Your new tech can do tricks that no one bothered to tell you.. until now.
Check out my tips below for using your new tech products and how to stay safe in the process.
DELL LATITUDE 7400 2-IN-1 NOTEBOOK
Dell Latitude 7400 NEW FEATURES:
– 24-hour battery life
– Much thinner bezel in a whole new sleek design
– 14 inch display in a 13 inch notebook
“Look Mom, no hands!” Unlock this laptop with your pretty face.
-Wow feature: Proximity Sensor wakes up laptop when you get near it to log you in. Dell calls the feature “Express Sign-In,” a technology that pairs a special proximity sensor with Windows Hello to make sign-ins faster and hassle-free. Essentially, the sensor will detect a person’s nearby presence and will wake the system on its own, rather than waiting for someone to hit the power button. Once awake, the Windows Hello infrared camera then searches for a face match. Walk away from your laptop and it automatically locks out strangers after it senses you have stepped away. More information about Dell Latitude laptops here.
AMAZON ECHO PLUS
COOL NEW SKILLS
“Alexa, Find my phone”
After quick one time setup, Alexa will make your phone ring so that you can discover its nearby location.
SAFETY SKILL
“Alexa, launch Away Mode”
It will continuously play gibberish and recorded conversations to help scare off burglars until you stop it when returning home.
SAFETY TIP: MONITOR ALEXA APP TO DELETE VOICE RECORDINGS
Alexa, records the voices it hears. Routinely monitor the Alexa app to review your recording and delete indiscreet ones that can create trouble or misunderstanding. Proactively learn to press the physical mute button or unplug when you are entertaining or having a sensitive conversation. And now judges have started to allow subpoenas of your personal interaction with Alexa and other devices.
BAD SKILL: “Alexa, unlock the front door.” It was found that locks could be opened when anyone screamed through a closed window to Alexa to open a smart lock.
Amazon Echo Plus 2nd generation
PORTAL AND PORTAL+ FROM FACEBOOK
COOL NEW TECH:
Best video calls. Portal from Facebook makes it easy to connect to any Facebook Messenger and other Portal connected to a WiFi network.
Portal’s A-I Smart camera tracks the action to keep you in frame during a video call. Facebook doesn’t listen to, view or record your Portal video calls. In addition to the best video call experience period, Portal is Alexa powered, can connect to music services such as Spotify and Pandora, acts as a beautiful photo frame sourcing photos you choose from Facebook, has an incredible story-telling feature to let you capture the imagination of little ones when reading interactive stories. 10 inch Portal from Facebook $199 and 15 inch Portal+ $349.
SAFETY TIP:
Portal comes with a camera cover. One touch button on top mutes microphone and disables camera.
SMART HOME CAMERA – WYZE CAM 1080P HD INDOOR WIRELESS SMART HOME CAMERA
Works with Alexa App: Ask Alexa to show your front door, kid’s room, or anywhere else you have your Wyze Cam. Wyze Cameras have taken off for two reasons. 1) The inexpensive price at around $25 2) and no subscriptions needed. Wyze Cam $24.95
SAFETY TIP: AVOID USING SMART HOME CAMS FOR SECURITY PROTECTION INSIDE YOUR HOME.
Motion Tagging technology detects and outlines motion in both live stream and playback video modes. Records 6 seconds with a 6-second buffer in-between. You’d probably want to have longer than 6 seconds to get a good look at an intruder. The risk is intruder simply taking the camera and you losing all of that footage. That risk is why cloud based video storage is much more popular and reliable in terms of actual security. Wyze Cam $24.95
FORTNITE BATTLE ROYALE GAME
The game capturing the world’s attention is free to try, then will cost as you expand along the way. Made by Epic Games, Fortnite is huge. And what most parents don’t know, is that some kids are getting ripped off by international scammers who hijack gamers’ profile and hold it ransom for cash.
SAFETY TIP: TELL KIDS TO ENABLE TWO FACTOR AUTHENTICATION Here’s how to turn on 2FA
Turn on Two Factor Protection ASAP
Two Factor Authentication is a second layer of protection requiring an additional piece of info after login and password. Fortnite does not require Two Factor Authentication, but smart gamers can turn on 2FA to make it much harder for hacker to bust into their game.
Getting a New TV?
Most important mission is protecting your privacy when setting up your new TV.
SAFETY TIP: PROTECT PRIVACY WHEN SETTING UP YOUR NEW SMART TV
You Watch TV. Is Your TV Watching You Back?
If you just follow an out-of-the-box setup you could be surrendering your viewing specifics. While it may masquerade as a convenience tool to bring you better things to watch etc., you could be signing away your private data of what you watch, when you watch, what types of searches you do on your tv, and sometimes allowing access to your TV remote microphone to listen and record you.
HARRY POTTER KANO CODING KIT
CES 2019 Best of Innovation Awards Honoree
First-ever Harry Potter STEM product allows you to build a wand and learn to code with step-by-step challenges, inspired by the Wizarding World.
Abracadabra, you can code
Following the step-by-step coding manual, you build a wand and learn about sensors, data and code along the way. The Harry Potter wand combines a gyroscope, accelerometer and magnetometer to track your hand movement and recognize the motions of signature spells. Harry Potter Kano Coding Kit here.