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BUSINESS DAILY | Thursday April 9, 2015
DigitalBusiness SECURITY
Gadget reviews
The clips are superimposed on top of each other for a short video
Fli≥ FX helps to keep tabs on you≥ home without tediously long footage Video monitoring is a great way to keep tabs on your home, but it’s tedious to sort through hours of footage to see a few seconds or minutes of action. High-tech imaging company Flir Systems aims to solve that with its new Flir FX security camera. The Flir FX only records when it detects movement, and at the end of the day you can see everything it records in a short video, with all of the clips it captures superimposed on top of each other. The camera can be used indoors and out, and can even be removed from its base so you can use it as an on-demand action camera, like a GoPro. The camera connects to the Flir FX app, available for iOS and Android, where you can view all of the footage is captures. The Flir FX went on sale April 7 for $199 with the indoor setup and $249 for the outdoor model with weather-resistant casing. The Flir FX is a palm-size, portable 4-megapixel camera that monitors your home, back yard, garage, office or any other space. It’s motion-activated, so it only starts recording when something moves in the frame and stops recording when the movement stops. Alternatively, you can also set it to record when its microphone picks up sound. The built-in Smart Zone feature tells the camera to pay attention to movement in only part of the frame, such as your pool, instead of your entire back yard. You set the Smart Zone in the Flir FX apps, and then you’ll get a notification every time something moves in that area. From that notification, you can watch the clip. You connect the Flir FX to Wi-Fi so it can upload videos to Flir’s servers and you can view the clips or live video feed from your phone or tablet. It records in 1080p and sends all of the clips to Flir, where the company stores them
The Flir FX is a palm-size, portable 4-megapixel camera that easily monitors your home, backyard or garage. FLIR.COM
Versatility The camera can be used indoors and out, and can even be removed from its base so you can use it as an on-demand action camera, like a GoPro. The camera connects to the Flir FX app, available for iOS and Android, where you can view all of the footage is captures.
CNET
LG G4 smartphone LG has something new up its sleeve for the G4 smartphone and the South Korean company is alluding to greatness. The device will be revealed at events on April 28 and April 29 (due to time zones) in six cities: New York, London, Paris, Seoul, Singapore and Istanbul. With an invitation that coyly sneaks a peek at a leatheresque material accentuated by stitching, the tagline “see the great, feel the great” hints at a design rehaul that veers from the plastic-laden bodies we’re used to seeing from LG. A few other rumors floating around also give us a hint at what to expect on the inside.
The Logitech Bluetooth adapter
for up to 30 days, depending on your storage plan (more on that below). You can save clips to your phone, or offload them to your computer to keep indefinitely. The camera has a 160-degree view, plus temperature and humidity sensors. It can operate in temperatures from zero to 104 degrees Fahrenheit and has two hours of battery life, if not plugged in. RapidRecap is the standout feature of the Flir FX, letting you view an entire day’s worth of video in 90 seconds or less. Flir combines all of the clips the camera records and superimposes the action on top of the static background into one short video. For instance, if you have the Flir pointed at your living room, as people and pets move through that space over the course of the day, they’ll trigger a recording. When you create a Rapid Recap, you’ll see a single shot of eve-
ryone and everything that moved, with time stamps on top of them. You can create a RapidRecap at anytime, selecting the time span you want to see, up to 12 hours. You can also play any of the individual clips within that time span, without the other action, and share those clips through your phone’s share menu. Check out our example of RapidRecap below. Flir handles all of the video processing for the FX camera and offers cloud storage with three monthly plans. The free Cloud Basic plan gives you two days of storage before the videos disappear. You get up to three RapidRecaps per month, using up to six hours of footage for each. Every Flir FX comes with this plan. The Cloud Plus plan costs $9.99 per month or $100 per year and gets you seven days of storage, plus unlimited RapidRecaps using up to 8 hours of footage. With the purchase of a Flir FX, you get a free 30-day trial of Cloud Plus. At any time, you can opt out of cloud storage, and just have your videos record straight to the built-in 8GB microSD card, but you won’t be able to view them from the Flir app. Instead, you’ll need to pop out the SD card and plug it into your computer to see the video and delete clips manually.
The Logitech Bluetooth adapter is rather tiny with its dimensions of 50x50x23mm and it can easily fit in the palm of a hand. If you so wish, you can set it up in such a way that it is hidden from plain sight. The black device is mostly made of tough plastic and should be able to withstand rough usage. The lone Bluetooth button for pairing to devices is placed in a recess on the top. The rear has 3.5mm and RCA outputs, and the power socket. Logitech bundles an RCA-to-3.5mm cable in the box. A small blue LED sits on the bottom of the device and blinks furiously.
HP Stream 11-d023tu HP has come up with a device that gives us another option - the new Stream 11-d023tu. It’s part of a series of devices that emphasise portability and connectivity, and so it breaks from the usual common standards that we take for granted when it comes to laptop specifications. The Stream lineup also includes a laptop with a 13-inch screen and a tablet with an 8inch screen, but what we have today is the smaller clamshell model, the Stream 11. While it doesn’t have any powerful hardware to boast of, it does have an integrated 3G modem. You can just pop a SIM card into a slot and you’ll be online without a Wi-Fi hotspot.
-CNET
Tech Demystified
A lot of good can come from a tech bubble in Sillicon Valley Over the last few months the question has been asked by almost everyone in the startup and venture capital community: Are we in a tech bubble? I don’t think there’s even a question any more. Many founders are in deep denial valuing their pre-revenue SaaS Uber for CRM cloudbased big data machine learning platform for millions of dollars pre-money. When a potential investor asks the founder why they are valuing their start-up at such a high valuation, they just don’t know or they say, “we need to look like a unicorn so we
hire the best.” This story has been told by venture capitalists across the Valley. You can think of a bubble like a forest fire. Yes, it’s tragic that trees existing for hundreds of years die and animals are displaced. The flames come through and burn down the weak underbrush. The aftermath looks terrible and hot spots will continue to flare up way after the flames subside. However, just as forest fires are necessary for ecological health, bubbles are necessary for industry health and growth. Forest fires make way for new trees that can grow
stronger fuelled by the ashes of their predecessors. Some venture capitalists will get burned and lessons will be learned similar to those who invested heavily in the dot com bubble. In fact, many of the investors that were active during the 2000 bubble are the ones that keep warning all of us of a potential bubble. Mattermark published a report with data comparing the quarter-one midpoint of 2014 to 2015. Mattermark’s data comes from CrunchBase, AngelList, regulatory filings, thousands of news sources and com-
pany reported data. I would highly suggest that you download the entire report from Mattermark. The most noticeable item on the report is the drastic slowdown in seed deals decreasing by nearly 300 per cent. This could indicate a shift in venture capital strategy focusing on funding fewer companies and putting more time into the companies they invest in. Does this indicate a venture funding bubble? Potentially. To founders looking to raise capital, it may seem like a bubble as it is statistically more difficult to raise a seed round
of funding now compared to a year ago If burn rates continue to rise, start-ups will be forced to actively look for their next round of funding earlier than they had initially planned. This will surely lead to more start-ups raising a down-round (a round of funding raised at a lower valuation than in a previous round) or not being able to raise at all—many of whom will sadly die. The founders who are in it for the wrong reasons will go running back to their old bosses begging for their stable jobs back. -TECHCRUNCH