Samsung’s Dropcam competitor is called Perch, helps you monitor your home from an Android phone

Samsung SmartCam HD (not the Perch)

One of the biggest trends in technology right now is home automation. Before smartphones it was nearly impossible to know what was going on at your home while you were away. New products, like the Google-owned Dropcam, have made it possible for ordinary people to easily monitor their home from afar at a reasonable price.

Samsung is the another company looking to break into home automation. Last year they acquired SmartThings, a company who has created a popular open platform for connected devices. A new patent from Samsung suggests they are ready to create their own hardware or software for the platform, and it could be a direct competitor to Dropcam.

The patent filed on April 1st, 2015 is for something called “Perch.” Here’s what the description says:

“computer application software for mobile devices for remotely controlling and monitoring video cameras and video feeds; computer vision system for home automation comprised of methods for image and signal processing, object detection and recognition, and motion analysis”

It’s not far of a stretch to see how this is a competitor to Dropcam, a device that you can perch on a shelf to watch your home. The patent is for a mobile application, but we would be surprised if Samsung didn’t have hardware to go with it. They’ve already created home WiFi surveillance cameras in the past. The interesting thing is that Dropcam already works with the SmartThings system, but a device from Samsung could offer more tightly integrated features and software.

This would be a huge move for Samsung. With Samsung’s ability to pump out hardware, and the excellent SmartThings platform, there is massive potential here. Many companies are dabbling in home automation, but there are no clear front-runners yet. Samsung could be the one to step into that position. Have you bought any home automation devices? Would you buy a Dropcam competitor from Samsung?

LG’s Galaxy Note competitor – the G Stylo – starts shipping this month

The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 could come as early as July, and when it does, it’ll have some competition. We’ve heard that LG is cooking up a Galaxy Note competitor and today it’s finally been officially announced: introducing the LG G Stylo (aka LG G4 Stylus) which starts shipping this month:

more pictures coming soon…

Some of the key G4 Stylus specs:

• 1.2GHz Quad-Core (LTE) / 1.4GHz Octa-Core (3G)


• 5.7-inch HD IPS screen (258ppi)


• 1GB RAM / 8GB ROM / microSD


• 13MP camera (some regions to get 8MP)


• 5MP front camera


• 3,000mAh battery (removable)


• Android 5.0 Lollipop


• Size: 154.3 x 79.2 x 9.6mm


• Weight: 163g


• Wi-Fi 802.11 a, b, g, n / Bluetooth 4.1 / NFC / A-GPS / Glonass / USB 2.0


• Colors: Metallic Silver / Floral White

In addition to coming with the new Stylus Pen it will also come with key LG features such as Laser Auto Focus, Gesture Shot, Glance View, and Knock Code.

In an interesting twist of naming fate, LG will call it the LG G4 Stylus globally save for the North American and Korea versions where it will be called “LG G Stylo”:

The G4 Stylus (available as G Stylo in North America and Korea) will be offered in both LTE and 3G configurations in Metallic Silver or Floral White color options. The G4c is an LTE model only and will come in Metallic Gray, Ceramic White and Shiny Gold.

LG also announced the LG G4c – with the “c” standing for “Compact” – offering an easier to wield alternative to the LG G4 for those with smaller hands and/or different preferences. Sitting in a 5-inch frame the LG G4c rocks 1.GHz Quad core processor, 1GB RAM, 8MP camera, and 5MP selfie cam.

Both of these devices will begin shipping to retailers immediately but it’s not clear when they’ll be available to consumers through carriers and retail partners:

Both smartphones will begin shipping to retailers around the world in the next several weeks and throughout the month of May.

If you thought your decision was already tough between the LG G4, Samsung Galaxy S6, Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, and HTC One M9, you may want to reserve some time for some smartphone soul searching… this is going to be a toughie.

Lenovo reveals $49 Chromecast competitor, projector smartphone and a smart watch with a 2nd display

Lenovo had a lot of interesting announcements to make at their Tech World conference in Beijing today. Let’s jump right into the first one: they have made the next big Chromecast competitor.

Simply called Lenovo Cast, this is a dongle that hooks right up to your TV via HDMI. Compare that price tag to the Chromecast (which you can often find even cheaper than that through periodic deals) and it doesn’t sound all that amazing.

But Lenovo’s pitch here is that their device is fully DLNA and Miracast compliant, meaning you have very flexible and open options for streaming to it (as opposed to Chromecast, which requires developers to add support for it within their apps). Still, there are cheaper options that allow you to do the same (and even more) already on the market so we’re reserving judgment until we see if there are any other unique and redeeming qualities. The device will be available on a worldwide scale this August.

Moving on, Lenovo did have a couple of other announcements that did well to pique our interest. First up is a smart watch that sports a secondary display, a contraption which might appear wonky in mere inner-thought visuals. In actuality, it’s integrated fairly neatly and doesn’t do much to hinder the otherwise good looks of a smart watch.

The question is about functionality and purpose, and the answer is simple: it’s for privately viewing your content. You see, you have to move the smartwatch to your eye to even see what’s on the display. Lenovo’s goal is to let you see what you need to see, and without letting anyone else see what you have to see.

We’re not sure what sort of sensitive content you’d be viewing on a smart watch to need something like this, but there it is. We’d argue covering your wrist with your hand is nearly as effective, but hey — you can’t get mad at unique ideas. Unfortunately this is little more than a concept right now, though the fact that Lenovo has working prototypes is a good sign they want to bring this thing to market.

Lastly, there’s the Smart Cast, a phone Lenovo has dreamed up with a laser projector. A projector on a phone is nothing new — the Samsung Galaxy Beam says hello — but Lenovo’s claiming that theirs can project a fully interactive display onto whichever surface you fancy. Whether it be for typing, playing a virtual piano or whatever, they’re confident they can make it happen.

The core technology already exists, though not within a consumer device such as the one they’ve shown off. Whether we can ever see something like this hit the market remains to be seen, but if Lenovo’s feeling confident enough that they’re on the right track we’ll certainly keep an open mind about it.