Jen Karner
Contributing since February, 2019
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Latest Articles
Panasonic has hidden a smart-home camera inside this discreet floor lamp (Update: Now available)
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Smart home security cameras are great, but having a home full of surveillance gear starts looking creepy, fast. Panasonic has come up with a new idea to help hide cameras in plain sight, as it opens crowdfunding for the HomeHawk Floor: Camera and Ambient Light. This two-in-one camera and light debuted at CES 2019 and is now available for early adopters through Indiegogo until February 22.Panasonic's HomeHawk Floor aims to change the way you think of cameras in your home. Instead of a heavy, clunky piece of tech that has to be attached to a wall or surface, you get a sleek, free-standing lamp that does the job.To get started with the HomeHawk Floor all you need to do is plug it in; no wires or account sign-ins are necessary. The lamp features a 90-minute battery backup in case your house loses power, full-color night mode, 1080p HD recording, and a 140-degree wide angle lens to capture everything going on in the room where the camera is set up. It even pairs with major voice assistants and lets you easily turn the camera on and off when you need some privacy.The Indiegogo campaign will run for a month, and then the first deliveries of this lamp are expected to begin arriving in mid-May. If you adopt early you can snag HomeHawk Floor for $185, and when it officially launches Panasonic is putting a $279 price tag on it.Source: Indiegogo
Finding the perfect place to spend your vacation shouldn't be a difficult task, and Google has been making it easier in the last several months. It started with a Maps redesign that made finding Hotels more streamlined, and now Google's expanding those travel listings to include even more vacation rentals from some prominent partner services.
YouTube kills plans for two premium original shows, will move away from paid show model
One of the major perks of paying for YouTube has been access to its original content. Programs like Cobra Kai or Unicorn Island have brought existing YouTube personalities to the fore in new and interesting ways. That may be changing, though, as YouTube is reportedly axing its high-end original programming.
For over a year, Google's Disability Support team has answered questions about assistive features in Google products for users with disabilities. While previously you could only contact the support team through email, now Google's introducing a Specialized Help section in the Be My Eyes app, as well as phone support available 8am-5pm, Monday through Friday.
[Update: Working for existing subs] New Spotify Premium subscribers now get Hulu for free
Spotify is one of the best streaming services for music and podcasts, and Hulu is an excellent app for streaming television and original programming (especially if you snagged that Black Friday deal). For about a year now the two services have been working together to deliver a bundle that gets you all that content at a reduced price. Today that offer becomes an even better value, with Spotify Premium throwing in Hulu for free.
Warren campaign announces trust-busting plan for Google and other major tech companies
Google, Amazon, and Facebook are some of the biggest tech companies on the planet, well know by just about anyone who uses the internet. While their gargantuan status has taken years to grow, Elizabeth Warren thinks they've gotten too big. In a release on her Medium page, she outlines her plan to trust bust these tech giants, for the good of emerging companies and the public at large.
Lime pedal bikes, scooters, and e-bikes are an easy way to get around a city when you don't want to walk or take a car to your destination. In the past, finding one when you needed it required using the Lime app. Just like it did with Lyft, Google is streamlining the Lime experience by adding locations of these green transportation alternatives to Google Maps in over 80 new cities.
[Update: Now 4 more nations] YouTube Kids expands to 13 new European countries (including the return of Croatia)
When it comes to watching YouTube Kids you'll need to be in one of the countries officially supported by the app. That's because if you download while in an unsupported nation, the app will disable itself and keep you from watching. Today there's good news for six new countries in Europe who don't have to worry about that anymore, as YouTube Kids has expanded again, bringing the total number of countries covered up to 53.
Tidal tries to stand out among streaming services by offering both hi-fi music quality and access to artists you can't find on Spotify, like Prince and Beyoncé. But in addition to bringing you music from acts you might have forgotten you were missing out on, that also means more exposure to artists you may not want to hear from at all. Now, thanks to the app's latest update, you can mute those artists when listening on Tidal
Google Fiber is the tech giant's answer to overpriced, sluggish internet access, provided you live in one of the few areas where it's available. While Fiber has expanded to 9 states, Louisville, Kentucky has the unpleasant honor of being the first market to lose access to Google Fiber.
YouTube has already been the place many people go to build playlists and listen to their favorite new songs. With the addition of the YouTube Music app, it made finding and saving your favorite artists easier than ever. But building playlists wasn't always so easy, though, since you could only add one song to a playlist at a time using the add button through the app. That's been updated, and now you can add entire existing playlists to one of your own creation.
Keeping your password and private information safe on the internet has never been more fraught. From hackers to identity thieves, it's easier than you think for an account or password to be infiltrated. Google aims to help that problem with its newest Chrome extension.
Keeping track of everything on your to-do list can be stressful, but Google Tasks has made that easy for plenty of people over the years. However, classic Google Tasks is at the end of its lifespan and will be disappearing soon.
This past holiday season, Google tapped into some serious 90s-kid nostalgia by delivering a Google Assistant ad featuring none other than Macaulay Culkin as Home Alone's Kevin McAllister. While we got to see Kevin all grown up and spending the night by himself, the two Sticky Bandits were absent. Now a fresh video featuring Joe Pesci reminds us of why Google left him out in the first place.