good 5 minutes. Hell, they even put together a fantastic video showing the process of manufacturing the Q (in the good 'ol US of A!). Seriously, if you haven't watched it - watch it. The production values are outstanding.

And Google topped it all off by giving everybody at I/O a Q to... do stuff with. But what?

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The Q is fairly limited in its capabilities at the moment.

05
Jun
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Microsoft Unveils on{X}, A Framework For Phone Automation - Launching Now On Android And Set To Take On Tasker

Posted by in Applications, News
Last Updated: August 22nd, 2012

A key aspect of the power of smartphones is the variety of functions they provide to the user. Data, GPS, Voice, Video, are all found in almost every Android phone on the market. With today's release of on{X} ("on-ex"), Microsoft hopes to exploit this convergence of functionality in a way that is less reliant on the user for input and more aware of its surroundings. By gathering information from the host of sensors available to the operating system, it's quite possible for your phone to determine its location and context and respond accordingly, without intervention by the user. Armed with their trademark lower-case, sans-serif, Holo-breaking Metro style convention, on{X} is Tasker for the everyman.

23
May
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The Power Of Tasker - "Google Cal Widget & Auto Sat Nav" Is The Most Intricate And Amazing Tasker Script We've Seen So Far

Posted by in Applications, Development, News
Last Updated: May 25th, 2011

Some call Tasker the most versatile application ever created for Android, and I'm inclined to side with them. The app can automate hundreds of actions and bundle them together in powerful scripts that do exactly what you want them to do (see our Tasker review). Want to silence your phone at night and then restore the ringer to a predefined volume in the morning? No problem. How about popping up a menu of music apps when you plug in your headphones? You got it.

However, the Tasker "task" that brandall from xda created today takes the cake when it comes to complexity and functionality.

16
Mar
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[Review] AutomateIt Allows Your Phone To Take Care Of Itself

Posted by in App Reviews, Applications, Apps/Games, News, Reviews
Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

If your Android device relies on your interaction with it in order to do things, you're seriously missing out. There are several options that allow you to cut the cord, so to speak. The popular options have long been Locale and Tasker but, as you can see from their market pages, you have to be fiscally dedicated to the tasks they perform. In addition to that, these applications (Tasker especially) can be somewhat (read extremely) intimidating in the level of control they give you and the sheer volume of options at your disposal. If you're looking for something a bit simpler but still really powerful as well as significantly more free, AutomateIt might be just the tool you need.

27
Aug
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[App Of The Week + Giveaway] Tasker: Automate Your Android + 20 Free Tasker Licenses (£3.99 Each)

Posted by in App Reviews, Applications, Contests / Giveaways, Reviews
Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Have you ever wished your phone would just automatically silence itself while you're at work? Or maybe that it would immediately start Pandora when you plug in your headphones? Wish no longer: Tasker's got you covered.

This contest is now over. We have selected the winners - see if you are one of them towards the bottom of the page.

Tasker's goal is to automate (you guessed it) tasks on your Android device. This may sound a little trivial at first blush. But make no mistake, Tasker is anything but a trivial application. In fact, I can honestly say that Tasker is the single most feature-rich Android app I have ever used.