Technology - Google News

Nest launches $39 temperature sensor and is now shipping video doorbell and smart lock
Intel processors are being redesigned to protect against Spectre
Galaxy S9 has a great feature no other flagships have, and you didn't even know it was there

Nest launches $39 temperature sensor and is now shipping video doorbell and smart lock

Posted: 15 Mar 2018 07:14 AM PDT

Nest just announced a new $39 Temperature Sensor that works in tandem with the company's smart thermostats to keep particular rooms in your home at the ideal temperature. The device is scheduled to ship in April, and there's also a $99 three-pack available for preorder. To use it, you'll need the latest-generation Nest Learning Thermostat or the Nest Thermostat E; the Temperature Sensor doesn't work with first-get or second-gen Nest thermostats.

Setting up the Temperature Sensor is pretty simple. You put it on a wall or shelf, add it to your Nest system in the Nest app, and choose the temperature you want for the room it's in. If you've got multiple sensors around the house, you can tell Nest which one to prioritize at a certain time of day. Each sensor can be placed a maximum of 50 feet away from the Nest thermostat it's linked with. If you're curious, Nest says you can pair up to six Temperature Sensors with each Nest Thermostat. That grouping can be repeated up to three times for a maximum of 18 sensors.

I wish I had a house big enough to warrant 18 temperature sensors. Don't you? Doesn't everyone?

Nest's Temperature Sensor isn't quite as advanced as some competitors. Rival Ecobee makes one that can detect when people are actually in the room and automatically gives priority to occupied rooms. Ecobee's sensors can also be programmed to always be active, so it can balance the system for hotter or colder parts of your home. Plus, Ecobee bundles a temp sensor in the box with its thermostat; Nest isn't yet offering a package deal.

Whichever you prefer, both approaches acknowledge that the temperature reading from your main thermostat — however "smart" it might be — won't always be true throughout the house. Maybe it takes longer for your bedroom to warm up than the living room where the main Nest is. This product solves that. These sensors make the whole system more accurate and keep things comfortable.

Apart from the Temperature Sensor, Nest has also officially launched its Nest Hello video doorbell for $229, and the long-in-the-works Nest x Yale door lock is finally, really, actually shipping for either $249 or $279 (with included Nest Connect). The video doorbell requires a wired connection with power, which makes it a non-starter for me since I prefer units that at least give you the option of using batteries. But its release pits Nest — now once again under Google — directly against Amazon's Ring to battle it out for smart doorbell dominance.

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Intel processors are being redesigned to protect against Spectre

Posted: 15 Mar 2018 07:17 AM PDT

Intel is revealing today that the company is introducing hardware protections against the Spectre CPU flaw that was discovered last year. While the Meltdown vulnerability will continue to be addressed through software updates, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich says the company has "redesigned parts of the processor to introduce new levels of protection through partitioning" that will protect against the Spectre variants. Intel's next-generation Xeon processors (Cascade Lake) will include the new partitioning, alongside 8th generation Intel Core processors that ship in the second half of 2018.

The partitioning will work as an extra protective wall between regular applications and the user privilege levels to deter vulnerabilities like Spectre. Existing Intel processor owners without the new CPUs will have to continue to rely on firmware updates for Spectre protection, which also include potential performance impacts. That doesn't appear to be the case for Intel's future products. "As we bring these new products to market, ensuring that they deliver the performance improvements people expect from us is critical," says Krzanich. "Our goal is to offer not only the best performance, but also the best secure performance."

Intel is also revealing today that firmware updates are now available for 100 percent of its products launched in the last five years. Microsoft recently started bringing Intel's Spectre firmware updates to its own Microsoft Update catalog, allowing IT admins to easily distribute them to systems.

Intel has previously issued buggy firmware updates that caused some system reboots. Microsoft was forced to issue an emergency Windows update to allow system administrators to reverse Intel's patches, but it looks like Intel's latest updates aren't causing the issues we've seen before. Intel is now facing at least 32 lawsuits over the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities, as the company continues to respond to the security problems that Google's Project Zero team first reported back in June. It was also revealed last month that Intel didn't warn the US government over the Meltdown and Spectre CPU flaws until the details were made public in January.

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Galaxy S9 has a great feature no other flagships have, and you didn't even know it was there

Posted: 15 Mar 2018 07:29 AM PDT

Samsung's hot new Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ flagship smartphones will finally be released on Friday, March 16th. It remains to be seen how well the phones will fare, but early responses so far have been mixed. Reviewers showered the Galaxy S9 and S9+ with praise, and rightfully so — these new flagship phones are better than any other Android handsets on the market right now. You can read BGR's in-depth Galaxy S9 review to find out why. Despite the overwhelmingly positive reviews, however, many Android fans seem far less impressed. As it turns out, hardcore Android users might not be as willing as Apple fans to buy smartphones that look almost exactly like their predecessors, even if the Galaxy S9 does offer huge performance and camera improvements. Maybe they'd prefer a new design… perhaps one with a notch.

While reactions among early adopters likely isn't as enthusiastic as Samsung would have hoped, the company is still expected to sell tens of millions of Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ smartphones over the course of their life cycle. If you're one of the people who end up buying one of these hot new handsets, there's a fantastic feature hiding inside your phone that no other flagship Android device or iPhone has, and most people don't even know it's there.

There are two pieces of big news about the back of Samsung's new Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ phones. The first is obviously the cameras, which have received huge upgrades courtesy of the company's new "Super Speed Dual Pixel" technology. Apart from that, the fingerprint sensor on both new models has been relocated to the center of the phones just beneath the camera lenses. This is obviously a much more convenient location than the off-center positioning on last year's Galaxy S8 and S8+.

But there's something else on the back of the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ handsets that you should be aware of: The heart rate sensor.

Image Source: Zach Epstein, BGR

A heart rate sensor on the back of a Galaxy S handset is nothing new. Samsung's flagship phones have had them for years. But there's a new feature being introduced alongside Samsung's Galaxy S9 and S9+ release on Friday that has never been available on a Samsung phone before. In fact, it has never been available before on a flagship phone from any top smartphone maker.

Back in late February when Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+, it also announced a new app called My BP Lab. There was so much news that day, however, that almost no one took notice of the nifty new app. Due to hit the Google Play store sometime today so it's ready for action tomorrow when the S9 and S9+ are officially released, My BP Lab transforms the Galaxy S9's heart rate sensor into a blood pressure monitor. What's more, an insider who has already tested the app reports on Twitter that blood pressure readings are extremely accurate.

"At Samsung, we have a firm commitment to the health and well-being of our users," Samsung health VP Peter Koo said. "That's why we developed a revolutionary optical sensor in the Galaxy S9 and S9+. We are pleased to be partnering with UCSF to utilize this sensor and contribute to research that will provide our users with crucial and meaningful feedback about their health."

For the time being, the feature is something of a beta and will not be incorporated into the main Samsung Health app. But the goal is likely to eventually integrate the function into Samsung Health. You can read more about the app in Samsung's announcement.

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