Category Archives: Home

Package Clipper wants to protect your deliveries from theft @ CES 2021

February 6, 2021Accessories, CES 2021, Homeces2021, delivery, gadgets, theftPLUGHITZ Live

Package Clipper protector These days, package theft is a huge issue. Chances are, you or someone you know has had at least one item stolen off of the front porch. We have even had a review product stolen from our office after being delivered. The problem gets worse year over year, and it has been incredibly difficult to solve. Fortunately, Package Protector is here with a simple and effective solution – Package Clipper.

We’ve seen companies with products to help with this problem before. But, in general, the solutions involve either laying down concrete or mounting something to the ground or wall. While this may work for some people, there are large collections of people who don’t have this option. For example, if you live in an apartment, condo, or an HOA with strong regulations, the chances of mounting a large box to place packages into are unlikely. Even if you can install something large, you may not want to because it can be unattractive.

Package Clipper has a very small base that can be mounted unobtrusively by your front door. Rather than being a box, it has clips at the end of leads that clip onto boxes or envelopes once delivered. Once clipped, the system is armed, and removing the clip sets off an alarm. Being a connected device, you can also get an alarm while away from home, via your phone.

Of course, the biggest challenge is getting the delivery drivers to actually use the Package Clipper. The company’s solution to this issue is Package Tipper, which gives the recipient the ability to tip their driver for using the system. The driver simply scans the QR code on the base unit with the driver’s app, which lets you know it’s been delivered, and gives you the ability to send a tip to the driver.

The Package Clipper is expected to enter crowdfunding in quarter 2 of 2021 with an expected retail cost of $69.99. For more information, check out the company’s website.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

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Smart Home Need helps you identify needs and solutions @ CES 2021

February 5, 2021CES 2021, Gadgets, Homeces2021, connected device, connected home, gadgets, smarthomePLUGHITZ Live

Smart Home Need The concept of the smart home is getting pretty popular. A recent study shows that 13% of homes have a smart bulb and 9% of homes have a smart outlet. With acceptance like that, it is no surprise that some concern over the way these devices work together is beginning to creep into the public consciousness. Unless you buy into a multi-brand system, the chances of two brands working together are pretty small. Even Todd Cochrane says that few of the items in his own home are compatible. This is one of the ways in which Smart Home Need is helping consumers on their smart home journeys.

The Smart Home Need system is designed to help you identify your needs by asking questions. Once your needs are identified, it helps you understand what those needs are why any they are important. Not all of these needs are easily solvable via technology, so an assessment is made as to which make sense to apply tech to solve. Then, you have the ability to act with meaningful habits and smart home technology to help address those needs.

Clearly, the intention is to improve your overall well-being without adding additional stress to your life. By designing and implementing a technology solution that can address your needs without adding a large collection of unrelated devices into your life, they can help with that goal. Even with all of these benefits, the service is offered to customers to try without charge. This is because of relationships with manufacturers and donations.

Smart Home Need is available now to the public. To learn more about the service, to learn what products are currently in the system, or to give it a try for free, you can head to the company’s website. Try tier is offered for free. Learn and Flourish tiers are charged yearly.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

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Essence USA introduces healthcare and security products @ CES 2021

February 4, 2021CES 2021, Health, Homeaging, ces2021, connected device, connected home, gadgets, HealthPLUGHITZ Live

Essence MDSense Israel-based security manufacturer Essence introduced various new 5G forward-compatible security products at CES 2021.

In our interview, Todd Cochrane talks to Josh Locke, Director of Sales for Essence USA. Essence provides smart connected-living solutions for security, communication, and healthcare service providers. Backed by 20 years of experience and over 15 million devices installed worldwide, Essence takes pride in the full ownership of our end-to-end solutions; from concept development and design, through the manufacturing of hardware and software to the day to day operations.

Essence’s PERS 5G, introduced at CES, is, according to a press release, “a highly advanced gateway that provides activity monitoring, fall detection, and voice capabilities anywhere in the home. The 5G technology enables service providers and users to enjoy the highest levels of dependability and accuracy.”

As for a non-5G wellness application, Essence also touted its MDSense fall detection system, which leverages another cutting-edge technology – radar – to cover a full room using a wireless device that looks much like a traditional PIR motion detector. The product is ideal for people who might not be wearing an emergency pendant and/or cannot reach a panic button.

Beyond the wellness monitoring area, Essence also introduced an intrusion detection system aimed at homes and small businesses. The company calls its Integrated FogShield product “the world’s first 5G standalone solution for intruder prevention.” Connected via 5G CAT-M networks, it includes motion detection, video recording, two-way voice capabilities, and a smoke diffuser that fills a room with a harmless but disorienting smoke that forces intruders out of the premises. Suitable for both residential and commercial buildings, the company says the system can be integrated with existing security systems or used as a standalone solution.
Essence believes in building a future where technology is a seamless extension of people’s lives. Enriching, enabling, and shaping life’s possibilities.

Learn more about these and all of Essence’s products on their blog.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

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CleanAirZone makes your indoor air quality better @ CES 2021

February 1, 2021CES 2021, Health, Homeair, ces2021, gadgets, HealthPLUGHITZ Live

CleanAirZone There are a lot of reasons why people are interested in clean air. Between allergens and viruses, pet dander, and more, many people decide to add cleaning technology to their homes and offices. This is in large part because indoor spaces have more air contaminants than outdoor spaces. In fact, Todd Cochrane has two devices in his offices and studios for this reason. Many of the standard devices available have a major flaw – they use the same technology, so they tend to miss the same materials. That was the challenge that CleanAirZone set out to solve.

Traditional air purification systems fail to remove the ultrafine particles. Many of those particles are the most hazardous to health, and yet they are the ones that are skipped. The CleanAirZone, or CAZ, devices are capable of capturing and digesting 99.99% of contamination in the air. This is because, unlike standard filters, the CAZ uses the electrical charge of airborne particles to capture them as they move through the system. Then, the system literally digests these pollutants using the company’s water-soluble BioCAZ Solution.

The change in technology also leads to a change in behavior. There are no filters or bulbs to purchase and dispose of. There’s no UV light or ozone in the process. Rather than being a piece of technology, it is a living ecosystem designed to help keep you and your family healthy. Essentially, CAZ aims to bring the environment of the outdoors inside. Important for many people, the CAZ device is not very loud. In fact, in the video, you cannot hear the device running in the room. That is a huge benefit, as noise pollution can lead to stress and anxiety.

The CleanAirZone device should be available in Q2 of 2021, and will retail for $1499. For more information, head over to the company’s website.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

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fash\on turns your closet on with a digital closet system @ CES 2021

February 1, 2021CES 2021, Gadgets, Homeces2021, fashion, gadgets, internet, shoppingPLUGHITZ Live

$fash\on digital closet system$ Jong-Hyun Ko is the founder of fash\on, a Korean company that has developed a Digital Closet tool to make fashion clothing shopping fast and efficient. It’s a brand new company debuting its product at CES for the first time.

The fash\on Digital Closet is designed for the customer who wants fast fashion products and regularly updates their wardrobe with the latest styles. fash\on aims to remove the obstacles that currently make both online and off-line clothing shopping slow and tedious, by separating how customers get product information from their purchasing behavior. In the case of clothing shopping, fash\on believes there’s too much information for shoppers, who can spend nearly an hour trying to find just what they’re looking for as they sort through product descriptions. Their smart Digital Closet solution aims to take the guesswork and the extra time out of the clothing shopping experience.

Company surveys show that people wear 10-20 sets of clothing per season, so what they really want, Jong-Hyun believes, is to buy clothes in their style to mix and match what they already have in their closet. Therefore, the best way to get good fashion recommendations and purchase options are to show clothing stores what’s actually in your closet.

fash\on is a digital tool that does just that, making your closet “smart” and channeling your personal styling into a subscription service. With the tag line, “Turn your Closet On”, the device and companion app help you get personalized and fast styling service, allowing you to shop online or off at your favorite retailers. You register your size with your favorite shops, then take photos of your current clothing collection, and add them to the app to find complementary clothing by color or style at your favorite clothing stores quickly and easily.

To learn more, visit the company’s website.

Interview by Christopher Jordan of The Talking Sound.

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Lasso Loop closes the recycling loop for homeowners @ CES 2021

February 1, 2021Accessories, CES 2021, Homeces2021, gadgets, home, recyclePLUGHITZ Live

Lasso Loop home recycling Stuart Chater, communications manager for Lasso Loop Recycling, joined us from Sydney, Australia for CES 2020.

Lasso Loop is a two-year-old company that aims to make the recycling process more elegant and efficient for homeowners, right at the source. Traditional recycling involves transporting recyclables from residences to a sorting facility, where a small percentage of material is closed-loop recycled. Lasso Loop aims for 100% of residential recyclables to enter into the closed-loop cycle, where they can be transformed into products of the same quality as the original.

The biggest issue with the current system, says Chater, is contamination, which renders material unusable in a high-quality product. Lasso Loop overcomes that problem by sensing at the source, whether in a home or office, to detect the type of material an item is composed of so it can be kept in the right stream. For example, if an item is made of PET plastic it stays in the PET plastic stream, if it’s clear glass, it stays in the glass stream, and so forth.

After material detection, the item is washed and cleaned, a critical step many people skip. After that, the material is ground – plastic is flaked, metal is shredded, and glass is crushed – and then the ground material is stored inside the Lasso Loop container as a pure industry-standard product, ready for high-quality reuse.

The company aims to have its first full prototype completed this year, and the first retail model available in 2022. The appliance will be about the size of a dishwasher, weigh around 260 lbs, use no more than 2 liters of water daily, and will process materials in about 15 minutes.

Visit the company website for more information, and to reserve your own Lasso Loop appliance when the final version is released.

Interview by Christopher Jordan of The Talking Sound.

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Autoslide makes any sliding glass door autonomous @ CES 2021

January 31, 2021CES 2021, Gadgets, Homeces2021, connected home, gadgets, home automation, home improvement, roboticsPLUGHITZ Live

Autoslide autonomous sliding glass door If you have a pet dog and a sliding door, you likely have to stop what you’re doing and go open that door a dozen times a day to let the dog in and out. If you have a multi-level home, it can be even more of an inconvenience, especially now that many of us are working from home. This, and a number of other issues, is what Autoslide is designed to solve.

This system is a retrofit device that makes any sliding door into an autonomous sliding door. Using motion sensors, the door can be set to open when someone comes near it. This could be good for opening when you’re carrying supplies out to the grill or just when you’re entertaining. It could even be used at restaurants and bars to keep air conditioning inside while maintaining the feel of an outside experience. By using NFC tags, it could be great for letting the dog out.

Another great use case for the Autoslide is for people in wheelchairs or walkers. Obviously, the weight and length of a sliding glass door can make it difficult to open or close in this situation. Being able to automate the door, either by motion-sensing or by button, could be a life-changer in one of these homes.

Truly, the aspect that makes this system unique is that it does not require you to replace your door. Instead, it fits onto the existing door and track. This retrofit capability reduces the cost significantly, as you don’t have to have a contractor knock out the existing door and install a new one. It also means that you might be able to install it yourself.

The Autoslide system, in various configurations for motion, NFC, manual button, etc., are all available from the company. To learn more or make a purchase, head over to what the website.

Interview by Christopher Jordan of The Talking Sound.

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iWONDERCOOK takes the hassle out of preparing a fresh meal @ CES 2021

January 30, 2021Accessories, CES 2021, Gadgets, Homeces2021, connected home, gadgets, kitchen, robot, roboticsPLUGHITZ Live

After a long day at work, whether you’re working from the office or working from home, sometimes the energy or interest to cook dinner can be limited. For some, it means going and getting fast food. For others, it means jumping on an app and ordering delivery. But, if you are lucky enough to have an iWONDERCOOK, you don’t have to have fast food or order out, and you don’t have to expend the energy to cook.

iWONDERCOOK is a small robotic chef that is designed for your personal kitchen. It is about the size of a consumer 3D printer and even follows similar principles. The design of the meal is done beforehand, and the required materials are prepared and shipped to your house. To cook the pre-packed but not prepared meal, you scan the barcode on the package and place the ingredients in the machine. Then, in about 15 minutes, return to the machine and plate your food. That’s all there is to it. In fact, during the conversation, Michael Lemberg cooked and plated a meal on camera.

The way it works behind the scenes is similar to some of the meal kits, but with an easy and robotic twist. The company sources the ingredients to support the recipes in its system. They then clean, cut, and pack those ingredients into containers, split by meal. They ship those packets to you, which contains the general ingredients, sauces, and spices. So far, a tried and true model. The difference, of course, is that you don’t need a printed recipe with preparation and cooking processes. Instead, just scan, cook, and walk away. You don’t even have to deal with cleanup, as the machine takes care of that (except for your plate and silverware).

Because of delivery requirements, iWONDERCOOK is currently limited to the New York area. If you are interested in learning more about the product, check out the website.

Interview by Daniele Mendez of The New Product Launchpad.

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Follinic makes regrowing lost hair as easy as wearing a cap @ CES 2021

January 29, 2021CES 2021, Health, Homeces2021, gadgets, hair, HealthPLUGHITZ Live

Follinic hair restoration cap Hair loss is a common problem for a large portion of people. We may immediately think of male pattern baldness, but females have hair loss problems, too. There have been many treatments over the years, from creams to pills, and even hair transplants. The results and price have varied wildly, and the side effects have as well. South Korean company IL Science has a new product designed to avoid all of these things – Follinic.

The Follinic does not use any internal intervention and, instead, focuses on the scalp itself. The product looks like a brimless baseball cap and fits the same way. Using various specially focused LEDs, as well as microcurrent, it is supposed to both prevent hair loss and stimulate follicles that have already stopped growing hair.

While the product has already been cleared by the FDA in the United States and has been on sale in South Korea, our guest Youngju Hwang personally questioned the efficiency of the product. So, she purchased one at regular retail and tried it out with her father. The results absolutely made her a believer in the product, having seen significant hair regrowth for her own father in just three months.

This experiment goes to show that, while we often question the efficiency of some of the products we see during CES, we aren’t the only ones. Even the employees of the companies themselves can be skeptical about whether or not their own products work as well as they are supposed to.

Follinic runs $699 and will be available through retail channels in the US soon. The company also offers a tonic and premium shampoo, both of which are designed to work together with the Follinic product to improve the results. For more information on the product line, check out the website.

Interview by Scott Ertz of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology.

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BenjiLock is protecting many aspects of your daily life @ CES 2021

January 29, 2021CES 2021, Gadgets, Homebenjilock, biometric, ces2021, gadgets, securityPLUGHITZ Live

BenjiLock biometric locks Since its first outing at CES 2017, Robbie Cabral, founder of BenjiLock, has consistently worked to bring his vision of a more convenient and more secure world to reality. Our team has had the privilege of following his journey, from concept to Shark Tank and Hampton Products to today.

Last year, just before the world came to a halt, Robbie stopped by our studio to discuss upcoming products. While 2020 took a toll on the timeline of these new products, Robbie and the team at Hampton Products have managed to bring all of these products to market for 2021.

Our favorite new product last year was the BenjiLock Door Lock. In fact, we liked it so much, we secure our office and studio with one. We were in good company, as the product received a CES Innovation Award last year. This product merges the best of both companies, with BenjiLock’s fingerprint reading technology combined with the long history of security products made by Hampton Products. Honestly, we have really enjoyed the convenience of the fingerprint reader for entrance by our team. We added to it the Hampton Push-Pull-Rotate doorknob, so even with our hands full of equipment, we can open the door.

Coming at a close second was the new bike lock. When exercising, I always try to carry as little as possible, and that includes my keys. Being able to lock a bicycle while out without the need for a key is ideal for my experience. It seems like I cannot be the exception, but likely closer to the rule. Anyone wearing proper cycling gear will find it difficult to store a key for any lock, let alone their bike.

The BenjiLock Bike Lock is available for $79.99 and the Door Lock is available for $159.99. To find out what colors are available, to make a purchase, or to learn more about the BenjiLock product line, check out the company’s website.

Interview by Scott Ertz of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology.

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