Review: Insteon remote-control LED light bulb

The dream of a fully technology integrated and automated home can make a tech geek downright giddy: coffee machines that grind coffee and brew at a set hour, power sockets with built-in USB outlets, steaks cooked medium rare thanks to a Bluetooth thermometer. For every person who thinks a thermostat that learns personal temperature preferences is excessive, there's a tech geek who calls that cool.

Take the new LED bulb by Insteon. Released a couple of weeks ago, this bulb can be turned on, off or dimmed by remote control (included with bulb) or by iOS and Android apps. It's the next step in automating your home lighting: No special lamp attachments needed, no dimmer plates to attach to your wall.  The bulb and remote communicate via radio frequency.

We tested the device and found installation to be simple. Hold down a button on the remote until it beeps, screw in the lightbulb, then wait for a confirmation double-beep from the remote and bulb. The setup worked the first time we tried. At $29.99, the Insteon bulb presents an easy, albeit limited, alternative to much more expensive home automation systems.

Mosquito traps and repellents: Gear to take the bite out of summer

The most lethal predator in the world is a female that lives only a few weeks, hunts by following plumes of carbon dioxide and thinks the smell of decaying bacteria is delicious. “Mosquitoes cause 1 to 2 million deaths a year,” said Ray Anandasankar, an assistant professor in UC Riverside's entomology department. “It's a human-finding guided missile.”

The 176 mosquito species in the U.S. are more of a pest than a lethal threat, but when it feels like every single one has congregated in your backyard to join you for dinner, the need for solutions remains great.

A bevy of new products purport to keep mosquitoes away without having to slather repellent on your skin. The designs come in different forms — fans, misters, lanterns and more — but ultimately they fall into two categories: traps and repellents. How do they work? More important, do they work?

Summer blackouts beware: Cars can be turned into backup generators

Summer is almost here and with it, the high temperatures and cranked air conditioning that often lead to power outages. Some Angelenos may have considered a costly gas-powered generator for backup power, but another option is already sitting in their driveways: cars.

Power inverters on the market connect to car batteries to keep home appliances running. Just pop the hood, connect the inverter directly to the battery of a running car and thread the power cord from the inverter into the house. A refrigerator, television, lights or other devices that usually plug into a wall outlet would instead connect to the inverter power cord.

The inverter, similar in size to a hardcover book, converts direct current, or DC power, coming from the car battery into alternating current, or AC, used in most homes.

PowerBright, based in Coral Springs, Fla., makes inverters in a variety of power configurations. A 900-watt version, costing about $60, is strong enough to run a sump pump, freezer or refrigerator, and it can handle the peak power surge from first plugging in a refrigerator, Chief Executive Gil Hetzroni said. A 2,300-watt version, Hetzroni said, can power many appliances at the same time.

Power inverters work with gas-powered cars as well as electric vehicles, but Nissan Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. have both developed equipment specifically for electric cars. The bi-directional electric vehicle charger, which Nissan calls the Leaf to Home electricity supply system and Toyota dubs V2H for vehicle-to-home charging system, can reverse the flow of electricity from electric car to house in case of blackouts.

Garbage Maven: Recycling cellphones at the ecoATM

Mobile devices are discarded more rapidly than any other type of electronics, yet only 11% of them are recycled, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. But something called an ecoATM is working to change that.

The ecoATM is a self-service kiosk that helps people dispose of cellphones and other mobile devices. The machine uses electronic diagnostics and artificial intelligence to evaluate electronics' value and pay customers on the spot with cash or credit.

The company the makes ecoATM is based in San Diego. It began rolling out its machines in 2010 and has been operating 50 ecoATMs at malls around California, including the Glendale Galleria, Westfield Century City and Westside Pavilion. Thursday marked the kickoff to another round of openings, starting at malls in Brea and Orange and continuing later this month in Baldwin, Westminster, Ontario, Burbank and the South Bay.

Recycling needs to be convenient, financially rewarding and immediate to prevent people from throwing cellphones in the garbage, ecoATM Chief Executive Tom Tullie said.

Although California is one of the few states that bans electronics from landfills because of the hazardous materials they may contain and their potential to be reused, many cellphones still end up in landfills. Recapturing raw materials such as copper and plastic saves the energy, expense and environmental cost that go into mining and processing new materials.

Dog paper clips and other smile-inducers for the work week

If only dog-shaped paper clips could solve all of the world’s problems. In the quest to bring a little levity to the desk or computer to which you’re no doubt tethered for too, too long, we’ve rounded up some of the latest home office novelties to cross our screens.

We'll start, of course, with the dog-shaped paper clips, available in a multibreed pack of five for $3.99 at the Container Store. (We've been debating the breeds; check out all five dogs at the end of this post and weigh in with your opinion.)

If canines aren't you're thing, mustache paper clips (five for $3.99) let you clip a little Ryan Gosling (circa “Lars and the Real Girl”) or James Franco (circa “Milk”) to your papers. And for the pedal pusher? Bicycles (four for $3.99) are also part of the Container Store paper-clip extravaganza.

Just out from the Monrovia design studio and web store MollaSpace: The Plug Battery Charger is a portable lithium ion battery that recharges Apple devices on the go, without having to plug them into a wall.

One end of the device is a USB port, so you can charge the device off your home computer. The other end is a twin-pronged cover that lifts off to reveal the Apple connector. Slip the charger into a bag or pocket as a portable power source, and in a pinch you can charge iPods to 100% or iPhones to about 30%, the company says. It's $26 and goes on sale this week. Keeping reading for more home office gadgets ...

New baby monitors stream video, connect via Wi-Fi

The cry has been heard: After 30 years with little change to baby monitoring devices, new designs premiered this month at the Consumer Electronics Show promising Wi-Fi connectivity and high-definition video that streams live to a smartphone.

Some new monitors will have two-way audio, allowing parents to whisper comforting words in their baby’s ear without stepping foot in the room. Other monitors will text messages when a baby starts to cry, and still others will allow parents to shift the camera's view up, down and around the room remotely, using an iPad.

The next generation of technology represents a leap from most of today's monitors, which consist of a radio transmitter equipped with a microphone in the baby’s room, and a receiver in another room, often no more than 1,000 feet away. When the baby stirs, or coos, or cries, mom and dad can hear and decide whether or not to intervene.

It's a good time for battery powered clocks

With power still out across parts of L.A. County more than a day after the windstorm, it seemed fortuitous that our annual onslaught of holiday gift ideas happened to include a bunch of battery-powered clocks.

Among the merits of clock as gift: Available in a range of prices. Generic enough to fit many people, yet varied enough in design to seem novel. Potentially entertaining. Probably practical. Excellent hint for the friend or family member who's always running late. (Though does that mean we'll get a clock in return?)

The old flip clock gets fresh legs in this Kikkerland design, top left. It's no longer available on the Kikkerland site, but we saw them at Bedfellows in Studio City. Price: $119.

Braun has reissued an old favorite — its 3-inch-tall square plastic alarm clock, top right. It couldn't be simpler, for home or travel. It has a voice- or clap-activated snooze function and a clean, analog face. It's $42 at the A+R store in Venice.

For a different way to illustrate the march of time, little gears turn the big gear on the large wall clock, right, at New Stone Age in Los Angeles. Price: $90.

And if you're rather wake up to a chirp than a buzz, there's this 6.5-inch-wide bird alarm clock, below. It can perch on a stand or hang on the wall. It's $40, also at A+R.

 

 

 

 

RELATED:

Gift ideas for little kids, big kids, party people, would-be vegetable gardeners

Shopping: What's new on La Cienega, L.A.'s high design district

Shopping: What's new on boho Sunset Boulevard

Shopping: What's new on funky Abbot Kinney

Shopping: Main Street in Santa Monica

-- L.A. at Home crew

Photo credits, clockwise from top: Jenna Haggard, A+R, New Stone Age, A+R.

 

Review: Yonanas frozen treat maker

Eileen McHale says she likes ice cream enough to eat it for every meal. She’s far from alone, and she’s come up with an appliance that comes close to turning frozen fruit — just fruit — into a pretty good approximation of soft-serve ice cream.

Her appliance, called Yonanas (about $50), works best if at least one of those fruits is bananas. Hence, the name.

The proliferation of frozen yogurt shops illustrates the problem: People choose fat-free yogurt instead of ice cream and load it down with candy bars or cookies for toppings.

“Everyone says they want to eat healthier. They do not want to give up what they love,” McHale said.

“I love ice cream. It doesn’t love me back,” said McHale, adding that as a child, she never felt great after eating ice cream, not realizing she was sensitive to lactose. And then, there are the calories in ice cream.

So we gave Yonanas a whirl.

Review: Topchips microwave chip maker

Make your own potato and tortilla chips in the microwave? Fresh and oil-free?

That's the promise of Topchips, made and sold by Mastrad. The silicone tray is also sold through the Pampered Chef under the name Microwave Chip Maker. Holes in the surface of the silicone and scalloped edges on the tray allow air to circulate around the food, so it crisps and cooks.

What happens when Times food and kitchen writer Mary MacVean tests Topchips with sliced potatoes, sweet potatoes, apples, whole wheat tortillas and pita bread? Her verdict may surprise you.

Review: Topchips microwave chip maker

 

ALSO:

Review: Dyson Groom, vacuum tool for dogs

Review: Krups Cup-on-Request coffee maker

Consumers guide: kitchen counters

 

Retro accessories for the iPhone and iPad

The iPhone is having a retro moment. Those iPhone photos that look like they were shot in the '70s are showing up on our Facebook wall with increasing frequency, and online shopping site Etsy is teeming with iPhone cases that camouflage your phone as a cassette tape, a Nintendo Game Boy or a plastic point-and-shoot camera from the '80s.

Why all the interest in making the iPhone look old?

"As technology gets more sophisticated, it kind of loses its soul,” said New York industrial designer Jonas Damon, who created the Alarm Dock, pictured above. “Before, things had a stronger identity because they had physical and mechanical structure, but now objects with archetypal shapes are disappearing.”

To see how designers are bringing back designs of the past for this device of the future, click to our photo gallery of the best retro iPhone looks.

RELATED:

iPhone apps for bird-watchers, wildflower-lovers

Remote control kitchens and other bad ideas

-- Deborah Netburn

Photo, top: Jonas Damon's Alarm Dock is $40 at Areaware.com. Credit: Areaware. Bottom: The iCade by ThinkGeek, $99.99, plays classic arcade games on the iPad. Credit: ThinkGeek.