The insurance industry seems to have a love-hate relationship with smart gadgets: auto insurers want drivers to use tracking technology so they can offer more personalized rates (something many drivers don’t want), but home insurance companies aren’t likely to give homeowners with internet-connected safety systems a break on their bills. [More]
smart devices
Nest May Compensate Revolv Users Who Will Own $300 Paperweights As Of May 15
By 4.6.16
There’s a serious problem with “smart” devices that can power items in your home: many of them are designed so that they only work with their creators’ cloud service. That’s fine, as long as your internet access is reliable and the company doesn’t go out of business or decide to shut off the servers where those cloud services run. Unlike Nest, companies should probably anticipate that some users might be a bit upset about this. [More]
Hackers Can Now Remotely Attack A Gun, Change Its Target, And Lock The Owner Out
By 7.29.15
Over the past few years we’ve heard a lot about the smart, connected devices that make up the internet of things. From ceiling fans to cars and cameras, they’re everywhere. Unfortunately, anything that can connect to the internet can be hacked through the internet… and now, it seems, that includes guns. [More]
Google Thinks Your Fridge, Thermostat Will Make A Great Billboard
By 5.21.14
Marketers’ never-ending quest to cram advertising into every square inch of digital space just keeps getting more territory to work with. The next frontier in bringing advertising into your home? Your thermostat and your fridge — because your TV, computer, and phone apparently aren’t enough. [More]
“The Internet Of Things” Means Your Smart Refrigerator Could Launch Cyber Attacks
By 1.17.14
If you’re unfamiliar with The Internet Of Things, take a look at your phone. It can get on the Internet, right? So can your TV, maybe. Or that fancy new smart refrigerator, it’s a thing, and it can access the Internet. And because the everyday devices we use are so “smart” now, that means they could be turned against you. [More]
If Your Smart Toilet Freaks Out, It Probably Isn’t Possessed; Just Hacked
By 8.5.13
UPDATE: A rep for Lixil, the company behind the toilet in question, tells Consumerist that American consumers need not worry about hacked toilets. “The Bluetooth technology is only available in Japan and does not apply to the INAX products sold in the U.S.A.,” says the rep in a statement. [More]
