Holiday connections: Get linked for better living

LEWISTON — This year, it’s all about getting together and connecting.

But if you think we’re talking about holiday togetherness, sorry.

We’re referring to your gadgets, specifically your mobile gadgets, and connecting in ways that will get the most out of them, whether that’s adjusting the lights and heat at home from work or watching your favorite shows while on the road.

“There will always be new phones and new tablets,” said writer, former Mainer and current New England tech aficionado Scott Tharler, the Gadget Concierge. The secret these days, he says, is using their full potential to enhance our lives.

For the past few years, the cutting edge for tech trends has been aimed at mobile computing — finding the fastest tablets and the smoothest smartphones with the brightest displays for your beloveds.

And guess what? We have them now. According to a Pew Internet report on mobile technology, 56 percent of all American adults have smartphones and 35 percent of all Americans 16 or older own a tablet computer of some kind.

“It’s almost scary when you to think how many millions of new phones are sold each quarter,” said Tharler, a former Biddeford resident, national columnist and travel writer who has carved a niche for himself by helping pair people with the tech gadgets that fit best their needs. “There is always going to be a buzz around them, but I can tell you it’s not the big theme in technology — at least not now, or for the next few years.”

The big question for gadget makers and marketers today is this: What do we do with these things now that we have them?

The answers are already showing up, and Tharler has some suggestions for consumers as the holiday buying season gets into full swing.

“I think the technology is getting simpler because vendors are paying attention to how people use them,” Tharler said. “This is really one of the big themes for the next two years: connection. I mean that our devices are doing more by talking to each other.”

You link them wirelessly to your speakers, use them to manage your money and your sleep. You track your weight, the stars, your morning run.

Case in point, Tharler said, is media. You can use your smartphone to keep up with the latest TV, but it’s kind of lonely watching “Survivor” on a five-inch screen.

Why do that when you can share your small screen on the big screen? That’s what a pair of new dongles do — the $35 Chromecast and the $49 Plair.

Both plug into the HDMI port on your television and connect wirelessly to your iOS or Android phone or your tablet or computer. Anything content running in one of a handful of mobile apps — including from Hulu, Netflix, Pandora, Google Music and Movies — can be sent from your small screen to the large one. So can anything running in Google’s Chrome browser on your desktop, laptop or tablet computer.

Both devices can be found online, and the Chromecast can be found locally at Best Buy in Auburn — although you’ll have to ask for one if you go into the store. They’re kept on shelves behind the counter. Best Buy clerks say their small size and popularity attract shoplifters.

Sony, Apple, Roku and others all make streaming devices that allow you to watch web content — everything from YouTube videos to prime-time content from the major networks — on your television.

But what happens when you already have the content, but the family can’t decide what to watch?

“There are several wireless access points, basically wireless hard drives,” Tharler said. “Samsung, HP — there are a bunch of them out there. They basically become your streaming service. Your device connects to it and lets you watch what you want.”

One example is the $40 Dane-Elec media streamer, available online and exclusively at Walmart. The palm-sized white brick accepts USB sticks and SD cards full of media — pictures, music and videos. It can then use wi-fi to stream that content to up to four devices.

It’s battery operated and portable, which means that little brother can stream one cartoon to an iPhone and little sister can stream a different show to an Android phone during a long car trip.

“If everybody is stranded in an airport, a family of four, if they all have a smartphone or a tablet, each can watch something different,” Tharler said. “You don’t have to be on the Internet. You take the media you want and listen to it when you want and where you want.”

Not content with watching, but want to start tracking what you do? There are multiple options for that. Three of the most popular — Fitbit, Shine and Up — are all available online and in local stores.

You wear them and they record your activity level day or night — how far you walk, how often you exercise and how well you sleep. Each records movement in three directions and then sends it to your smartphone. (All three have iOS apps available on the Apple Store. Jawbone’s Up has an Android app compatible with most phones. Fitbit and Shine have an Android app that works with latest generation Android 4.4 phones and some Samsung phones running Android 4.3. All three can export data to a desktop computer.)

Automatic tracking data can be paired with daily logs for exercise, eating and sleep. You can also program the trackers to replace your alarm clock, having it vibrate gently to wake you up each morning.

“It’s a good thing with technology helping people become more aware of those little details — what they are eating, how many steps they take and how well they are sleeping,” Tharler said.

Connecting with your household is another biggie. Belkin’s Wemo system connects household lights and appliances to the Internet, letting you control them and get information from them. For instance, a Wemo switch can turn on a light anytime someone enters a room, and then send you a message on your smartphone.

It’s just one of the many home automators available. Phillips HUE system controls your lights, the Nest Learning Thermostat controls your heat and the Physical Graph Smart Things system controls everything else in your home.

They all circle back and connect to your smartphone, letting you control things remotely. So, for example, you could set up your system to turn up the thermostat and turn on the coffee maker when your Fitbit wristband senses you are waking up in the morning.

“The best gadgets are the ones that fade into the background and just do what you want them to do,” Tharler said. “The goal is not for the gadget to stand out, but to let you focus on the lifestyle. In this case, you use technology to create a positive habit and fix it.”

But Tharler said he thinks the market just may not be ready for some things — Google Glass among them. The pricey wearable computer with a head-mounted display is still only available in beta-format by invitation only and Google hasn’t said when it’ll be available in general.

“I don’t how ready the world is for augmented reality,” he said. “It has that same feel, like 3D did a few years ago — it seems cool, but I don’t see masses of people going out to do it. I mean, I don’t trust drivers in Boston now. Do I really want them distracted by Google Glass?”

The same thing goes for managing your money. A company called Coin is making an automated credit card system. The size and thickness of a credit card, the device stores information from multiple cards on it. It’s all readable by the retailer with a swiper, meaning you can use your personal card to buy a gift for your spouse then switch to a work credit card to buy gas with the push of a button.

It all connects to your smartphone — which alerts you if you wander off without the card.

“There are lots of money tools out there, that manage all your money,” Tharler said. “They can be very powerful, but they are also very scary. I think people are fine shopping online, but I don’t know how secure they feel about trusting it all to a gadget.”

The Coin card, like Google Glass, is not currently available. Makers are selling early releases now and expect to begin shipping next summer. The card costs $100 and it and its non-replaceable battery is expected to last two years.

“A lot of technology is about building habits,” Tharler said. “If something fits into an existing habit, it’s going to work great. If it makes you create a new habit to use it, it’s going to take that much longer to adopt.”

staylor@sunjournal.com

Story Links:

Scott Tharler’s Gadget Concierge page: http://about.me/gadgetfans

Mobile media

— Media streamer (http://w2.dane-memory.com/mediastreamer/FAQs.html )

— Chromecast: https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/chromecast/

— Plair 2: (http://home.plair.com/)

Fitness trackers

— Fitbit: (http://www.fitbit.com/)

— Jawbone UP: (https://jawbone.com/up)

— Misfit Shine: (http://www.misfitwearables.com/)

Home automations