LIFX, Intelligent bulb Connected to Your Smartphone

LIFX, "the smartest bulb in the world" as its creators describe, is ambitious and promises many customization possibilities for big savings with a simple swipe of a finger.

Her name LIFX and Phil is Bosua, assisted by a group of boys (Andrew Birt, Andy GELME John Bosua Ben Hamey, Dave Evans and Guy King), who is at the origin. During six months, the team has designed, developed and tested for their project finally propose to participatory financing (crowdfunding) on Kickstarter . Their goal was to raise $ 100,000 and will be reached in just a day. At the time of this writing, the project has attracted more than 1.3 million. Knowing that LIFX will remain 50 days Kickstarter, its creator are right to feel grow wings and see, perhaps, their baby beat the record Ouya , who had met 4 million.

Specifically, the principle of LIFX could not be more simple: a light bulb , the look altogether traditional, coupled with a mobile application. If the installation of the bulb is traditional, the duo offers a wide range of options and gives this old-world object (or almost) connected dimension, design, economical and ecological.

Thus, thanks to the application via WiFi and connected to each of the lamps, it is possible to change the color of the LED, increase or decrease the intensity of light, create moods depending on the music played, etc.. All this on a case-by-case basis or in groups of bulbs previously set. Finally, we note the possibility of any light upon his arrival in the house or off his departure, or to set up a secure mode for the holidays. Of course, the physical switches connected to the bulbs still work,  "they could at most be slightly jealous" of their rival mobile, as specified in the project page.

Originally $ 69 to $ 490 Unit 10 bulbs, all price ranges are exhausted, but it is always possible to make a donation "just to help" and ask to be informed of news LIFX, knowing that Orders will be fulfilled in March 2013. The application LIFX, meanwhile, will be offered free, first on iOS and Android, with a possible future development for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Read more »

Google Maps for Android: New Update Version 6.5

Google has released a new version of Google Maps for Android. This update (version 6.5) includes some improvements mainly concerning the resolution of the images.

The home screen of Google Maps Navigation has been revised, but only for smartphones running Android 4.0 +. For others, especially those with a high-definition screen, such as the Galaxy Nexus, the Samsung Galaxy S II or Motorola Droid Razr, the cards are displayed more accurately with better resolution.

On the other hand, Google Maps 6.5 for Android can now select priority mode of transport and route options for 475 cities in the world.

To download or update Google Maps on Android,  Visit Google Play , your PC or your smartphone.

Read more »

Indoor Google Maps for France Available on Android

With its indoor maps, Google Maps makes life easier for many travelers and tourists. Google distills 10,000 for the United States, Canada and Japan, but also Switzerland and the UK since July 2012.

The Mountain View company now announces indoor maps for airports, museums and shopping centers in France. They arrive via the application Maps for Android. However useless to look for them via Google Maps on the Web since only Android smartphones benefit.

For starters, Google has 50 of these cards (full list below), but indicates that more will arrive soon.

Stores and other large surfaces are associated with Google. In some large areas of Carefree, the rays you specified plus signs to direct you. Paris airports Charles de Gaulle and Orly and Lyon Saint Exemplary are among the 50 proposed indoor maps by Google.

Four museums are also associated with Google (including Le Palais de la Découverte). But we may regret the absence of the Musée d'Orsay and the Louvre.

• Airports

Paris - Charles de Gaulle 

Lyon - Saint Exupéry 

Paris-Orly

• Stores

Paragraph 

Carrefour 

Casino 

E.Leclerc 

Fnac 

Galeries Lafayette 

Kiabi 

Lapeyre 

Leroy Merlin 

Monoprix 

Orange

• Malls

BAB 2 

Bay 2 

Sénart Square 

Carrousel du Louvre 

Cité Europe 

Confluence 

76 Docks 

Vauban Docks 

Euralille 

Forum des Halles 

Gaite Montparnasse 

L'Usine Opal Coast 

The Golden Fleece 

Labège 2 

Les Quatre Temps 

Lyon Part-Dieu 

Mériadeck / Les Passages 

Nice Etoile 

Palace Congress 

Parly 2 

Place arc 

Rennes Alma 

Rivetoile 

Rosny 2 

Saint Sever 

Ulis 2 

Factory Fashion and Home / CUV 

Usine Roubaix 

Velizy 2 

Villeneuve 2

• Museums

Music City 

City of Science and Industry 

Read more »

iPhone 5: Google Maps iOS6 a Hope?

It was a buzz around the launch of the iPhone 5: Google Maps native application has disappeared, replaced by the Maps application developed by Apple. Problem, even if the 3D rendering is in the opinion of many observers much better than Google Earth on Android, the whole is less accurate, and even completely to pick up (I dare not say the street) in terms of accuracy of cards and their synchronization with the GPS device. Result: very random plans and GPS guidance that you could lose if you make up a highway in the opposite direction (the expected first lawsuits against Apple on the subject ...).

Google Maps to find iOS6, there are currently only official solution, but it is not nearly as effective: use the web application Google Maps pointing the browser's address on iPhone 5 maps.google.com and to facilitate future reference, record the favorite site icon on the screen, such as an application.

Salvation will come from Jailbreak

However, there may be hope for another solution, and how often the salvation would still side hackers. One of them claims to have been able to make a change on an iPhone 3GS with iOS6 which allows you to install and run Google Maps. According to him it is still unstable, but he promises that it will provide as soon as the method will become reliable file to download for the iPhone 5, provided of course that it is jailbroken.

Meanwhile it shows proof of his hack in a short video. Fake or real? It is of course say that we want a video but here it is not clear what would be the point of inventing such a story.

Of course the ideal would be that Google Maps application to download as has already been done for YouTube (which was also transferred from the latest iPhone), but according to some information that is not in the immediate plans...

Read more »