NEWS – Have you put up your Christmas tree or other holiday lights yet? Many times, the outlet that controls the lights is located an inconvenient place that requires stooping, bending, and/or crawling to access it every time you want to turn the lights off or back on. The Treemote solves that problem with a handy and cute tree shaped remote control. With just two buttons, this remote will make your holidays easier but allowing you to toggle power to your lights without any bodily contortions. The Treemote has a remote receiver which plugs into the outlet. Your lights plug into the receiver and then the battery-powered (battery is included) Treemote acts as the transmitter. Simple and it’s only $19.99. Get more info at treemote.myshopify.com and Amazon.
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REVIEW – I have tested many different brands of dash cams that offer HD and 4K resolution and a few additional features and they all seem to be close to the same with a few minor exceptions. When I first heard about the Raven Connected Car Device, my thought was, “here we go again”. Was I right? Let’s see!!
What is it?
The Raven Connected Car Device is a smart device that connects to your car’s OBD connector and offers access to smart cameras, sensors, navigation, diagnostics, and data. It works via the built-in LTE cell connection, so it is always connected.
What’s in the box
1 x Raven Connected Car Device
1 x Quick Start Guide
1 x Extra Double Sided Adhesive Tape
1 x OBD Connector Power Cable
4 x Cable Clips with Adhesive
1 x Allen Key
Design and features
The device itself is a black sleek device, with a single cable connection to your car’s OBD connector. On the front, there is a display screen and an in-cabin camera hidden/embedded behind the clear surface.
On the back, there is the outward facing camera, and on the bottom of the mount, there is the double-sided tape that does a great job of ticking and staying put on the windshield.
On the bottom, there is the adjustable mount, a micro SD card slot for on-board recording, a micro USB port for direct connection and the ability to download videos from the SD card without removing it from the device, and a “Sim” slot that is not currently used.
Performance
Features:
Wi-Fi Hotspot
Live preview and streaming from dash outwards and in-cabin
Speed alert and threshold settings
Next-turn Navigation
Video recording triggered by hand gesture
Real-time GPS location
Easily download and share video
Security Alerts and Notifications
Access onboard diagnostics and get information about what might be going on with your vehicle
Driving alerts and notifications
In-App Navigation
Once I connected the Raven and started driving, one of the first things that I noticed was that when viewing the speed of the vehicle on the Raven versus the digital speedometer on my dash, at times there was a +/- 1 MPH difference. This occurred mostly when accelerating or slowing down. Since the Raven is connected to the vehicle’s OBD connector, it would be interesting to find out which one is actually truly correct.
The Raven continuously records video while you are driving so that nothing is missed. The continuously recorded video files are not accessible through Media Manager on the app like the gesture or event generated videos. The continuous video is recorded on the micro SD card (optional), and you can access either by removing the card and viewing via a PC or by connecting the Raven to your PC using a micro USB cable. The raw video files are in the Videos folder. Another great feature of this device is that since it connects via the OBD connector, it always has power and can always provide live views of the cabin and the outside as well as security alerts as long as the cell signal exists.
App
The app provides access to all of the functions and settings of the Raven. Here are some screenshots of the in-App choices and preferences:
Screenshots of outward and in-cabin app views (Views can be fullscreen as well):
Here is actual footage downloaded from the camera. (The footage was not edited and is exactly as it was when downloaded including the speed of the video):
Here are screenshots of types of warnings and notifications that you receive on your mobile device:
Screenshots of fullscreen in-app navigation. Navigation directions are voice enabled:
If you choose to continuously use all of the features and functionality of the Raven, there are 3 data plans to choose from:
What I like
The look
The build quality
The features and functionality
What can be improved
The length of the OBD connector cable so that larger vehicles are accommodated
Additional built-in cameras to provide a 360-degree view
Options for cell service. T-Mobile does not have the best coverage in NYC.
Addition of remote start feature since the OBD connection is being used (More like my personal wishlist item)
Final thoughts
After not expecting too much more than a dash cam from this device, the Raven has won me over in many ways. I love having this device and I love using its features and functionality. Having the ability to view my car when it is parked at the railroad station and in the garage or on the street is great, and the alerts are also great. Having that kind of heads-up display that gives me the option to view various parameters is a plus, and while my truck does have the navigation, having a second option is just a bonus. For my personal use, I can’t say enough about how much I like this device. I have actually replaced what was my favorite dash cam with the Raven. Each person has their personal preference, so keeping that in mind, I give the Raven a big two thumbs up!! If they add 360-degree camera views and remote start capability to the next version, I may have to get more thumbs.
Price: Two options – $299 plus a choice of a monthly data plan – $8, $16 or $32; With Affirm Credit starting @ $30 monthly for 12 months with 1 year of data included. The first 3 months of use are free for 24/7 connection to your car.
According to Raven, you can choose the additional following option:
“RAVEN WITHOUT A PLAN – Though you won’t have access to Raven’s LTE features, you’ll still be able to use Raven as a dashcam for full-length videos, gesture triggered videos along with time lapses. You’ll also be able to use Raven’s displays to show driving data such as speed, compass, fuel, altitude etc. In the app, you’ll have access to the media manager, settings, historical trips, and historical driver reports.” Where to buy:Raven website and Amazon Source: The sample for this review was provided by Raven
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NEWS – I thought we had our tea-making process under control here, but Adagio Teas can streamline the process even more with their new VelociTEA kettle. You just add water to the kettle, choose the perfect temperature for brewing the variety of tea, put the leaves in the dishwasher-safe brew basket, then press the button to get started. VelociTEA will heat the water to the proper temperature, then steep the leaves for the proper amount of time. The kettle can even hold the tea at the proper drinking temperature for up to an hour. If you simply want hot water, the VelociTEA can heat that, too.
The VelociTEA will ship on December 15, 2018. You can pre-order the kettle now for $99 and save $20. Place your pre-order now at the Adagio Teas website.
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REVIEW – You probably don’t think of a garage door opener as being something super techy or cool right? I didn’t either until LiftMaster changed my mind when they offered to let me test their WLED garage door opener with built-in Corner to Corner Lighting system. Let’s check it out.
What is it?
The LiftMaster WLED DC Battery Backup LED Wi-Fi Residential Garage Door Opener is just you have already guessed it is. It’s the motor box that lifts and lowers your garage door. But this one from LiftMaster has some great tech features built-in like high powered LED lights, motion detection, WiFi control, and more.
What’s in the box?
I don’t have a complete listing of what was in the box because the LiftMaster WLED garage door opener is packaged for professional installation and not for a DIY homeowner installation. Chamberlain, LiftMaster’s parent company, sells similar products online and through major retailers (e.g. Home Depot, Lowes, etc.) for those homeowners who wish to install it themselves (no dealer necessary). Chamberlain’s version of this particular WLED can be found here.
LiftMaster WLED garage door opener
Installation hardware
2 3-button car remotes with clips
Wall door controller
User guide
I have a 3 car garage that has one overhead door that has to be lifted manually and two others that have Craftsman openers.
I’ve not had any troubles with the Craftsman openers except that the one on Jeanne’s side of the garage has a really crummy 1-bulb light built into it.
Here’s the light from the old garage door opener
Jeanne’s always complaining that the light isn’t bright enough to see to get her belongings out of the car when she gets home at night. The garage doesn’t have any windows, so it’s pitch black except for the garage opener light when she gets home after dark.
Besides the dim light, neither openers work if the power is out. Unhooking the openers so that they can be lifted manually isn’t difficult, but getting them hooked back up later is always a pain in the you-know-what. I don’t know why, but I always have a heck of a time reattaching chain thingy. Yes, that’s what I call it. Don’t judge me!
Design and features
When LiftMaster contacted me to ask if they could install their WLED WiFi enabled garage door opener so I could test it and write about it, I immediately thought of Jeanne and her complaints about the lighting in the garage and said heck yeah to their offer.
They shipped me the box with all the hardware and then set up an appointment to have a local garage door company come to do the installation for me.
The LiftMaster WLED garage door opener features:
Built-in Wi-Fi and myQ technology: provides the ability to open and close the garage door from anywhere and send alerts if it’s left open.
Battery Backup: Keeps the opener working in a power outage so you don’t have to raise and lower the door manually.
Quiet Operation: An ultra-quiet DC motor and soft start/stop vibration reduction.
Installation
On a cold afternoon a couple weeks ago, two guys from Sterling Garage Door in Columbus, Indiana arrived and got to work on the install. I didn’t stick around to watch them install it because it was about 40 degrees outside (and in the garage since it’s not heated).
Less than an hour later, they were gone and I was left with a brand new shiny new garage door opener with a nice set of tech features that I never knew I needed until that day.
The LiftMaster garage door opener is larger than the one that was previously installed in the same space as it has lights on both ends instead of just the one.
A nod of satisfaction came when I went to the newly installed controller mounted where the old one had been. I guess I should have taken a picture of the old one before it was removed but it was basically one button like an old-school doorbell. As you can see, the new one has a bright backlit screen with the time of day in large easy to read numbers. The display cycles between showing the time and temperature which I really like. It also shows the built-in battery capacity of the opener in event of a power outage.
Above the display is the opener button and below the display, there are four buttons which are used to interact with the menus to customize settings for the clock, time to close, language, lock, WiFi setup, and more.
Below the buttons are two more features that I like. First of all, there’s a motion sensor which will automatically turn on the garage door opener’s lights when it’s tripped. I LOVE this feature because I leave the house before the sun is up and always have to feel around for the opener button to open my garage door when I walk into the garage to leave for work. Now that the LiftMaster WLED is installed, I just open the door to the garage and the motion sensor flips on the opener’s lights.
There’s also a button below the motion sensor that toggles the opener’s lights.
Here’s the light from the LiftMaster WLED garage door opener. Although it looks like it, the bulb next to the opener on the right is not turned on.
If you scroll back up towards the beginning of this review, you can see how the previous garage door opener’s light lit up the garage. Weak right? Now, look at this image. It’s like night and day Sorry, I couldn’t resist. But seriously, the LED lights on the LiftMaster are really bright. 3100 lumens to be precise. Jeanne no longer complains about how dark the garage is when she gets home at night.
We both love how the lights come on automatically as soon as we open the walk-thru door to walk into the garage. The motion sensors are a great feature especially when your hands are full.
Safety Sensors
We haven’t had safety sensors configured correctly with the old doors. Whoever installed them, just taped them together and ran the wires out of the way. The guys that installed the LiftMaster had to do the install to code, which means we now have a light beam sensor on each side of the door at the bottom. These sensors are designed to protect people, vehicles, pets, etc. but stopping the door from closing on obstructions and reversing (opening) the door. When this happens, the lights on the opener will flash 10 times to signal the problem.
Time will tell if the sensors become more trouble than they are worth though as we get a lot of leaves that like to pile up in from of the garage and sometimes if it’s windy, they will blow into the garage. I’m curious if we’ll have any issues with the door not wanting to close. I’ll report back if that is the case.
24 hour battery backup
The LiftMaster WLED has a built-in battery that will provide power to the opener for up to 24 hours if the main power goes out. I live in a rural area where the power goes out at least once a month if not a lot more. Heck, I was working on this review a couple days ago and the power was out 3 different times in one day for 1-2 hours each time. I’m lucky because I have a whole home generator, BUT my garage is on its own circuit box. That means if the power goes out, I have to use the emergency release handle and operate the door manually. UGH. I know, first world problems… But with the LiftMaster, I don’t have to worry about that. If the power goes off, I can still operate the door normally. Note that the door will run slower, and the lights will not turn on. But that’s a small price to pay.
Note that I’ll need to replace the battery from time to time, which according to some googling, will cost me around $20-$30 from stores like Walmart.
Using the myQ app
In addition to the features I have already mentioned, you can also control the LiftMaster WLED garage door with your phone. As long as the LiftMaster opener is within range of your home’s WiFi (2.4Ghz, 802.11b/g/n), you can do things like open and close the door remotely, know the status of the door, up or down no matter where you are in the world. You can also set a recurring schedule to close a garage door and use the app as a door opener if you happen to lose remote openers that come with the LiftMaster.
Setting up the myQ app with the LiftMaster was as easy as setting up other smart devices. I just installed the myQ app, then used the wall remote to get into the WiFi setup screens and from there I followed the onscreen prompts in the app which told me what to do on the remote.
The app can be set up to provide real-time notifications to alert you when the door goes up or down. This is an added home security measure provides extra peace of mind when you’re waiting for someone to come home late at night when you’re already in bed, or when you get an alert when you’re not at home that the door has gone up.
You can also set schedules when to shut the door. I’m not exactly sure why you might want this feature, but it’s there if you need it. Note that you can only schedule a time to close the door. You can set a schedule to open the door and you can see a history of when the door was opened and closed.
I mentioned that you can’t set a schedule to close the door, but you can set the TTC (timer to close) feature which will automatically shut the door after 1-99 minutes. This might be a good thing to set for people who can’t seem to remember to press the remote button after they leave the house
What I like
Bright LED lights that light up the whole garage
Quiet, smooth operation
Motion detector on the wall remote automatically turns on the lights when you walk in the door
Ability to know the status of the garage door (up or down) using the myQ app
Lifetime warranty on motor
What needs to be improved
Nothing
Final thoughts
The LiftMaster WLED garage door opener was a product that I didn’t know I needed or wanted until I got one. From the ultra quiet operation, extra light that it provides in my garage, and the fact that I can control the door remotely with my phone and get notified when the door opens provides extra home security benefits, the LiftMaster gets two thumbs up from me. Now I want to replace my other opener so I have a matching set.
Price: $450 – $500 (including installation) Where to buy: LiftMaster certified dealers, or the DIY Chamberlain version is available on Amazon. Source: The sample for this review was provided by LiftMaster.
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NEWS – I remember being excited the first time I learned about the ability to charge a device without having to physically plug in a power cable and I jumped on the wireless charging (Qi) bandwagon as soon as I could. These days wireless charging is commonplace, but soon a new wireless charging tech is going to revolutionize how we charge our devices. What is this new sorcery that I speak of? It’s light. Infrared light.
The company who will be bringing this tech to light (sorry) is Wi-Charge. The tech uses patented infrared wireless power technology that can deliver several watts of power to client devices up to 10 meters away without having to put the device on a special charging pad as we do now. Eventually, our devices may have this new charging technology built in, but the first solution that Wi-Charge will bring to market is specific to the Amazon Echo and Google mini devices.
I had some questions for Wi-Charge about this new tech:
When will this tech be available to end-users? In 2019.
What will be the cost of the charging device/light? The Wireless Power Kits are going to be available as a reference design for our OEM partners. This means that these partners set the end-user price. For example, our wireless charging capability can be priced as an accessory to the device.
Will we be able to retrofit existing devices to use it? The solution has two parts:
– A wireless charger that can be plugged into the wall. This sends out the energy.
– A cradle that connects to the Amazon Echo or Google Home. Basically, you just place the smart speaker inside the cradle.
If you are interested in learning more, visit Wi-charge.com to read more about this new infrared light charging tech.
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Sorry, I couldn’t resist. But seriously, the LED lights on the LiftMaster are really bright. 3100 lumens to be precise. Jeanne no longer complains about how dark the garage is when she gets home at night.
