nest

It's hard to get excited about a thermostat, but we may be warming to one in particular. Its creators have set out to create a simple, elegant, and intelligent thermostat.

At Nest Labs, former Apple product engineers Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers have molded their thermostat with many of the design and technology characteristics of Apple products like the iPod and iPhone. SmartPlanet's Sumi Das visits the startup to see what they've been up to and finds out what Fadell--who oversaw the design and production of the iPod--learned from Steve Jobs.

This video originally appeared on SmartPlanet … Read more

There's a new way to tap into the music tastes of your Facebook friends.

Myxer.com, a leading site for ringtones and media for phones, is shifting gears into the streaming music space. This week it launched Myxer Social Radio, a Web site and mobile app for streaming custom themed radio stations. The twist: invite friends to your station, called a room, and chat about the music.

Users also get a real-time activity feed of what their Facebook friends are listening to on Myxer, and can jump into a friend's room at any time. If a user is … Read more

Nest Labs says it has sold out of its thermostats.

In response to the demand, Nest Labs has temporarily shut down the online store on Nest.com and plans to reopen it in early 2012, Erik Charlton, vice president of sales and marketing at Nest Labs, announced yesterday via the company's blog.

Those who've preordered a thermostat via Nest Labs have nothing to worry about--the company says it will still be able to honor all original shipping dates on confirmation e-mails. Those who've only received a reservation number for a Nest Labs thermostat will now have to … Read more

In the tech news this week, Stephen and Brian bust me for buying an iPhone 4 on eBay to tide me over until there's a phone I really want--or until my Verizon contract is up. Nicole Lee joins us to talk about Nokia and Microsoft's new baby, the Lumia 800, and Sony's plans to get serious about making smart phones. Plus, stock advice from the gang, the coming nightmare that is the Stop Internet Piracy Act, and Computer Love.

Whew! Today was an extralong episode, and we start things off speculating about the mysterious location of Grand Theft Auto V. The teaser Web site from Rockstar Games hints at a financial theme, so we're definitely thinking an American city known for its financial institutions...Washington, maybe? Or maybe it's Billings, Mont.? Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, perhaps? We'll know for sure on November 2.

Bringing up GTA inevitably devolves into a discussion on the negative effects of video game violence on children (Godwin's law, too), but luckily the ophthalmologists over at the Micro Surgical Eye Clinic in Kolkata, India, are using games for good.

This team has found that a modified version of the first-person shooting game Unreal Tournament can be used to strengthen the eyesight of teenagers suffering from amblyopia, or "lazy eye syndrome." Still no progress being made on the cure for "lazy everything else" syndrome.… Read more

The father of the iPod creates a cool home thermostat, the Obama campaign joins Tumblr, and Netflix reports its first drop in customers in nearly two years--and it's a doozy.

Links from Tuesday's episode of Loaded:

news analysis The launch of Nest Labs and its sleek thermostat marks an important transition from green tech that only a scientist could love to something that everyday consumers may actually desire.

The company came out of stealth mode today, telling the story of how two consumer electronics mavens, including the "father of the iPod," decided to take on the unlikely quest of making a better thermostat.

The product is just a programmable thermostat. But the genius of Nest Labs is that it decided to make the iPhone of thermostats--a device that looks cool and is smart enough … Read more

It's hard to imagine making thermostats sexy, but if anyone could do it, it would be the "father of the iPod."

In 2008, amid renewed concerns about Steve Jobs' health, Fortune ranked the probable candidates to someday replace the famed Apple CEO. The first choice? Then COO and eventual successor Tim Cook. The second? Tony Fadell, chief of the iPod division and the man credited with the ideas that resulted in the creation of the iPod and its marriage with the iTunes Music Store.

Around that time, Fadell left Apple, his next move unknown, and since then, … Read more

Determining how to get the optimum lengths from stock-sized materials--such as pipes, bars, and beams--while reducing waste can greatly affect costs for fabricators and manufacturers. This handy app can take some of the pain out of those calculations.

1DNest launches a rather plain-though-functional interface. Although similar to the familiar three-paned e-mail client, this app features four panes: one across the top specifying the current project, a vertical pane on the left for listing and describing required parts, an upper-right pane for listing source materials, and a lower-right pane for entering size and waste allowances. A menu bar allows the user … Read more