Those incredibly cheap entry-level printers you find when sorting your options by "price lowest" can be very alluring if you're in the market for a new inkjet printer. However, don't assume it shows you're getting a good deal. Just as a drug dealer can offer a cheap initial "sample" to get you hooked before raising the price on all subsequent transactions, printer manufacturers use a similar business strategy. They can easily make up any loss from the printer's discounted sale by offering its ink cartridges for exorbitantly high prices. The printer firms then keep you on the hook for paying these outrageous ink rates for the duration of the printer, which is a very lucrative revenue stream for them.

Original cartridges from manufacturers like Canon and Epson are also likely to include electronic chips on the cartridge body that code them to the printer and prohibit you from using less expensive third-party cartridges in their place. This is done to prevent you from trying to take your repeat ink business elsewhere.
Despite this, you at least get the amount of ink you pay for when you purchase one of these fake cartridges, right? However, it now seems that even this may not be the case. An ink cartridge gets disassembled in a really eye-opening Fstoppers exposé to reveal how much ink is actually inside.

The cartridge in question is made of opaque black plastic, which could be a cause for worry because it conceals the ink (or lack thereof) within. This cartridge's advertised ink capacity is 11.9 milliliters. Given how much the cartridge probably costs, it is already a disgracefully tiny amount, but when the casing is cracked open, not a single drop of ink leaks out. Instead, two pieces of foam, each softly and only partially covered in ink, fill the entire inside space. Only a tiny drop of foam is released when it is squeezed.

And don't believe that this was one of those "sample" cartridges that came with the printer and only had enough ink to start it up. No, this was a 'XL' cartridge with a huge capacity.
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We already knew that printer ink was a rip-off, but it now seems clear that it's a very obvious one. So please, please, resist the temptation of an inexpensive inkjet printer. Spend more up front on a printer that uses refillable ink tanks, like an Epson EcoTank or a Canon MegaTank. They may not be inexpensive, but at least you get what you pay for. As an alternative, think about using one of the top online photo printing services.

In the posh seaside town of Santa Monica, California, when someone dials 911 for police, a drone is instantly launched from the station's roof.

Officers also respond. However, most of the time, the drone arrives first, flying directly to a set of GPS coordinates the controller entered. Sometimes, it arrives in less than 30 seconds.

“It’s a fundamental change in the way that we can bring policing services to our city,” said Peter Lashley, a veteran of the force who often pilots the drone from a screen-filled command center inside the police station.

The drone's robust camera can zoom in close enough to read a license plate or provide a view of several square blocks. The drone camera was the lone eyewitness to a horrific heist in Santa Monica, and one of the two culprits was caught and found guilty. It gave responding cops crucial information—that what appeared to be guns in victims' hands weren't firearms—on at least three occasions. Officers could respond far less forcefully thanks to that information.

Police believe drones could have a significant impact by diffusing potentially violent situations when law enforcement agencies are experiencing a crisis of legitimacy because of several high-profile murder cases involving cops. Their spread is also expected to ignite concerns about privacy hazards and a fresh discussion about the relationship between the public and their government.

The government is eager to stress out that drones are not used for surveillance but for incident response.
Drone use by the police has been experimented with for a while, although it is uncommon and relatively new. The first-responder program began in 2018 in Chula Vista, close to San Diego, where officials received a waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly outside a pilot's line of sight. Drones may now cover the entire city. The initiative has swiftly spread throughout Los Angeles County over the past two years; besides Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and Redondo Beach have also adopted it, along with about a dozen other departments nationally. The Los Angeles Police Department, which runs a fleet of helicopters, does not deploy drones for 911 calls, despite claims from department officials that they do so in tactical scenarios occasionally.

As technology advances, so does the usage of tactical drones. The Lemur, a reinforced quadcopter that can fly into buildings, break glass, push open doors, and allow authorities to speak to hostage-taking suspects who are blocked, was recently shown to reporters. Although Santa Monica hasn't yet adopted one, many other departments have.

The catastrophic shooting in his hometown of Las Vegas inspired Blake Resnick, then 17 years old, to start BRINC, which is the company that produces the Lemur.

“What we found in tactical situations is if we can communicate with a person, we can de-escalate it much quicker and bring the situation to resolution,” said Don Lemond, a retired Chula Vista police officer who now works for BRINC. “But we also deployed it during the Surfside condo collapse in Florida to look for people that were trapped inside the building.”

As a senior policy analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union in Washington, Jay Stanley has studied government drone use. He claims his group is not against using drones to respond to emergencies or rescue hostages.

"Our stance is that it's legitimate for police departments to use drones for raids, accidents, and crime scenes, as well as to find a lost child in the woods," he said.

However, he noted police drone use raises "all the same questions body cameras raise." What occurs to the video? Who is permitted access? Will the cops broadcast the video when it bolsters their image of heroism and bury it when it doesn't?
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“It’s an incredible resource that’s going to potentially reduce risk and liability and ultimately make policing safer for not only the community but also for the officer,” he said. “It’s amazing what you can see from the air,” Redondo Police Capt. Stephen Sprengel said.

As Europe attempts to transition away from fossil fuel, Sweden is working on the first permanent electric road in the world, which will allow electric cars and trucks to charge while traveling.
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The E20 motorway has been chosen for the project by Trafikverket, the Swedish Transport Administration. In particular, it will construct the electric road system (ERS) along the 21-kilometer route between Hallsberg and Rebro, which is part of the route between Sweden’s two largest cities, Stockholm and Gothenburg.

The e-road is now in the procurement and final planning stages, and Trafikverket expects completing and launching it in 2025 or 2026.

How will it work? Which technology Trafikverket will employ for the ERS is still up in the air. There are now three types: 

1. Overhead conductive charging—Power is supplied from overhead wires to a vehicle by a pantograph in the first method of charging, much like how trams work. However, this technique is only appropriate for large, high-roof cars that can reach the power wires.
2. Ground-based conductive charging—Power is transferred from specialized rails or tracks placed below or on the road during conductive charging. A mechanical stick or arm that touches the rails assists the vehicles in charging. 
3. Ground-based inductive charging —Power is transferred between the vehicles and coils buried in the road without contact in the inductive system.

Sweden’s bet on electric roads. The challenging electrification of E20 comes after several productive ERS pilot projects across the nation. Trafikverket has been testing all three road charging technologies since 2016 in several locations across the nation, including Lund, Gotland, and Sandviken.

For good reason, trucks and buses have received most of the attention. According to one study, connecting the nation's largest cities with electrified roads would cut heavy-duty vehicle emissions by 1.2 million tonnes by 2030.

However, Sweden started experimenting with road pricing in 2018 on a 2-kilometer stretch between the Arlanda airport near Stockholm and a logistics hub in Rosenberg.

By 2030, when it plans to outlaw new fossil fuel-powered cars, the government wants to have deployed 2,000 km of ERS on public roads. However, it is debatable if wagering on e-roads is a wise course of action.
On the one hand, electric road infrastructure will make it possible to go farther between stops at charging stations, boosting EV usage and, thus, cutting carbon emissions.

In addition, an e-roads option to home charging would reduce the demand on the grid during peak hours, according to a recent research by Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg. The team added that combining static and dynamic charging at home can cut battery size by as much as 70%.

“This would reduce the need for raw materials for batteries, and an electric car could also become cheaper for the consumer,” said Sten Karlsson, co-author of the study.

There is a significant counterargument, though: the high investment and maintenance expenses for a developing type of infrastructure that, as battery research picks up speed, may eventually become outdated.
However, the study's findings show that the risk isn't that high. According to the researchers, only 25% of the country's and Europe's roadways would need to be electrified for the system to function.

Sweden is not the only country creating e-roads; Italy, France, Germany, and the UK are also testing the technology. In fact, Europe’s interconnectivity might indeed give a winning chance to an electric road network.

It's not always better to go bigger, especially when it comes to technology. The InfiRay P2 Pro thermal camera then comes into play. It promises to be the tiniest thermal camera in the world and connects directly to your smartphone's tiny USB port.

It is incredibly tiny, weighing only 9g, and about a quarter's diameter at just over an inch. So it's cool. Why do you need a thermal camera on your smartphone?


Because it uses the phone to display its photographs. One important use case is HVAC engineers and electricians who frequently require access to a thermal camera for their work.
The size of this camera doesn’t prevent it from packing a punch, however. Many thermal cameras suffer from a stutter image. However, because the P2 Pro runs at 25Hz, it can record both motion and still images. At 256 x 192 pixels, the resolution is also higher than most other thermal cameras. Compared to what photographers are often used to, this seems laughably low, but for a thermal camera, that is very good.

The P2 Pro also boasts a magnetic macro lens, which is an intriguing feature. This handy flat addition simply clips onto the device's front. It's rather ingenious and foolproof. The camera is available both with and without this lens.
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The camera's temperature range, which is sufficient for most needs, is -20ºC to 550ºC (-4ºF to 1044ºF). The camera is available for $249 or $299 with a macro lens.

Twenty years ago, the idea of smartphones and electric automobiles looked like a pipe dream, yet as of today, 86.4% of the world's population, or roughly 6.92 billion people, own their own smartphones. Governments all around the world are promoting the use of electric automobiles rather than vehicles with combustible engines to move toward a greener future.

We’re all trying to add that start-up stock to our portfolio, which will blossom into a blue chip cornerstone of our retirement. Here are four exciting innovations that seem poised to become an assumed part of our life in the next two decades.

3D Printed Infrastructure. The use of 3D printing has been quietly increasing in the background and is gradually becoming more prevalent in people's daily lives. While 3D printing is now being used for anything from electronics to shoes, it is rapidly advancing. Today, contractors can use 3D printing to create a house.

For instance, Apis Cor employs enormous 3D printers and their proprietary concrete blend to build entire homes. The company holds the world record for the largest 3D-printed building on earth.

You might not even be aware of the many creative ways 3D printing is influencing your life. Tens of thousands of 3D printers that 3DOS has installed all around the world are being used to build a global, localized, and on-demand logistics network. Hence, you may order a product online and produce it at home. Perhaps it might be produced nearby or at a local facility, then transported locally rather than internationally. The trillion-dollar logistics industry's carbon emissions and expenses will be significantly reduced if 3D printers can produce most materials on their own.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI). This technology has become considerably more prevalent in daily life in only the last few months. Curriculums are being revised by ChatGPT, which is used by companies like Buzzfeed, Inc. But that's only the start. While ChatGPT has become more well-known, other facets of the subject have received less attention.

For instance, RAD AI is a start-up that makes use of generative AI to optimize marketing campaigns using the first emotion-aware AI marketing platform ever created. The firm has secured over $2.5 million from regular investors through the startup investment platform Wefunder.

Generative AI is being used to create photos, paintings, sketches, text-to-speech, and even films. Because ChatGPT is launching an internet-based plugin, it will include search engine-like features to compete with Alphabet Inc.'s Google and function similarly to Microsoft Corp.'s new Bing.

ChatGPT’s plugin page notes companies like Expedia Group Inc and Instacart are already working on solutions using generative AI

Commercial Space Exploration. The year 2021 marked a turning point for commercial space exploration, with companies like Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin LLC successfully launching commercial space travel. The first fully crewed voyage to the edge of space was also launched by Virgin Galactic in July 2021, with funding from billionaire Richard Branson.

By 2024, these businesses hope to launch the first commercial space flights. Yet, no firm arrangements have been established due to supply chain challenges and worries about a possible recession. As the macroeconomic headwinds worsened, many businesses had to postpone their plans by at least a year.

Commercial space flight is now only available to high-net-worth persons because tickets cost close to $500,000. Yet as businesses invest extensively in creating sustainable space stations and other infrastructure, you may expect a decrease in prices over the next 20 years. According to China Business Knowledge, during the next 15 to 20 years, space travel will become more affordable, and “Many people alive today will have a real chance of traveling to space in their lifetimes.”

Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) & Brain Enhancements. Neuralink, a pioneer in brain-computer interfaces (BCI) founded by Elon Musk, is a well-known leader in the field. Many well-known figures in finance are also investing billions in this sector. Recently, the $75 million Series C raise for Synchron, a rival to Neuralink, received funding from Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos. Trubrain, a firm that makes wearables and supplements for brain health, has already received over $1.2 million from retail investors. Microsoft also makes its BCI research and development efforts well known.

The multibillion dollar investments made into the metaverse by Meta Platforms Inc. are well known. While much of that is focused on developing augmented reality and virtual reality systems, this also includes extensive study into how the brain functions as it seeks to enhance the functionality of its headsets. According to some reports, Meta wants to develop its technology so that it can read your brain activity.
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To some, twenty years is a long time. They refer to it as two decades. To others, it’s a surprisingly short period for the development of life-changing technologies. As we all watch the future unfold, be sure your tray-table is put away and your seat belt is fastened!

A novel substance has been found by scientists, and it has the potential to revolutionize society.

Researchers claim to have developed a superconducting substance that operates at temperatures and pressures low enough to be used in real-world applications.

In creating a material that can transport electricity without resistance and pass magnetic fields around the substance, it achieves a breakthrough that scientists have been chasing for more than a century.

The discovery could result in power networks with flawless energy transmission, preventing the loss of up to 200 million megawatt hours because of resistance. Also, it might help with nuclear fusion, a long-awaited process that has the potential to produce endless electricity.

They propose new types of medical equipment and high-speed, hovering trains as additional applications.

The development of two somewhat less ground-breaking but similarly superconducting materials was previously reported by a team led by the same scientist, Ranga Dias, in studies that appeared in Nature and Physical Review Letters. The Nature publication was ultimately retracted by the journal's editors after the scientists' methodology came under scrutiny.

Professor Dias and his team claim they went above and beyond this time to fend off similar criticism. With a team of scientists observing live, scientists sought to corroborate that old study with new data acquired outside of a lab, and they followed a similar procedure for the new research.

 ‘Evidence of near-ambient superconductivity in a N-doped lutetium hydride,’ an article describing the novel material, was just published in Nature.

The substance has been given the moniker "reddmatter" in honor of its color and a Star Trek substance. When scientists discovered that it unexpectedly changed throughout the creation process to become a "very vivid red," they gave it that name.

The substance was created by Professor Dias and his team by combining lutetium, a rare earth metal, with hydrogen and a tiny amount of nitrogen. They were then left to react for two or three days, at high temperatures.

The chemical appeared as a deep blue, per the paper. However, it was then subjected to extremely high pressures, at which point it changed from blue to pink as it attained superconductivity, before changing back to its metallic condition and turning a rich red.

The material still needs to be heated to 20.5ºC and compressed to roughly 145,000 PSI to function. However, that is significantly less intense than other, comparable materials, such as those Professor Dias announced in 2020, that sparked both enthusiasm and skepticism from experts.

And because it is so useful, the researchers claim it will usher in a new era of using superconducting materials in practical applications.

“A pathway to superconducting consumer electronics, energy transfer lines, transportation, and significant improvements of magnetic confinement for fusion are now a reality,” Professor Dias said in a statement. “We believe we are now at the modern superconducting era.”
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Those practical applications might include using the material to speed up the development of “tokamak machines” that are being developed to achieve nuclear fusion.

One of the best pieces of smart home hardware is the Nest Protect. Smoke detectors, more so than other household items, might benefit from being connected. They significantly contribute to your feeling of security while you're away from home. Ideally, you won't ever need it, but if you do, it might save lives.

Torch, which was established in 2020, is implementing some of these concepts in a totally new environment. Early outdoor detection for up to 10 acres is provided by the $299 device, which is fixed onto a spike put into a tree. It's a sizable addressable market that, regrettably, will expand even further in the years to come as wildfire threats rise.

Climate change is clearly to blame for this situation since it causes droughts and hotter temperatures, which are ideal conditions for destructive fires, especially in the western United States. As recently highlighted by NASA:

“Researchers supported by NASA's Earth Science Data Systems program, often known as NASA EarthData, showed that the frequency and size of fires increased in the western United States nearly exponentially between 1950 and 2019. In the 1950s, wildland fires typically covered 1,200 acres (485 hectares), but by the 2010s, that number had increased to nearly 3,400 acres on average (1,376 hectares).”

The concept for Torch was developed a few years prior to the establishment of the company, when co-founder and COO Vasily Tremsin was still a high school student.

“I developed the idea back in high school in 2017, as part of a science fair. In my senior year, there were these huge Napa Valley fires that took out half of the city of Napa,” he said. “My school closed down for a week, because there was so much smoke. It was a horrible situation. People lost billions of dollars in damage. I always did science projects solving some kind of issue, and there wasn’t any detector like this for the outdoors.”

Tremsin's co-founder and CEO, Michael Buckwald, previously worked on the groundbreaking peripheral business Leap Motion. He cites his personal experience of living in San Francisco as a key factor in his decision to join the team.

“When Vasily approached me with all the progress and the unique idea of a distributed approach to a low-cost sensor that could be placed frequently, it seemed obvious,” said Buckwald. “I guess I’m attracted to things that can be great businesses — because there’s a lot of land to cover, and it’s a problem that’s getting worse, not better — and can also have an impact on the world. So many of the deaths and so much of the damage from fires is from secondary and tertiary sources. The deaths are at least 100 times greater from pollution, the economic impact from pollution and the carbon impact. The statistics are really extraordinary.”

The on-board sensors are watching for smoke, light, and heat. The linked device of the owner will receive a wireless alert when the data reaches a particular threshold. The on-board thermal camera is currently just used for detection, but a later version might include a live feed, either directly on the device or via a linked camera (or, perhaps, drone). Power requirements have a role in the restrictions. A battery depletion would result from adding too many functions to the solar-powered gadget.

The devices form a kind of mesh network that allows for the connection of dozens or even hundreds of them to a single Wi-Fi gateway by using radio waves to interact.

According to Torch, it has been proving the technology's viability for some time with controlled burns by third parties. According to the company, “This patented approach has been tested on prescribed fire burns across California: in Sonoma, Lake, and Butte counties. Verifying results through multiple variables minimizes false positives and ensures accuracy.”
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The product's preorder window opened mid-March. Torch plans to start shipping in the first quarter of 2024.

Now that we have two months of the new year under our belts, it’s time to look out to the remaining ten months to see what areas of technology are going to have the biggest impacts on our lives. 

Before we look forward, let’s look back to the end of 2022 and see the trends that were forming and how they will affect our world in 2023. 

From a hardware perspective, it was an unexciting year. Both Apple and Samsung refreshed their flagship smartphones, but most reviewers rated the changes as incremental upgrades. Mark Zuckerberg, with his eyes on changing the way people work, introduced a $1,500 virtual-reality headset. But, with only a two-hour battery, most users will strap the new headset on for gaming.

From the online world, we saw huge changes at Twitter after Elon Musk spent $44 billion to buy the company. In the last few months, he has gutted the staff, suspended accounts for some journalists and reinstated several questionable users. All of this had driven Twitter users to seek alternative sites. Another social media company, TikTok, has been banned on government-issued devices at both the federal level and in several states.

Finally, in November, OpenAI introduced a chatbot called ChatGPT. In the first month of its availability, the online AI tool registered more than one million users. Given that is can produce seemingly intelligent responses to questions posed by users. Unfortunately, it can produce totally incorrect responses and couch those responses in wording that appears authoritative. 

This is just a taste of what's in store for us in the upcoming year. Together with the same trends that have persisted over the past few years, like developments in electric cars and the metaverse, we can anticipate many intriguing innovations in A.I.-powered, language-processing technology. Social media might even have a resurgence.

Here are the tech developments that will invade our lives in 2023.

1.New Embedded AI Assistants. Early adopters who were astounded by ChatGPT's verbal proficiency were equally astounded by how inaccurate it can be, especially with basic mathematics. Despite their flaws, it is reasonable to expect that software developers, led by Microsoft, will embed AI technology within familiar apps like Word, Excel, Google Sheets, Craft and others. It's important to note that many of the tasks these new AI modules will tackle will be summaries with a particular interest point in mind. 

Here’s an example. You’re writing a research paper on warfare and you have come across a 100-page essay on World War II. Imagine asking the AI tool to read the full document and highlight the key points regarding a certain facet of the war.

Yoav Shoham, a professor emeritus at Stanford University who contributes to the AI Index, an annual assessment on the development of artificial intelligence, said: "If you want to supplement your writing with a historical fact, you won't need to go and search the web and locate it. With just the click of a button, it'll be there."

2. Virtual reality, a.k.a. the metaverse. Tech firms have been advertising virtual reality headgear for gaming for most of the last decade, including the Quest 2, HTC Vive, and Sony PlayStation VR. Tech companies are making grand claims that these headsets will eventually transform our lives similarly to what smartphones have done so now that technology has advanced to become more potent and wireless.

One person who envisions the metaverse as a place where we may work, collaborate, and create is Mark Zuckerberg of Meta. The business thought the technology could be used as a multitasking tool for employees juggling meetings while skimming through emails and other duties when it unveiled the Quest Pro headgear this year. It remains to be seen whether Meta can realize its vision for the metaverse, given that the device's initial reception was unfavorable.

The VR drumbeat will continue in 2023. It is widely believed that Apple will unveil its first headgear, despite having previously stated that it would never use the term "metaverse." Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, has provided hints about the device even though the business has released no information about it. Cook has expressed his excitement about employing augmented reality to use digital data in the real world.

“You’ll wonder how you lived your life without augmented reality, just like today you wonder: How did people like me grow up without the internet?” Mr. Cook said in September to students in Naples.

Yet, he continued, the technology will not suddenly become significant. The first version of Apple's headgear will probably be used for gaming, just like many others before it, as wireless headsets continue to be large and only used inside.

In other words, 2023 will probably still not be the year that these headsets become widely used, according to Carolina Milanesi, a consumer tech analyst for the research firm Creative Strategies. However, there will be plenty of talk about the metaverse and virtual, augmented, and mixed goggles.

“From a consumer perspective, it’s still very uncertain what you’re spending your thousand bucks on when you’re buying a headset,” she said. “Do I have to do a meeting with V.R.? With or without legs, it’s not a necessity.”

3.Electric Vehicles Beyond Tesla. Last year, Tesla continued to dominate the market for electric vehicles (EVs), but 2023 might mark a turning point for the sector. Since Mr. Musk's takeover of Twitter, Tesla's shares have fallen precipitously this year, and its reputation has suffered. The market's competitiveness is also escalating as EV manufacturers, including Ford Motor, Kia, General Motors, Audi, and Rivian, increase their output of electric vehicles.

Tesla also declared in November that it would allow other electric vehicles to use its charging port design. That would make it possible for owners of other makes of vehicles to refuel at Tesla's charging stations, which are much more numerous than other kinds of chargers.

Also, sales of gas-powered cars will be prohibited in both California and New York by 2035. All of this creates the ideal conditions for the electric car market to grow significantly beyond just one brand in 2023.

4.New Social Media Choices. Most of 2022 saw Twitter in disarray, and 2023 is expected to be no different. Last month, in reaction to the criticism, Mr. Musk conducted a Twitter "poll" asking his fans if they thought he should step down as the company's CEO. Ten million users, or a majority, chose yes, but Mr. Musk said he wouldn't leave until someone "foolish enough to do the job" was found.

TikTok is still in trouble after its Chinese parent firm, ByteDance, revealed that an internal probe had revealed that staff members had improperly collected user data from American users, including that of two journalists. The information puts pressure on the Biden administration to think about imposing even stricter limitations on the app in the US.

Whatever happens to Twitter and TikTok, it's certain that social media is undergoing a significant change. A social network called Mastodon, which resembles Twitter in appearance, has attracted many journalists, techies, and influencers. Yet many younger people have already switched to more recent apps like BeReal, where pals can keep in touch by simultaneously taking and sharing selfies.
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Which new social networking app will be a huge deal in 2023 is a mystery. Mastodon has lost about 30% of the million users they gained because of changes at Twitter. Yet, one thing is for certain: Those who are offended by Twitter are looking for a friendly environment where they can hang around.

We bought our first home in late 1968. We watched it being built and even installed sound cables in the walls before they dry-walled, so we’d have a sound system for the whole home. Those days were called ‘container days.’ Contractors erected the container and left the homeowner to finish the rest. 

Now, 45 years later, the sector is being upended by smart home technology, creating a large market opportunity for investors, entrepreneurs, designers, and builders. The smart home industry, which was estimated to be worth $79 billion in 2020, is expected to increase to $314 billion by 2027, according to recent research from Mordor Intelligence.

Consumer curiosity is being sparked by ideas like touchless interactions and energy-saving whole-home automation. With new government efficiency standards demanding the replacement or modification of current systems, automated heating and cooling will be in high demand. All residential central air-source heat pump systems sold in the United States starting in January 2023 must adhere to new minimum energy efficiency standards.

This smart home movement focuses on enhancing the experience of living in the home, from automating appliances that anticipate and comprehend the homeowner's demands to programming devices to act consistently. Grandview Research's forecast of an excellent 31% compound annual growth rate between 2021 and 2030 for smart kitchens and security and surveillance technology installations.

Consider PIN-activated keyless door locks or smart doorbells that are always aware of visitors (or deliveries) arriving. Automated exterior lighting and AI-powered public space video cameras that monitor neighborhood activity will be in demand for multi-family developments.

Because the smart home industry has developed over the last five years and is ready to transition from "do it yourself" to "do it for me," there is a huge market opportunity. Consumers will probably start looking for pre-built homes with tailored technology more frequently. According to a Coldwell Banker Real Estate survey, 61% of millennials and 59% of parents with children living in the home choose smart-tech homes, while 71% of purchasers desire a tech-enabled, "move-in ready" home.

New artificial intelligence (AI) technology that automatically changes ambience routines to meet resident patterns and preferences makes this possible. Thermal windows that conserve energy improve a house's overall efficiency. Each smart home's devices are programmed to cooperate with one another and connect to a centralized home management app that is very easy to use and administer. Such systems receive routine cloud updates, and all hardware is dispersed across the home's primary hub. Technology seamlessly merges into the building's simple interior design.

With most software solutions available via the cloud, second-generation AI-powered smart home equipment self-learns and adapts to routines and preferences, getting better over time. All devices are coordinated and synced in the smart home setup, and they are all made accessible via a computer or a smartphone. A smart home with a genius Intellect, perhaps.

Designers and builders must rethink household space in light of increasing urban density and environmental sustainability. Compared to older homes, the modern urban home uses space more effectively, is more flexible, and is more responsive. It is cozy and friendly. The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant influence that shouldn't be understated, since it confirmed long-held notions that the home can and should improve the health and wellbeing of its occupants.

A multi-family neighborhood outside of Portland's center dubbed HOMMA HAUS Mount Tabor, with 18 two-bedroom residences, is a pioneering prototype. This type of house must have an adaptable modern design, multi-functional use of space, and curated, pre-configured technology built in before the resident occupies the area. This sort of house should serve as the cornerstone of holistic well-being for its residents.

Urban areas that are expanding, like Portland, tend to have residents who value a deep relationship with environment and routinely engage in outdoor activities. Innovations like this one make use of organic-feeling materials that foster a sense of kinship with nature. The environment is improved by thoughtfully chosen oak flooring, Corian kitchen counters, and cedar fencing. Bamboo and tree landscaping produces shade and further reduces noise to keep the residences quiet.

Real estate will place more emphasis on striking a balance between protecting residents' privacy and fostering a sense of community. This is made possible by clever technology working in tandem with well-planned communal areas. Contemporary housing projects frequently contain courtyards that provide a good blend of quiet space and communal gathering area.
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Urban living that is holistic and adaptable will be the industry's driving force as it develops. Modern architecture, design, and technology are blended into one product, the home, which is constructed to bring beauty, comfort, and wellbeing. Astute builders will do this. Investors, CEOs of large corporations, and startup founders should monitor these developments and be prepared to seize the opportunities they will bring about.

Your phone probably has a built-in hotspot feature that enables you to share your internet connection with other devices, regardless of whether you use an iPhone or an Android smartphone.

It's a nice function, but if you use it frequently, a separate mobile hotspot router will probably serve you better.

During my working career, I traveled over 4 million miles and over half of that travel was on trips where I relied on a mobile hotspot router for my Internet connection.

In my first years using a mobile hotspot router, I used hardware from a variety of manufacturers. But, within a couple of years, I had focused on Netgear and have used their routers ever since.

The newest device from Netgear is the Nighthawk M6 Pro and it’s the top hotspot router on the market today. It is important to note that the M6 Pro is only available on the AT&T network in the US. The M6 model is still a superb router and can come unlocked to be used with any telecom vendor.

At this point, you must be asking why? Why have this expensive peripheral when its functionality is bundled already into my smartphone?

It's because mobile hotspot routers are more adaptable and filled with cool capabilities.

First, I use my phone for a variety of purposes throughout the day and don't want to tie it up with always providing the Internet to gadgets. It is inconvenient and severely drains the battery. Two years ago, my wife and I decided to ‘cut the cord’ and get rid of our landline. Now, my smartphone is our primary contact number and I want it always available. The only thing my mobile hot spot router has to do is connect the Internet to all of my accompanying devices.

The Nighthawk M6 and M6 Pro can connect up to 32 devices to the Internet by using the built-in battery to fill up to 2,000 square feet of space with high-speed Wi-Fi for up to 13 hours using the available 5G & 4G LTE networks. If you need more power, connect it to a power bank or other USB charger that’s available.

If your smartphone doesn't have an unlimited data plan, controlling your internet consumption on your phone is crucial. Setting up a separate plan just for data with a cellular carrier for your mobile hotspot router will eliminate those overage costs on your phone’s plan. And in those situations where your device can take advantage of an Ethernet connection, this mobile hotspot router can provide that Ethernet port.

The Nighthawk M6 and M6 Pro's ability to capture cellular signals is also impressive. These mobile routers perform better and had a stronger signal than my iPhone 14 Pro, which makes them a wonderful option for signal-poor locations. In those situations where there appears to be a poor cellular signal, you can connect an external antenna to the TS-9 ports of the router.

Another feature of the M6 and M6 Pro is its ability to provide Internet service even at home. The mobile router can connect directly to your network and allow you to switch over to cellular should your main Internet connection go down.
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Finally, when you need Internet connections at a campsite, remote construction site or even an emergency scene, use your mobile hotspot router to create a bubble of Wi-Fi service wherever you are. The router will also create a QR code on its display so any smartphone can easily connect to the service with its camera.
Once you’ve used one, you’ll find it really hard to go back to using your smartphone’s hotspot feature.