Things Updated — 4

What's New?

• NEW: AirPods 2 are out. Bringing wireless charging, "Hey Siri" support, and improved connectivity.

• PRICE CUT: HomePod get a $50 price cut to $299. The perfect his and her night table smart assistant. Pair with Apple TV for room filling stereo audio.

• CORD CUTTING: Direct TV Now is once again offering a free Apple TV 4K when you prepay 4 months of service.

Coming Soon

• Apple's takes on finance with a TITANIUM credit card coming this summer with instant cash back, spending analytics, and NO fees.

Things Integrated Update 

• Time to upgrade your old thermostats? Get 3 years additional manufacturers warranty with purchase and setup through Things Integrated.

• SUMMER IS COMING. Upgrade your sprinklers with a Rachio Smart Sprinkler controller, now supporting Apples HomeKit.

  • Take control of your yard and easily program your system from your phone.

  • Have your system water with the weather.

  • Soak your kids on a hot day

Things Updated — 3

What's New?

• Amazon purchased the home WiFi company Eero. You can now control parental controls via Eero's Alexa skill.

• Tesla has released the base Model 3 starting at $35,000 before gas savings + tax credits. 

Coming Soon

• AirPods 2 are expected late March

Things Integrated Update 

• Now offering Smart thermostat installations for compatible apartment through-wall AC units

• Now installing our custom, frameless, wall mounted iPads for home control and small space TVs.

Dose of Alexa

• "Alexa, rename the living room plug." 
  Rename your smart home devices and organize them into groups so you can control them more easily. Just ask to rename a device or add a device to a group.

• "Alexa, learn my voice." 
  Get your personalized experience for music, making calls, setting location-based reminders, and more, when Alexa recognizes your voice. Set up your voice profile today.

Irrelevant Commands 

• "Alexa, what's the question of the day?"

• "Alexa, when does Game of Thrones return?"

Things Updated — 2

What's New?

• Spectrum launches AppleTV streaming app. All of cable without cable boxes.
  Full TV lineup in-home and up to 40,000 On Demand TV shows and movies in your home, on your mobile and connected devices

• The Lutron Caseta lighting system adds fan control.

• iTunes, Airplay, and HomeKit are coming to smart TVs as Apple pushes into services.

What's Better?

• CarPlay enabled car? CarPlay apps have recently been released for Waze, Spotify, and Google Maps.

Things Integrated Update 

• Still trying to manually manage your passwords? Try 1Passwordmanager to secure and organize password, credit card, and more.

  • Organize with business, personal, and shared family vaults

  • Easy auto-fill 

  • Searchable and secure

• We are now recommending and offering the Black Blazecomputer backup service for Mac and PC. You insure your house but do you insure your data? Simple and reliable— set it and forget it— download backups or have them ship you a thumb drive copy.

Dose of Alexa

• "Alexa, turn up the bass." 
  Personalize how your music sounds by adjusting the bass, midrange, and treble for your compatible devices.

• "Alexa, wake me up to Smooth by Santana." 
  Wake up to your favorite song, artist, playlist, or radio station.

• "Alexa, turn on Whisper Mode." 
  A new feature where when you whisper to Alexa, she will whisper her response back to you.

Irrelevant Commands 

• "Alexa, give me some bad poetry"

• "Alexa, how old is Jeff Bezos"

Things Updated | 1

Happy New Year!

Welcome to Things Updated. A short monthly update of lifestyle technology

What's New?

• Apple Music is now available through Amazon Alexa

• The new Sonos AMP is now available with more power and Airplay 2 support— joining the Sonos One, Beam, Playbase, and Play:5 as Airplay 2 enabled devices.

Dose of Alexa

• "Alexa, remind me to turn on the dishwasher when I get home." 
  Now you can create location-based reminders to get a notification when you arrive at or leave a location.

• "Alexa, announce Happy New Year!"
  Send an announcement to the entire house by using the keyword "announce".

• "Alexa, drop into the kitchen"
  Create a two way intercom to any room in the house by using "drop in" and "drop out".

Irrelevant Commands 

• "Alexa, give me a quote."

• "Alexa, what's on your mind?

• "Alexa, sing a New Year's song."

Dose of Siri

• "Hey Siri, move to Kitchen" 
  Move your music to other rooms in the house using Apples new Airplay 2— Now on some Sonos devices.

• "Hey Siri, find my watch" 
  Find your devices with your devices— working on iPad, iPhone, Watch, Mac, and AirPods.

• "Hey Siri, what song is this?" 
  Use Siri's built in Shazam to name a song. 

Irrelevant Commands 

• "Hey Siri, flip a coin"

• "Hey Siri, tell me a story"

• "Hey Siri, learn how to say my name"

Things Integrated Update 

• Now installing the Gallo Acoustic line of sleek, compact on-wall and pendant speakers.

• Now installing the FingBox network monitoring device offering realtime network status, monthly performance reports, and easy to use parental controls

That's all for now— to a new year of things working better!