Technology

You can stack and sync up to 300 of Nanoleaf’s new color-changing display cases

Published

3 hours ago

August 8, 2024

You can stack and sync up to 300 of Nanoleaf’s new color-changing display cases

Nanoleaf’s new Expo Smart Display Cases are an eye-catching way to make a carefully curated collection the focus of any room. Each case features diffused color-changing LED lighting, and multiple cases can be stacked to create a larger display with colors and animated lighting that syncs across hundreds of cases. They’re available now individually for $79.99, or you can save $20 by opting for a four-pack for $299.99.

Made from “premium grade ABS resin,” the cases feature evenly diffused LED lighting to minimize shadows and hotspots around what’s displayed inside. Unlike display cases with a single overhead spotlight, Nanoleaf is taking an approach similar to the product lighting used in professional photoshoots.

Each case features its own button controls so that changing lighting settings isn’t completely dependent on the mobile app.

Image: Nanoleaf

A transparent door keeps dust at bay while triggering “subtle lighting effects” when opened and closed thanks to hidden magnetic sensors. Each display case also has its own control panel, allowing its individual lighting to be adjusted, but the LED effects get even more impressive when you group a few of them together.

The Expo Smart Display Cases can be stacked and arranged either side by side or on top of each other, automatically creating connections that share power between them. Up to eight of the cases can be powered by a single 42W power supply or up to 16 of them with a 75W power source.

When connected to a Wi-Fi network and the Nanoleaf mobile app, the company’s LayoutDetect technology automatically determines the location of each case in a custom layout — up to 300 of them at once — simplifying the setup process for those with lots of figures (or sneakers) to display.

Each Expo case features diffused color-changing LED lighting that can be customized in the Nanoleaf app.

Image: Nanoleaf

By knowing the location of each display case relative to the others, users can activate animated lighting displays that spread across them, including thousands of preset scenes or custom effects created in Nanoleaf’s app. The LEDs in the display cases can even be used as a music visualizer, pulsing to the beat of a song, or as bias lighting, mirroring the colors of what’s on a nearby TV screen.

The only thing that might give collectors pause is the price. If you were to max out the system’s capabilities and fill a giant wall with 300 of them, you’d pay $22,499.25. That’s a lot of money that could be spent on more shoes, more Funko Pops, or more Lego sets.

Technology

How to optimize your sleep with your Apple Watch

Published

3 hours ago

August 8, 2024

Press Room

How to optimize your sleep with your Apple Watch

Feeling groggy in the morning? Wondering if you’re getting enough shut-eye? Your Apple Watch might have the answers you’re looking for.

With the built-in sleep app, you can easily track your sleep patterns right from your wrist. It’s a great way to get insights into how much rest you’re actually getting and the quality of your sleep.

Here’s why you might want to give it a try.

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A man wearing an Apple Watch

5 reasons why you might want to give the built-in Sleep app a try

1. Effortless tracking: Just wear your watch to bed, and it’ll do the rest. No need to fiddle with buttons or apps before dozing off.

2. Detailed sleep stages: The app can estimate how much time you spend in Awake, REM, Core and Deep sleep, giving you a clearer picture of your sleep quality. While we sleep, our brains and bodies restore themselves. Each sleep stage plays a different role, but they’re all essential to waking up refreshed.

Apple Sleep app’s detailed sleep stages (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

3. Sleep goals and schedules: Set up sleep goals and create schedules to help you maintain a consistent sleep routine.

4. Wake-up alarms: Use gentle, customizable alarms to wake up at the optimal time in your sleep cycle.

5. Sleep Focus mode: Limit distractions before bedtime and during sleep to help you wind down and rest better.

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A woman wearing an Apple Watch (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

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Enable built-in sleep tracking on Apple Watch

To use the built-in Sleep app on your Apple Watch, ensure your device is running watchOS 7 or later and paired with an iPhone 6s or later running iOS 14 or higher. Also, be sure to update your software by opening the Watch app on your iPhone, navigating to General > Software Update and installing any available updates. Now, here’s how to set up sleep tracking:

Open the Watch app on your iPhone
Click My Watch in the bottom left of the screen
Scroll down and tap Sleep.
Tap Use this Watch for Sleep to enable the feature
Ensure the switches next to Track Sleep with Apple Watch and Charging Reminders are turned on

Steps to enable built-in sleep tracking on Apple Watch (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

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Set up your sleep schedule

Creating a sleep schedule helps you meet your sleep goals. You can set your sleep schedule from the Health app. Follow these steps to set it up:

On your iPhone, open the Health app
Tap the Browse icon at the bottom
Scroll down and select Sleep
In the Your Schedule section, tap Add to set the schedule for tonight
Here, you can adjust Bedtime and Wake up
Then tap Add in the upper right

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Steps to set up your sleep schedule (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

To set up additional options, tap Full Schedule & Options
You can now set a permanent schedule based on different days of the week by clicking where it says Set Your First Schedule
A calendar or list of days will appear. Tap on the days you want to include in this schedule.
You can adjust the Bedtime and Wake up for each day of the week
Tap Add in the upper right

Steps to set up your sleep schedule (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

You can also change the Wind Down time and indicate the number of hours you’d like to sleep as your goal where it says Sleep Goal

Steps to adjust additional sleep details (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

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How to set up Focus filters

You can also set up Focus filters to determine how your device behaves when you’re asleep.

On your iPhone, go to Settings
Scroll down and click Focus
Tap Sleep
In the Allow Notifications section, tap People

Steps to set of Focus filters (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

Click Add People with a plus sign above it
Next, select the contacts you want to allow to reach you or send notifications while you’re asleep by tapping the bubble next to their name
Then tap Done
Under PHONE CALLS, select who you want to Allow Calls From by selecting Allowed People Only

Steps to set of Focus filters (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

How to view your sleep data

In the morning, you can check your sleep data on both your Apple Watch and iPhone:

On Your iPhone:

Open the Health app
Tap Browse
Click Sleep
View a bar graph showing your sleep start and end times.
Tap a specific day, week, month, or 6 months to see detailed sleep data for that period of time
Tap Show More Sleep Data to see specific data on Awake, REM, Core and Deep

Steps to view your sleep data (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

On Your Apple Watch:

Open the Sleep app to see the total number of hours slept, a graph of different sleep stages (REM, Core, Deep) and a record of your sleep over the past 14 days.

Graph on Apple Watch of sleep data (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

To use Siri: On Apple Watch Series 9, using watchOS 10.2 or later, say, “How much did I sleep last night?” your Apple Watch will provide you with information about your sleep duration from the previous night.

Third-party sleep-tracking apps

While the built-in Apple Watch Sleep app is effective, you might want more detailed insights. Several third-party apps offer advanced features. Click this link to check out our article on how to “Sleep better tonight with these top-rated apps.”

Kurt’s key takeaways

Tracking your sleep with an Apple Watch can provide valuable insights into your sleep patterns and help you improve your overall sleep quality. Whether you use the built-in Sleep app or a third-party app, the data collected can guide you toward better sleep habits. While these features can help improve your sleep habits, they’re not a substitute for professional medical advice. If you have serious sleep concerns, it’s always best to consult a healthcare provider.

How do you think tracking your sleep with an Apple Watch could impact your daily life and overall well-being? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.

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Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

Technology

Kamala Harris’ VC supporters raise $150,000 on a Zoom call

Published

10 hours ago

August 8, 2024

Press Room

Kamala Harris’ VC supporters raise 0,000 on a Zoom call

It started with a “rage tweet.”

“Gonna start ‘VCs for Democracy,’” Leslie Feinzaig, founder and general partner at Graham & Walker, wrote on X in late July. “Who’s in?”

Turns out more than 1,300 “techies,” including 750 accredited investors, were in as part of a group that came to be known as VCs for Kamala. On Wednesday, that group raised $150,000 to support Vice President Kamala Harris’ path to the presidency during an hour-long Zoom call that reached up to 600 attendees.

About $100,000 of that came from 97 donors, and another $50,000 came in the form of a match from SV Angel founder and managing partner Ron Conway, who helped kick off the call. The group had already raised about $25,000 from its original push to get VCs to sign its pledge to support Harris, bringing its total fundraising to about $176,000 so far.

The donations surged quickly during the call, which also featured prominent Democratic donor and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. Over about half an hour, enough donations poured in to unlock the $50,000 threshold for Conway’s match.

It’s the latest in a trend of political organizing on Zoom

It’s the latest in a trend of political organizing on Zoom, including one massive call shortly after Harris joined the race that hosted tens of thousands of Black women. And later, there was the tongue-in-cheek “White Dudes for Harris.” Feinzaig noted the VC call would be a “smaller call than that one, even though there’s a high overlap between those two groups.”

The call took both a positive and somewhat defiant tone. Several VCs made side-glancing comments toward Andreessen Horowitz — whether or not by name — whose founders recently announced their support for former President Donald Trump. The group on Wednesday’s call seemed vexed that the views of a few prominent members of their sector had come to be perceived as representative of the venture capital community’s political leanings.

When Feinzaig sent her “rage tweet,” she said she’d been “feeling frustrated, like many of you, about the growing sentiment that venture capital and all of my colleagues were going MAGA, and I just felt like they didn’t speak for me, and I felt like I wanted my voice to be heard. And more critically, I felt like those loudest voices were not speaking to the hundreds of founders that I talk to on a monthly basis.”

In July, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz posted a blog called “The Little Tech Agenda,” where they identified “bad government policies are now the #1 threat to Little Tech,” which they basically think of as startups. “We support or oppose politicians regardless of party and regardless of their positions on other issues,” they wrote. Just a couple weeks later, it became clear they would support Trump in the election.

“The firm that put this framework out there would have us believe that folks who are backing Kamala Harris are anti-capitalists,” Stephen DeBerry, founder and managing partner of Bronze Investments, said on the call. “That doesn’t make any sense. We’re not opposed to profits. We’re not opposed to high growth. That’s what drives us that’s why we’re here. We’re not opposed to billionaires — there are several of them on this call. What we are opposed to is building a regulatory regime that guts our government and pulls out safeties, so that the system can’t withstand itself and it collapses. And therefore, the wealth in the system is aggregated to only a few and we become an oligopoly society like Russia.”

Mac Conwell, managing partner of RareBreed Ventures, questioned the point of “differentiating tech.”

“We’re all supposed to be working together and they’re literally trying to say, we don’t want to work with y’all, we want to work over here,” Conwell said. “And we don’t want any rules. We want growth for growth’s sake with no guardrails, regulations be damned. And as a VC, yes, regulations suck. Right? They get in the way, they make things harder. But they also make sure that this system doesn’t collapse.”

Roy Bahat, a venture capitalist who leads Bloomberg Beta, shared a startup-style pitch deck with the group in support of Harris’ campaign. One slide showed a matrix of the the competition. On the Y-axis was “Stable” and “Unstable.” On the X-axis, “Past” and “Future.” In the “Unstable” and “Past” quadrant, Bahat put an image of former President Donald Trump in a Make America Great Again hat. In the “Stable” and “Future” quadrant? A coconut emoji.

“The competition is funded by Andreessen Horowitz and some other funds, but we all know more capital isn’t necessarily the thing that makes the difference,” Bahat said. “It’s that plus a plan for execution.”

Feinzaig said she’s not a registered Democrat or Republican, and as a naturalized citizen, her “personal politics don’t actually match to American politics in any clean way.” But when she looks at an investment, she asks, “what does the world look like if this company is massively successful?”

“No matter where you sit on the political spectrum, ask yourself, what does the world look like if these candidates are massively successful?” Feinzaig said. “And I think that there’s one vision of that that is exciting. And then there’s one vision about that is that is actually quite terrifying.”

Technology

Who came up with this crazy but cool electric monowheel?

Published

10 hours ago

August 8, 2024

Press Room

Who came up with this crazy but cool electric monowheel?

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One look at this circular contraption, and your first thought might be, “What is this wacky wheel?” Your next question could be, “Who came up with this crazy concept?”

Well, it’s called a monowheel, and Make It Extreme is behind the massive circular thingamajig with a rider perched inside like some futuristic hamster.

These folks have taken their gas-guzzling monowheel and given it an eco-friendly makeover. The result? A ground-up, all-electric redesign that’s pushing the envelope of personal transportation. Is it practical? Maybe not. Is it cool as heck? You betcha. So, let’s dive in and see what makes this electric oddity tick.

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Project 149 electric monowheel (Make It Extreme)

Out with the old, in with the new

As the world shifts toward a cleaner, greener future, even the most outlandish vehicles are getting an electric makeover. Make It Extreme’s latest creation, Project 149, isn’t just a rehash of their previous gas-powered monowheel. Oh no, this is a fresh take on the concept, with some pretty cool improvements to boot.

Project 149 electric monowheel (Make It Extreme)

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Building the beast

If you thought building a regular bike was tough, wait until you see what goes into making an electric monowheel. The Make It Extreme team started from scratch, crafting everything from the massive 57-inch outer wheel to the inner chassis. They even Frankensteined together a tire using parts from three different motorcycle tires. Talk about recycling.

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Project 149 electric monowheel being built (Make It Extreme)

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Power to the wheel

Here’s where things get interesting. The team “borrowed” two motors from a hoverboard and nestled them inside a go-kart tire. This clever setup sits right under the rider’s banana seat, providing some serious torque to get this beast moving.

Image showing motors of Project 149 electric monowheel (Make It Extreme)

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Comfort and control

Believe it or not, they’ve actually thought about rider comfort. Coil shocks help absorb some of the bumps, while a Shimano brake lever and twist throttle give you at least some illusion of control. And for those moments when you need to take a breather, there’s even a kickstand.

Project 149 electric monowheel (Make It Extreme)

But is it practical?

Let’s be real here. Despite the electric upgrade and some clever engineering, this monowheel is still far from practical. It’s still tough to control and about as safe as riding a unicycle on a tightrope. But you know what? That doesn’t make us want one any less. Not to mention that the folks at Make It Extreme are constantly looking at ways to evolve the monowheel to make it more practical and user-friendly so that everyone can ride it.

Project 149 electric monowheel (Make It Extreme)

Kurt’s key takeaways

The electric monowheel might not be revolutionizing transportation anytime soon, and while it may not be the most sensible way to get around town, it’s certainly one of the most eye-catching. So, has this fresh build changed our minds about the ridiculous nature of monowheels? Not really. But it has reminded us that sometimes, the most absurd ideas can lead to the most fascinating creations.

If you had the opportunity to test-ride this electric monowheel, what would be your biggest concern? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact

For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Cyberguy.com/Newsletter.

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