MacRumors

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, Hulu is showing off a redesigned user interface that will be coming to the streaming service in the near future, reports TechCrunch.

A main feature in the revamped interface will include a new Live TV guide designed for subscribers of Hulu's live TV service. The Live TV guide is meant to help Hulu subscribers find something to watch when they're not seeking out a specific show.

According to TechCrunch, the new Live TV guide will be accessible through a lightning bolt icon in the main navigation bar. Once clicked, it will take users to an interface that resembles a cable-style TV guide with info on live TV that's currently airing.

In addition to the Live TV guide, Hulu will introduce a "Stop Suggesting" feature that lets you permanently remove shows you don't want to watch from your Hulu recommendations, and it will allow you to remove items from your Watch History.

Hulu also plans to implement a tool to allow you to manually mark shows as watched, which can be useful when you watch Hulu shows off of the Hulu service, and specific to the Winter Olympics, Hulu will add a dashboard for watching specific sports.

Hulu's planned interface changes come as the company hits a new milestone - 17 million subscribers. Hulu today announced that it closed its fiscal 2017 year with over 17 million subscribers across its subscription on demand and live TV plans in the United States, an increase of five million subscribers since 2016.

Hulu's new features will be introduced in the spring of 2018.

Home security brand Brinks is expanding its ARRAY line of smart home products with new outdoor lighting options equipped with cameras and smart deadbolts that let you make sure your door is secure from afar.

The ARRAY Smart Light fixtures, which are meant to replace a home's existing outdoor lighting, include built-in cameras with custom lenses and improved camera firmware to offer up reduced shadows and distortion.

AI built into the accompanying app is able to tell the difference between people, animals, and inanimate objects like tree branches to deliver smart notifications, and Brinks says there's "virtually no lag time" between when the camera senses motion and an image appears in the ARRAY app.

Brinks will offer two versions of the ARRAY Smart Light, including a coach light designed for front porches and a dual-head security light meant for yards and side areas. Both are equipped with a 2-in-1 lighting feature that includes a standard illumination setting and an ultra bright setting that's activated when motion is detected. The Smart Lights will launch later in 2018.

Brinks' upcoming ARRAY Chek lock, also coming at an unspecified date in 2018, is a smartphone-connected lock that uses electronic sensing to make sure your deadbolt is secured. An integrated "Smart Latch" will communicate with the ARRAY app, letting users know whether the door is locked and closed for peace of mind.

Both the ARRAY Smart Lights and Chek are compatible with HomeKit, which will allow them to interface with existing HomeKit products. Brinks tells us that HomeKit support will be available for both either at launch or very close to launch.

In addition to the Smart Lights and the Chek lock, Brinks is this week opening up pre-orders for its previously announced Smart Deadbolt.

Priced at $249, the Smart Deadbolt has a built-in solar panel for charging and Alexa support. HomeKit support will be available for the Smart Deadbolt in the first half of 2018.

NETGEAR at CES 2018 this week announced its Arlo Baby monitoring camera will soon be compatible with Apple's HomeKit platform.

A new HomeKit-enabled version of the Arlo Baby camera will be released soon, and a firmware update will automatically add HomeKit support to existing models at no additional cost to customers.

HomeKit support will enable iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch users to access the majority of Arlo Baby's features for smart monitoring of your baby in Apple's Home app on iOS 10 and watchOS 3 or newer software versions.

NETGEAR shared a list of some of the Arlo Baby's functions that can be controlled with the Home app or Siri voice commands:

• Live video stream viewing of your baby via the Arlo Baby camera feed
  

• Two-way audio for talking, cooing and listening to your baby and other people near the camera
  

• Quick view of the most recent screenshot recorded by Arlo Baby when the camera was last activated
  

• Voice control by asking Siri to show you your camera's live stream
  

• Remotely access the camera's live video/audio feed and two-way communication when you have an iPad or fourth generation or newer Apple TV in your home.

Many of these functions previously required downloading NETGEAR's Arlo companion app, which will remain available on the App Store.

Arlo Baby features 1080p video recording with a rolling seven days of free cloud recordings, infrared night vision capabilities, two-way audio, ambient air quality sensors, a music-and-sound player, and a dimmable night light.

The camera sends real-time, customizable alerts to your Apple devices when motion or sound is detected, including your baby crying. It is primarily intended to be plugged into an AC wall adapter, but it also has a built-in rechargeable backup battery that lasts up to six hours in the daytime and up to three hours at night.

Arlo Baby can be personalized into animals like a bunny, kitten, or puppy with add-on character sets. The camera is available to purchase on Amazon and at major retailers for a suggested price of $249.99 in the United States, but it may take some time for the HomeKit firmware update to roll out.

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming tvOS 11.2.5 update to developers for testing purposes, one week after seeding the third beta and almost a month after the release of tvOS 11.2.1, an update that introduced a fix for a HomeKit vulnerability.

Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the new tvOS 11.2.5 developer beta can be downloaded onto the Apple TV via a profile that's installed using Xcode.

We don't yet know what features or changes might be included in the tvOS 11.2.5 update, but it likely focuses primarily on bug fixes and performance improvements rather than major outward-facing changes.

There were no outward-facing changes discovered in the first three developer betas, but we'll update this post should new features be found in the fourth beta.

Update: Apple has also seeded a new public beta of tvOS 11.2.5 to public beta testers.

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming watchOS 4.2.2 update to developers, one week after seeding the third beta and more than a month after releasing watchOS 4.2, an update that introduced support for Apple Pay Cash.

Once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Apple Developer Center, the new watchOS beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General --> Software update.

To install the update, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it has to be in range of the iPhone.

We don't yet know what features or improvements might be included in the watchOS 4.2.2 update, as no outward-facing changes were discovered in the first three betas.

It's possible this update focuses mainly on bug fixes, and if that's the case, we won't know the extent of the changes until it sees a public release complete with release notes. Should new features be discovered in the fourth watchOS 4.2.2 beta, we'll update this post.

At this year's Consumer Electronics Show, Satechi is launching a new Smart Dual Charging Station designed to charge both the iPhone and the Apple Watch at once.

Made from silver or space gray aluminum, the Charging Station features two separate docks -- one that accommodates a Lightning cable to charge the iPhone and a second one that houses an Apple Watch charging puck to charge an Apple Watch.

Unlike some docks on the market, Satchi's option does not come with built-in cords, so you will need to supply your own cables. Cables are designed to wrap around the base of the Charging Station inserts to hide any excess. Satechi says that its dock distributes a total of 15W of power, providing fast yet safe charging capabilities.

Satechi's Smart Dual Charging Stand will be available for $64.99 starting in the spring of 2018.

Misfit, known for its line of affordable fitness tracking devices and smart watches, today announced the launch of the Misfit Path, its latest smart watch.

The Misfit Path is Misfit's smallest smart watch yet, allowing it to look much like a traditional analog watch while also providing smart features.

Misfit has designed the Path with a stainless steel case that has a matte finish, and it comes in four colors: Stainless Steel, Rose Tone, Gold Tone, and Stainless Steel with Gold Tone Accent. Each watch also features a silicone sport strap in matching colors.

Like all of Misfit's smart watches, the Path tracks health metrics like steps, calories burned, distance traveled, and sleep duration using its built-in 3-axis accelerometer. It is not as advanced as devices like the Apple Watch as it has no heart rate monitoring function.

It does have smart watch functionality, though, alerting users to incoming calls, texts, and emails through an iOS app. Path also includes a smart button that serves as a remote control, allowing users to do things like ring their iPhones, control smart devices, snap pictures, and more.

Path is swimproof and water resistant up to 50 meters, and it does not need charging because it uses a standard watch battery that lasts for six months before needing to be replaced.

Path is priced starting at $150 and it will be available from the Misfit website starting in the spring of 2018.

The Apple retail store located on Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich, Switzerland was evacuated on Tuesday following a situation with an overheated iPhone battery and its injury of a repair worker (via Reuters and Swissinfo.ch). Zurich police said that the incident happened as the worker was removing the battery from the iPhone, subsequently overheating and "slightly" burning his hand.

It wasn't confirmed which iPhone was the source of the incident, but afterwards smoke began building up within the store, leading to the temporary evacuation of around 50 customers and employees from the premises. In addition to the repair worker, seven other people required medical attention but none were hospitalized.

The police mentioned that Apple staff responded quickly to the overheated battery by sprinkling quartz sand over it and containing the smoke as fast as possible.

“At the same time, there was a slight build-up of smoke, which led to around 50 customers and employees having to leave the business temporarily,” a police statement said.

“The staff responded well and correctly. It sprinkled quartz sand over the overheated battery so that the smoke could be contained and sucked out after switching on the ventilation.”

According to the police statement, forensic specialists are now examining what caused the incident in the first place, so no explanation was given at the time of writing. Apple has yet to comment on the situation.

Today at CES, smart lock maker August announced the expansion of its in-home delivery service "August Access," which will roll out in partnership with delivery company Deliv. Similar to Amazon Key, customers who use August's service will grant Deliv drivers one-time access into their home so that packages aren't left outside (via TechCrunch).

August's service will expand upon its previous August Access platform by opening it up to any interested online retailer, allowing users to order products from these stores and select the August Access in-home delivery option. As long as customers have smart locks from August, Emtek, or Yale, August will then generate a one-time password that the Deliv driver enters, drops off the package inside, and closes the door on their way out (which re-locks automatically).

Once the process is complete users will get a notification on their iPhone or Android smartphone, and the company will also offer "a camera feature" to see the delivery live or watch it later. No information was given on what security cameras will be supported with the service.

“We have been working on this for some time with a variety of retailers and testing it,” said Jason Johnson, the co-founder and CEO of August, in an interview. “It’s now coming along very fast.”

“Through this unique partnership, we are bringing a bit of magic to the shopping experience,” said Daphne Carmeli, CEO of Deliv, in a statement. “Deliv provides the last mile fulfilment solution for a broad retailer network across the country while August Home supplies the technology to take the final step into the home for a totally seamless experience, start to finish.”

Besides August locks, the Emtek and Yale brands are supporting August Access now that each company is under the Assa Abloy umbrella, following its acquisition of August last year. The service was previously tested with Walmart in September, even allowing delivery people to put away groceries in customers' refrigerators when needed.

Amazon Key works in much the same way as August Access, allowing Prime members in 37 cities across the United States to order "tens of millions of items" on Amazon.com and have them delivered securely inside their home. But August CEO Jason Johnson said August Access provides more "choice and flexibility" since it's not only available to products on Amazon but will be supported by any retailer who decides to back the platform.

Orbit at CES 2018 this week announced that it is adding HomeKit compatibility to its new B-hyve smart hose faucet timer and a new version of its B-hyve smart sprinkler timer that will be released later this month.

iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch users will have the ability to control the lawn and garden watering systems through Apple's Home app or with Siri.

HomeKit will enable users to control basic watering functions, such as turning on or off sprinklers. In the Home app, users can schedule their sprinklers to run at specific times, and find out when the next watering is.

Orbit's new HomeKit-enabled B-hyve products will be available to purchase from Amazon, The Home Depot, and Lowe's in the United States.

HomeKit added support for sprinkler systems and faucets in iOS 11, and the first accessories compatible with Apple's smart home platform are beginning to roll out, including Kohler's new Sensate kitchen sink faucet.

Fibaro today announced a new version of its popular Z-Wave control device called, "The Button," which will work with Apple's HomeKit products.

The Button, which is less than two inches in size, is a new battery-powered multi-touch HomeKit device that is designed to allow users to activate a HomeKit scene.

No bridge, hub, or gateway is required to use The Button, allowing it to integrate with any HomeKit setup. The Button can be programmed with up to three different actions activated with a single click, two clicks, or a long press.

When pressed, The Button has a buzz feature that provides audible feedback and confirmation of which scene was activated via a single buzz, a double buzz, or a long buzz.

Available in red, white, and black, The Button will be available for purchase for $59.99 starting during the first quarter of 2018. Additional colors will be introduced later in the year.

Alpine Electronics at CES today unveiled a new aftermarket CarPlay system with a "hover" design that floats in front of the vehicle's dashboard instead of being embedded directly into it. The company said that the iLX-F309 "doesn't require custom installation," but professional help will still likely be needed to remove existing infotainment systems before installing the iLX-F309.

Alpine's receiver includes a 9-inch touch screen and will fit in "a variety of vehicles." The 9-inch screen is slightly larger than the average 6-to-7-inch screen size of many other aftermarket CarPlay systems, and Alpine pointed out that the hover design will bring the larger display into vehicles that were previously restricted to dashboards with smaller form factors.

The system uses a 1-DIN chassis and an adjustable mount to give the hover effect after installation. In its announcement, Alpine Electronics described some of the installation mechanics of the iLX-F309 and how users will be able to adjust its angle:

The 9-inch screen is attached to an adjustable mount connected to a 1-DIN chassis. Once installed, the screen and mount are fixed to the chassis for a sturdy installation. The screen hovers over or in front of the dash while its rear housing tapers off cleanly at the edges for a thin and modern silhouette. At its default position, the screen's sliding mount is pushed out, sitting at a 90 degree angle and the bottom of the screen is centered with the 1-DIN chassis.

At this point, the screen can be angled at select positions to assist during installation, help with visibility, or move it away from other items on the dashboard. The screen can be positioned 20 millimeters (mm) back from its default position, to move it closer to the dashboard. It can be moved up or down 30mm from its default position and can be tilted up or down at a maximum of 45 degrees, depending on the position of the up/down location.

In addition to CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, the new system is also an AM/FM receiver with video support. The system doesn't include a CD or DVD slot, but there is a USB port, AUX input, and an HDMI input. The company mentioned that it has Bluetooth technology for audio streaming, but it doesn't appear to include Wi-Fi or support for wireless CarPlay connectivity, like the company's iLX-107.

Multiple add-ons are available for the iLX-F309, including a CD/DVD player, a second HDMI input, and rear/side cameras to see behind the vehicle as it's backing up. Alpine Electronics authorized retailers will begin selling the new system in February for $1,100.