This is the, slightly cumbersomely named, elp-usb100w05mt-dl36.

What's in the box?

The USB cable is around 5 metres long, and is wired into the camera. Four screws and rawlplugs are also included. Why? Because there are mounting holes at the back of the camera.

To access them, your have to unscrew the base. The whole camera unit comes apart - this allows you to change the orientation and angle of the camera.

The unit is a simple affair. A central lens, a light sensor above it, and 24 Infrared LEDs.

It's rainproof - so suitable for mounting outside. No software is needed - it is detected as a USB video camera in Linux.

Sample Shots

Here's the quality of image taken in the midday sun. Click for bigger.

There's a bit of fish-eye on the image, but colours are reasonably good. Image is a bit soft, but certainly good enough to let you see what's going on.

Here's the same shot at night.

IR illumination is pretty good. You don't get much fine detail - but it is more than enough to see what's going on. The camera needs to be installed outside - the IR will reflect back into the lens if the unit is placed behind glass.

Drawbacks

It's only a 1280x720 resolution unit. That's fine for seeing detail in things close up - but you're not going to pick up car car number plates very easily.

The MJPEG stream is meant to be 30fps. In reality, it varied between about 10FPS & 30FPS. Again, good enough for security camera footage.

Poor audio. There is a cheap mono microphone inside the unit. As in right inside the dome. If you tap on the lens, you'll hear it, but it doesn't seem to pick up speech or anything else. But if all you care about is seeing what's going on, it's not a huge issue.

The USB cable seems pretty chunky - but I'm not sure how weather-proof it is. If you install it, remember to regularly inspect it for defects.

Internals

You can unscrew the dome! It's tight, and there is a rubber layer there to keep it waterproof.

You can see the tiny condenser microphone in there. Everything is securely afixed and neatly wired. You could easily replace the internals if you needed.

Verdict

A pretty good camera for forty quid. If you have a Raspberry Pi mounted outside, this is a good way to get video to it.

In a world of cheap, WiFi connected IP cameras, this makes sense for anyone who wants a more reliable connection - and a camera which can boot up instantly.

Quality isn't exactly high def - but, for the price, it will do.

Get it

You can buy the camera for £40 on Amazon (Affiliate link).

Or get it direct from the manufacturer

Linux Tech Specs

Camera works out of the box with Linux - tried on a recent Debian build and an older Raspberry Pi.

USB Info: 05a3:9310 ARC International

Full v4l2-ctl output:

Driver Info (not using libv4l2):
    Driver name   : uvcvideo
    Card type     : USB 2.0 Camera
    Bus info      : usb-0000:00:14.0-3
    Driver version: 4.10.17
    Capabilities  : 0x84200001
        Video Capture
        Streaming
        Extended Pix Format
        Device Capabilities
    Device Caps   : 0x04200001
        Video Capture
        Streaming
        Extended Pix Format
Priority: 2
Video input : 0 (Camera 1: ok)
Format Video Capture:
    Width/Height      : 1280/720
    Pixel Format      : 'YUYV'
    Field             : None
    Bytes per Line    : 2560
    Size Image        : 1843200
    Colorspace        : sRGB
    Transfer Function : Default
    YCbCr/HSV Encoding: Default
    Quantization      : Default
    Flags             : 
Crop Capability Video Capture:
    Bounds      : Left 0, Top 0, Width 1280, Height 720
    Default     : Left 0, Top 0, Width 1280, Height 720
    Pixel Aspect: 1/1
Selection: crop_default, Left 0, Top 0, Width 1280, Height 720
Selection: crop_bounds, Left 0, Top 0, Width 1280, Height 720
Streaming Parameters Video Capture:
    Capabilities     : timeperframe
    Frames per second: 10.000 (10/1)
    Read buffers     : 0
                     brightness (int)    : min=-128 max=127 step=1 default=0 value=0
                       contrast (int)    : min=0 max=255 step=1 default=128 value=128
                     saturation (int)    : min=1 max=128 step=1 default=64 value=64
                            hue (int)    : min=-40 max=40 step=1 default=0 value=0
 white_balance_temperature_auto (bool)   : default=1 value=1
                          gamma (int)    : min=72 max=500 step=1 default=100 value=100
                           gain (int)    : min=0 max=100 step=1 default=0 value=0
           power_line_frequency (menu)   : min=0 max=2 default=1 value=1
      white_balance_temperature (int)    : min=2800 max=6500 step=1 default=4600 value=4600 flags=inactive
                      sharpness (int)    : min=0 max=6 step=1 default=3 value=3
         backlight_compensation (int)    : min=0 max=2 step=1 default=1 value=1
                  exposure_auto (menu)   : min=0 max=3 default=3 value=3
              exposure_absolute (int)    : min=1 max=5000 step=1 default=625 value=625 flags=inactive
         exposure_auto_priority (bool)   : default=0 value=1

It costs £8 plus postage direct from Itead.

This is similar to an Infrared device I reviewed a few years ago.

It's a cute little box, small and light enough to hide away anywhere. Even under use, it doesn't get hot.

Note - it only connects to 2.4GHz WiFi. That's standard for these cheap gadgets.

Powered by the ubiquitous micro-USB, it comes with a short cable, but no plug socket. I assume you have plenty at home.

Blinken lights! Little status LEDs so you know what's going on.

Software

You need to use the eWeLink app. Like lots of smarthome apps from China, it isn't the prettiest - but it works. The translations on the app and the user guide would benefit from a more professional approach, but it is adequate.

The app is quick to respond - but I found that it would occasionally log me out, and I'd have to re-enter my password to continue.

It also supports Amazon Alexa! Incredible for a device this cheap. As I mentioned in my previous review, setting up the eWeLink Alexa skill is a bit cumbersome - but it works!

Buttons!

You also get a keyfob with four buttons on it.

It is an RF remote which you can pair with the box. Kinda neat if you don't want to unlock your phone to activate something.

Usage

It works - but there's a catch - how many 433MHz devices do you have? I had to dig out some old demo kit in order to play with this gadget. If you've got compatible devices, this is a useful gizmo - but most modern devices have WiFi built in, so it may be worth upgrading older devices if you can.

If you have devices which need 433MHz controls, this is a ridiculously cheap way to add them to your home network. The Alexa control is the icing on the cake.

Teardown

It isn't a review if you don't get to see the guts :-)

The retail model I've got has populated debug headers and an internal on/off switch.

Nice and neat design. I'm told that it should be fairly easy to flash and dump the firmware. For those who care about such things, the main chip is the ESP8285.

Get It

• You can find out more information on Sonoff's website
• Full specification - including schematic - is on the Itead Wiki
• Finally, you can buy it for £8 (US$10) from Itead directly

The good folks at Sonoff have sent me a review unit of their "7.0" Nextion Enhanced HMI Capacitive Touch Display with Enclosure". A USB powered touchscreen - with a range of hackable goodies.

It's a device which sadly fails to live up to its promise.

Specs

Let's get the specs out of the way, then see how it works!

• Display Resolution: 800 x 480
• Realtime Clock, if you add a battery
• GPIO
• Up to 32G Micro SD card (FAT32 file format)
• Internal flash data storage space: 32MB
• EEPROM: 1024 bytes
• RAM: 8192 bytes (not a typo - miniscule RAM)
• Instruction buffer: 1024 bytes
• Colour: 65536 colours
• Brightness: 0~230 nit
• Display Interface: Serial
• Board Size: 181mm*108mm
• Weight: 598 g
• Cost $88 - $108 depending on options

So, a pretty simple screen with some connectivity options. This isn't an Android tablet, it's more like a Raspberry Pi - waiting for you to have adventures with it.

Just a note on that - this is not a display screen. You can't just plug in an HDMI cable - you program the display directly either using an Arduino Foca to flash it or saving the interface to an SD card.

The output is ideally suited to an Arduino, but you can make it work with a Raspberry Pi.

The price is simply far too high for the spec and functionality. For less money you can get a range of HDMI & USB touch screens which will work directly with a Pi or any computer.

What's in the box?

This touchscreen comes in a range of styles - this is the one with a plastic enclosure. Want to 3D print your own mount? Model files are available - which is pretty nifty!

It's powered by a standard USB 5V/1A supply. You get this little adapter if you don't want to wire the power in directly.

Software

Nextion provide software for creating interfaces like this:

The GUI design software is Windows only. That's an annoying limitation. There seems to be no way to run on a Mac. I was unable to get the software to run in WINE for Linux. Instead, you need to install PlayOnLinux, use WineTricks to install DotNet, and then use this script to install the Nextion Editor. It took a few hours and was a pain in the arse!

Eventually, after installing, you'll get to this rather complex screen:

Good luck figuring out what it does. There is a Quick Start Guide - which is rather long-winded. It's probably best to start with the demo file

Demo Project

I downloaded the demo project, loaded it into the editor, and then hit compile. Then got confused.

The editor doesn't tell you where it has saved the compiled file. It wasn't in the same directory as the demo. Weirdly, the compiled .tft file was automatically placed in this folder:

./.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/Nextion/drive_c/users/edent/Application Data/Nextion Editor/bianyi/example.tft

I copied the file to a micro SD card and shoved that into the Nextion. It is possible to transfer the files directly via the serial port, but I wasn't sure how well it would work with Linux.

I inserted the card, powered it on, and got this screen.

9600 Baud. Wow. The demo file is around 5MB. That should take around 90 minutes to install! After two hours, it still hadn't moved. I pulled out the SD card, rebooted it, and got the demo screen!

Well... it works. The screen is a bit murky and has very restricted viewing angles. Turn it a few degrees and colours go weird. The contrast on the colours isn't great. When on, the screen is tiny compared to the casing around it. The screen reacted rapidly to touches.

Support

There is a support forum and a wiki. I found both to be rather disorganised - they left me with more questions than answers.

As with all tinkering hardware, I don't expect a fully polished website - but I found it really hard to find out basic information like how to upload new images. I'll admit to being rather intimidated by the hostile nature of the Q&A section.

Verdict

I know I've been sent this product free of charge to review - but I cannot recommend it.

The lack of Linux support really grates. This screen is aimed at the maker community and we don't all run Windows! Given that it is expressly designed to work with Arduino and Raspberry Pi, it is unfathomable that Linux support is so poor.

Creating a UI is also painful. The software allows for rich and intricate GUIs - but it is hidden behind an atrocious interface. For something this complex, I'd expect decent tutorials and instructions - but there are none.

Uploading GUIs takes ages. It is impossible to make a quick change to something. For a prototyping board, that's unacceptable. I want to be able to design a GUI, try it out, fiddle with it, then change it again. I can't.

I think that, ideally, it would make sense for an interactive display like this to run a tiny embedded browser and have the GUI designed in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Even if it is compiled down to something which could be run on a low power device, that's got to be better than working with the default editor.

If you want an interactive screen - I'd recommend a cheap Android tablet. If you desperately need GPIO pins - get a Raspberry Pi and HDMI touchscreen. Either one of them will have a WiFi connection - which this is sorely lacking.

You can buy the Nextion Touch Display direct from the manufacturer.

Here's a video of me controlling them from my Amazon Alexa:

The latency seems a little slow - hard to tell if that's Amazon only relying on US data centres for Alexa skills, or the connection to my home. Once set up, it works well. Oh... but the set up experience...

Set Up

I'll be honest - configuring a smarthome for voice control is still a pain in the arse. This is mostly Amazon's fault - but it doesn't help that all the kit I use has non-standard interfaces.

Here's the long journey I took to install the skill, configure it, and finally use it.

1. Read the eWeLink tutorial on setting up Alexa.
2. I'll assume you've already set up your Alexa, connected it to the WiFi, and configured the app.
3. In the Amazon app, go to Settings.
4. Select Skills
5. Search for eWeLink (not Sonoff!)
6. Select "eWeLink Smart Home Fan".The "fan" refers to the fact that this is not an official app, not that it only controls fans.
7. Enable the skill.
8. This takes you to the web browser which then redirects to the "coolkit" site.Usually I would tell you to be wary of putting your password into a random site - but this is, apparently, the same company as eWeLink and Sonoff. Confusing, isn't it?
9. Log in with your email address and password and you're eventually redirected back to Amazon
10. Close the browser and return to the Alexa app.
11. Ignore the fact that it is still asking you to enable the skill, exit this page and go back to the home screen of the app.
12. Go to menu, Smart Home. Then click on the Smart Home Skills.
13. Click on the EweLink skill.
14. That just gives you reviews. Because Amazon don't bother with usability testing their apps.
15. Go back and click on the icon for eWeLink.
16. Now "Manage Devices in Smart Home".
17. Oh, we're back here again! Select "Devices"
18. Scroll all the way to the bottom and select "Discover".
19. Wait. And marvel at how crap Philips Hue must be to need extra support text.
20. Hopefully the new eWeLink devices will be displayed.
21. You can exit the app and use voice control.

Bloody hell! No normal person is going to bother going through that many steps, are they?

Oh, and that's not even the worst part! When I first set up the lamp, it wouldn't work. Why? Because I already had an Alexa group called "lamp". There's no feedback in the app - and it's impossible to rename device in Alexa. The Echo just pathetically says that there's a problem - but not how to solve it. So you have to delete the devices, rename them in the eWeLink app, then re-add them.

Alexa is a UX disaster. If you deviate a millimetre from the happy path, you'll be lost in the woods without hope.

This is not the future.

Kit used in this demo

• Sonoff POW review - buy it.
• Sonoff S20 WiFi plug - buy it
• WisQo smart lightswitches - buy them

This is the Sonoff Pow - a WiFi enabled in-line power switch.

Set Up

Wiring up the Pow is relatively easy. The cover to the terminal block is secured with a simple screw.

I found the opening a little cramped - but it's easy to open up the entire unit. Which gives us a full view of the circuitry. There's an unpopulated header on the bottom left - yup - this thing is hackable!

A reminder, working with electricity is dangerous - if in doubt, consult with a trained professional.

The latches on the terminal block are stiff, but that's probably a good way to stop the leads from falling out.

Once wired up, and power applied, the LED starts flashing.

From there, you can install the Android app and connect the Pow to your WiFi.

In Action

Your system doesn't support WEBM video.

Cost

You can buy the Sonoff Pow on Amazon UK for £14.

Buying direct from the manufacturer is around $11 + $4 shipping

If you splash out, you can buy the Sonoff G1 - which has a GSM modem built in. Add a SIM card and it will connect to GPRS. Only $20!

Hacking

As with other Sonoff products, this is built on the ESP8266. As the manufacturer says:

Apart from traditional consumers, Sonoff Pow is a very exciting product for those into hacking, since four program ports have been reserved for burning external firmware. Now, isn’t that thrilling?

There are a range of firmwares available on GitHub, and YouTube videos showing how to take control of the device. There's a burgeoning community of bloggers with some great tutorials - see Tinkerman and CNX Software.

Verdict

As with the S20 plug, this is a great little unit. It's easy to set up, the app works reasonably well, and it is dead cheap.

The power monitoring seem fairly accurate - it picked up the exact wattage of my lightbulb - and the timers worked.

As with the S20, its usefulness depends on the electronics you have at home. If you have devices which regularly need turning on and off from the mains, this is perfect. The addition of monitoring makes it useful for anyone energy conscious.

The app is adequate - not brilliant. There's no public API - which is a shame - but you can rewrite the firmware if that bothers you.

Amazon's Echo Smart Home doesn't work natively with the Sonoff. There is a 3rd-Party Alexa skill - called eWeLink Fan. It's not as easy to set up as a normal smart-home device, and judging from the comments on the Sonoff website suffers from some problems.

If you're handy with wire strippers, it's a great little gizmo. Ideally it would be built into appliances - but as a way to add IoT smarts to an old device, it's pretty good buy.

You can get the Sonoff Pow on Amazon UK for £14.

Buying direct from the manufacturer is around $11 + $4 shipping

This fills the same niche as the Belkin WeMo but with one crucial difference - it's about half the price.

Direct from Sonoff it's US$13 - from Amazon UK the smartplug is £15. The cost of the WeMo is £40.

How does it compare to the Belkin WeMo?

Both are compatible with IFTTT, have 2.4GHz WiFi, and have buttons and status LEDs. The both also have time schedules so you can automate when the plug switches on and off. They basically have identical features - with two small differences.

The WeMo works with Alexa, the Sonoff doesn't. Alexa is still in its early days - but if small companies like WisQo are able to make Alexa compatible light switches, then I would expect the same from Sonoff.

There is a 3rd-Party Alexa skill - called eWeLink Fan. It's not as easy to set up as a normal smart-home device, and judging from the comments on the Sonoff website suffers from some problems.

Where the S20 realy comes into its own is its hackability!

Hackable?!

You'll find lots of articles on the web about how to rewrite the firmware in these devices - Nathan Chantrell has an excellent guide on his blog.

The S20 uses the ESP8266 - a ridiculously common WiFi chip. Versatile and hackable. Perfect for tinkering.

There are loads of 2866 projects on GitHub for you to build with. There are several websites dedicated to hacking these controllers.

There are several variations of this plug - so pay attention when following the tutorials.

Finally, electricity is dangerous. Make sure you know what you are doing before you start unscrewing and fiddling.

Security and API

The app uses SSL - so your connection to the Sonoff mothership should be secure. There's no certificate pinning, so your calls can theoretically be intercepted or disrupted. That's still better than most IoT kit.

There is an API available, but it is undocumented. It also needs to go through the manufacturer's servers. I wish more IoT makers would follow Lifx's lead and offer a fully documented API which works over a LAN. I don't don't want to be locked out of my gear if my Internet goes out, or the manufacturer goes bust.

As I've mentioned, these devices are easily flashable - so can be repurposed if needed.

Downsides

While the hardware is great, the software is a slight letdown.

The Android App doesn't get great reviews - it's quicker to start than the WeMo app, but doesn't look as nice. Registration is a bit complicated, as is sending WiFi passwords.

Terence Eden is on Mastodon

@edent

Replying to @edentAlso, it's 2017 - why is the only way of getting an IoT gadget onto your WiFi to install an app & manually type in password? pic.x.com/hkkwpmzwey

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As with most domestic IoT devices, it's ideally suited to a single person household. It is possible to share control with another user, but it is a little cumbersome.

There's no energy monitoring - although other Sonoff products provide that service.

Finally, is this actually useful? I've only got a few electrical items which I turn on and off from the plug socket - lamps, electric heaters, ... ummm... a hair-drier? I'm using mine on a cool air fan which sits across the room from me.

Verdict

In terms of speed - this blows the WeMo out of the water. The weird Alexa integration is a minor annoyance - but it makes up for it by being so hacker friendly.

The plug is small and sized well for going on a multi-socket. The software needs an overhaul, but it does the job.

You can buy the Sonoff S20 from Amazon UK for around £15.

Thanks to Sonoff for sending me the review unit. If you'd like me to review your gear, please get in touch.

Enter the new WisQo smart lightswitches. The company claims that they'll work with the UK's "unique" wiring designs. They've kindly sent me a set to review - adjust your bias filters accordingly.

The good news is they actually work! The bad news is that the app is tedious to use. The good news is they work with Amazon Echo! The bad news is they're fairly insecure!

This review will show you how to fit them, and get them working with your voice assistant. I'll also take a brief look at their lack of security.

For more information, please visit https://www.wisqo.com/

Unboxing

Depending on which kit you buy, you'll get a variety of boxes.

The base kit contains a light switch, a relay, and a WiFi gateway.

The switches and relay work on 433MHz - I'm not sure what (if any) security they have. Switches need to be paired with relays. Plug the relay into a USB power source, then hold down the reset button until a LED starts flashing. Press your lightswitch and the two should pair. That was the easy part!

The switches are portable - they can be screwed to the wall, or stuck on with the included adhesive. They aren't battery powered though - as per their FAQ:

The switch does not require power supply, it utilizes the kinetic energy from the pressing force.

Nifty!

Installation

Unlike other IoT lighting solutions, you don't need to re-wire your existing switch. The relay needs to be installed in the ceiling rose. Here's mine, before installation.

The WisQo kit comes with terminal blocks so you can wire in fairly easily. WARNING electricity is dangerous. Make sure that you've turned off the circuit at the consumer unit. If in doubt, get a qualified electrician to help you fit everything.

I had more neutral wires than the kit accounted for - but they managed to squeeze into the provided couplings.

There's a handy video in case you get stuck.

Everything wired in just fine - although the relay was slightly too large to fit inside the existing covering. I used the provided sticky pad to keep it flush to the ceiling.

The white wire is the antenna.

With that done, and my wiring double checked, I turned on the power and was able to use the light switch!

Terence Eden is on Mastodon

@edent

Replying to @edentI'm *pretty* sure this is wired correctly. Although I've one more neutral wire than they've accounted for. pic.x.com/4biw6yxnys

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Terence Eden is on Mastodon

@edent

Replying to @edentOMG! It works! Next step, connect my light switches to THE INTERNET! pic.x.com/nol6eeytoe

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Connecting to the Internet

There's a WiFi-RF gateway which comes with the kit. It is USB powered and fairly small.

WisQo claim their hub can connect to 200 devices. I don't have that many light switches - but it worked perfectly well with two.

There are no mounting holes, sadly, but it is unobtrusive enough to be tucked away. It's 2.4GHz only, so won't work with your 5GHz networks. It is WiFi only - which I found a bit annoying. I'd have preferred to wire it in to my LAN. As it is, you have to download the app to send it your WiFi credentials.

App

All the boxes have QR codes pointing you to the app.

The Android app is basic - too basic really - but it doesn't request insane permissions. Once installed, the app is very quick to respond - a tap on the light and it toggles instantly. But, oh! It is a pain to set up.

You may have noticed the QR codes stuck to the relays. These are needed to pair with the app. But first, you need to create an account and sign in.

Sometimes you open the app you have to type in a password. Why? My Lifx bulbs and my WeMo switches don't require that level of security. Annoying. The app occasionally crashes on opening. Frustrating when you need to use your lights.

Pairing the relays with the app was tricky - I'm still not sure how I did it. Lots of button mashing. Anyway, you've opened the app, typed in your password, now how do you switch on the light?

First, go to the home that your light switch is in. I'll just be using this in my main home - so a bit of a pain to have this step.

Then choose the room your light is in. (I only have one room - why do I need to do this?)

Here's the light. Is it on or off?

Tap it and it changes.

The app works whether you're on WiFi or not. So you can toggle the light switches when you're out of the house.

There's also rudimentary support for timers.

The app works, but it is slow and annoying to use. Hardware manufacturers find software difficult. If only there was a better way...!

Alexa...

The WisQo works with Amazon's Echo - the smart voice assistant. Personally, I've never seen the use for one. But I guess it would be useful to be able to shout "Computer! Lights!" and have a mechanical slave do my bidding :-)

I picked up the £50 Amazon Dot - I could write a whole blog post about how bad it is - but here's how it works with the WisQo lights.

1. Find the settings page

Tucked away in the Alexa settings is the option to connect "Smart Home Skills".

2. Connect your account

You need to connect your WisQo account to Amazon. This involves going off to a dodgy looking 3rd party page and entering your details.

Is it safe? Who knows?! Why can't it use the WisQo app to provide authentication? Who knows?!

3. Success

Because you do the account linking in a web browser, you have to close that and return to the app. Isn't there an easier way?

4. Discovery

The app presents a button which promises to kick off discovery. It doesn't work.

My WisQo account knows all the devices I own - but I still have to manually "discover" them in the Dot's app. Again, this is the sort of thing which should just happen automagically.

5. Discovered!

It found them! Can I use them? Not quite yet!

6. Groups

Scrolling back up the page (seriously - why isn't this in a logical order?) we can add the lights to a named group.

7. Naming the group

Give several lights one name.

Now I can say "Alexa, turning on the kitchen lights" and she will obey.

Proof!

Bit of a palaver to set up - but works well enough!

The Alexa Skill is available in English and German. I'm still trying to find out whether I can just bark "Alexa, Kitchen" and have it understand me. The Echo's documentation is poor - there's a lot of trial and error involved to see what commands work.

Cost and Conclusion

A Switch, Relay, and Hub costs £60 on Amazon. You can buy a switch and relay for £36, and a switch by itself for £20.

Those prices are in line with other smart lighting solutions. A single Lifx bulb will be between £30 - £70 depending on which model you want. Similarly, a pair of Philips Hue bulbs and a Hub is around £60.

Lifx and Hue are simpler - just change a light bulb, no rewiring needed. They're bigger companies - so hopefully have decent support and well tested apps. They also work with Alexa, IFTTT, and have open source projects around them.

WisQo works with physical switches - that's its big advantage. Because they're wireless, you can stick them in a convenient location. It also means they'll work if your WiFi goes down, or if your phone is out of battery.

Your existing switch needs to stay in the "on" position permanently to provide power to the relay. I ended up sticking the WisQo switch to the wall above my normal switch.

It isn't ideal - I might rewire the black switch so it is permanently shorted. Then put a blank face plate on it.

For me, the big advantage is that it wires in to my existing ceiling rose. As you can see, I've got a light which takes 4 bulbs. If I had to replace each bulb with a Lifx, I'd be looking at well over £150! I've got two of them in my kitchen - basically WisQo saves me £300!

Hacking & Security

Of course, it wouldn't be a proper review without some security poking. Here's what I found.

Default passwords

The WiFi gateway asks for credentials before you can use it. On a whim, I tried the trusty "admin" as both username and password - and got straight in!

Everything is in Chinese - but there is an English option.

There's nothing particularly interesting - although there is this serial port control screen.

A quick nmap shows that only port 80 is open - that's a good thing!

Nikito thinks that the server is Microsoft-IIS/5.0. I don't think that can be right.

It appears to be running Linux - although no GPL licence was included with the product - that's a bad thing!

The HTML is a bit outdated (marquee tags!) but there are no obvious security flaws.

Reverse Engineering

Digging deeper into the app, we find some very disappointing news.

Email addresses and passwords are sent in the clear! The server returns a token which is used to "authenticate" calls to turn the lights on and off. I couldn't see a clear indication that calls were signed. I'm not sure if it is possible to switch off others' light switches.

It looks like it will be fairly easy to reverse engineer the calls to write your own controller.

The main server appears to be:

public interface Server {
    public static final String host = "47.88.22.30";
    public static final int port = 10100;
}

It appears to be a Linux box (good!) with exposed MySQL ports (bad!) running on Alibaba's cloud infrastructure (good!) but an old version of nginx/1.6.0 (bad!). So a bit of a mixed bunch!

Images from the app are downloaded over http - so there's some information leakage there.

Like most IoT devices, security is very much an afterthought. There's a limit to the amount of damage an attacker can do with access to your light switches (burn out your bulbs? Induce an epileptic fit? Send Morse code?). You also need to install a box on your network which makes a permanent connection to exotic IP addresses.

At the moment, there's no good way to design a network for IoT devices which is simultaneously usable and secure. So sit back and hope they don't get hacked.

Final thoughts

The WisQo smart light switches work very well and are fairly easy to install. The voice control is handy. They're let down by a lacklustre app and poor security.

You can buy WisQo smart lightswitches on Amazon UK.

Six months is a long time in technology, and Chipolo have just released the Chipolo Plus. They've sent me one for free to review. Set your bias filters accordingly!

Cost

The Plus is £20 each - or £62 for a pack of 4. They come in a variety of colours

You can buy cheaper trackers for around £10 - although they have shorter range and less support. At the lowest end, you can buy generic BLE trackers for a couple of quid

Chipolo offers customer support, a fairly decent app, and much better range. But is the price worth it?

Physics!

The first thing to note is that this is a sealed unit. This means it gains water resistance but loses its swappable battery. The Chipolo Classic takes CR 2025 batteries which only last 6 months but cost around 30p each to replace.

The Plus claims to have a one year battery life - but after that it ends up in the landfill. That's quite disappointing. Yes, keeping a stack of the correct batteries around is annoying - but a heck of a lot cheaper than replacing the whole unit.

The Chipolo Plus is a little bit larger than a £2 coin (5.9mm thick and 37mm wide) - but fits quite happily on a keyring. It is lightweight and solid - you're not going to notice it in your pocket or in a bag.

The App

The app has much improved from the original version. It doesn't crash, is usually quick to find the beacons, and doesn't take up much background resources. My Nexus 6 reports it using 32MB of RAM - its battery use is insignificant. In part, that's thanks to the efficiency of Bluetooth Low Energy. As the name suggests, it is designed for low power use.

But the strengths of BLE also come with Bluetooth's fundamental weaknesses. It can be really fiddly to set up. The first time I tried to pair the Chipolo with my phone, I got this message.

Or, as wiser minds once said:

“Next year it will work great” should be the motto of Bluetooth.

John Gruber

I got it working by following the instructions - so it wasn't that bad. Realistically, no worse than any other BT devices I've found.

Lost And Found

But what if you drop your keys while out jogging - how will you find them again? These tags are too small and under-powered to run a GPS chip. Instead, the app does the heavy lifting. Every time the app detects the beacon, it records the phone's location and uses that as the "last known location".

The Chipolo also allows you to share a tag with multiple people - so you'll be able to see if the Chipolo is in range of a family member's phone. It is a nifty idea - but quite lifestyle dependent. Does everyone in your family want a Chipolo? Do they all want the app?

If you lose your Chipolo, you can mark it as lost in the app. If someone else with the app comes within range, the Chipolo servers will anonymously send you the location where your device was detected. Again, a nice idea - but is it ever going to be useful? There have been around 100,000 downloads of the Android app - what are the chances that another user is going to wander by your lost keys?

Range

Chipolo claims a 60 metre range. I'd say that was broadly accurate - but it depends on the type of space you're in. At my office, with lots of Bluetooth devices vying for signal, it seemed a bit less than that. At home, the signal strength just about allowed me to detect the device wherever I was.

Mostly.

Because, sometimes, it just doesn't work at all. As I was writing this post I had the Chipolo right next to my phone - yet the app just wouldn't detect it! A few hours later, I got this notification telling me that it had been found by "the community"!

Issues like this only crop up rarely, but it is enough to reduce trust in the app.

Verdict

When it works, the Chipolo is great. The volume is loud - 100 dB according to the manufacturer - and keeps beeping until you find your lost items. If you need to keep track of physical objects, these sorts of BLE trackers are handy - but the software on the app is a bit of a let down.

The water-resistance is a nice feature - but I find the lack of changeable battery a real disappointment. I'm not sure that it is a worthy trade-off. And I'm definitely not a fan of throwing away electronics after only a year of use.

The Chipolo Plus is £20 - you can get a 20% discount using my referral link.

It is a nifty bit of technology but, unless you need the water resistant model, the Chipolo classic is the same price and a lot more environmentally friendly.

Let's get one thing out of the way first, this is not the Amazon Echo! It's about the same size, shape, and design - but it has a very different purpose

What's it for?

This is a big Bluetooth speaker with integrated LEDs and microphone.

At a basic level, you pair your phone with it and the Realsound acts as a speaker and microphone - so you can hold telephone conversations with it.

But that's only the half of it. Dotted all around the speakers are a variety of multicolour LEDs.

When you play music through it, you get your own little disco show!

Terence Eden is on Mastodon

@edent

Hashtag This Is Not The Amazon Echo!

Rather enjoying this review unit I've been sent.
amzn.to/2dp2nwl pic.x.com/8p7wqfuooq

---

Let's see it in action!

There are six different LED patterns you can choose from. Here we go!

Music by the inimitable SoloBassSteve (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Walkthrough

At the top of the unit are some touch sensitive buttons. Play/Pause, Next, Previous, Volume Up and Down, and the LED pattern select. The buttons don't seem to have any switches behind them, no clicking involved, just a quick tap and they react.

At the bottom of the unit, around the back, there's a micro USB socket. This is only used for power - you can't route audio through it. There is, however, a 3.5mm headphone jack - so you can plug in an aux cord and play directly from your phone.

There's a power toggle, and a small LED to tell you if the unit is charging. In the box you get a USB lead - but no plug - and a 3.5mm audio cable.

Quality

Let's be honest, this isn't going to replace your surround sound system. But it will comfortably fill a room with music. Take it outside and it performs beautifully. The sound emanates from all around, so you can leave it in the middle of a group of people and all enjoy the music.

Bluetooth range was acceptable. Obviously that will depend on your environment but I was able to wander around the house without any severe interuptions.

Audio quality was great - even at full volume I didn't experience any clipping. Voices were clear and stereo separation was good - the left speaker is at the bottom and the right at the top, phasing was also correct. Bass gave a good impression considering the size. Overall, a very competent speaker.

Playback Time

I fully charged the speakers - which only took a couple of hours - then set it to work. After 5 hours of music playback - and a couple of conference calls - the speaker was still going strong.

That's pretty damned impressive! It's thanks to its 3600mAh battery - that's larger than most modern smartphones'.

Phone Calls

For voice the performance is mixed. Sound quality is great. As a speaker phone the volume is great with no distortion. It's a little weird watching the LEDs bouncing around while people talk, but makes boring conference calls a bit more entertaining.

A few people said that the microphone volume was a little low, others didn't seem to notice it. Much like with an speakerphone, you'll need a fairly quiet environment to get the most out of it.

Teardown!

It wouldn't be an @edent review without ripping it open! Well, despite the dire warnings, where do we start? This is a splashproof unit with no obvious seams. Aha! The screws are under the rubber feet.

The glue is reasonably strong, so you'll need a good grip in order to peel it away. The screws are recessed, but not too deeply.

You can also see some test points which are exposed.

The top is a little tight to take off, underneath is the Bluetooth control unit.

The flipside of the controller shows us the BT antenna and other gubbins.

I'm not terribly happy about how well soldered the speaker wires are. Look a little fragile to me - but it's unlikely they'll come to any damage in a sealed unit.

The microphone is at the top. It's a standard condenser unit, I suspect the muffled sound is caused primarily by being behind a slightly too small aperture.

The next step is to remove the plastic backing strip. Do not peel this off or you will break it. Instead, slide it up gently.

This reveals three more screws for us to play with.

With the screws undone, we can begin to lift up the covering and see the LEDs on the inside:

And that's about as far as it is possible to go without removing some of the wiring. In order to get at the guts, you'd need to either unsolder or cut some wires. Not the sort of surgery I'm happy performing on a demo unit!

I'm sure with a little hardware hacking, it would be possible to make those LEDs play pong - but let's leave that for another day!

Buy It!

The Oittm Realsound Bluetooth Speaker is £50 from Amazon UK. It's an excellent kitchen speaker. Leave it plugged in, on a shelf somewhere, and enjoy music whenever you're in the room.

If you're interested in sponsoring my blog, please see my rate card.

There's a lot of technology packed in for £19.99.

• Bluetooth 4.1 - compatible with Android and iPhone.
• cVc noise cancellation - for improved call quality.
• A physically tiny 70 mAh battery - good for around 3-6 hours of use. I found it fully charged in around 2 hours.
• Flat cable which feels rubber coated and is sweat-proof.
• All this weighs just 16.5 grams.

So, what's inside this compact box?

A short USB charging lead, basic instruction manual, and a little carrying bag. Here's a closer look at the headphones and accessories.

There are three sizes of ear-buds and in-ear-clips. All stretchy rubber and fairly easy to change over.

The left headphone has a micro-USB socket hidden behind a rubber flap.

The right has the microphone, volume controls (which double as track-skip controls), and at the top an answer button (which doubles as power and pairing).

The right also contains a small multi-colour LED - red for charging and blue for all other functions.

Usability

Bluetooth is always a little tricky to connect - but the Oittm plays instructions through its speakers. Hold down the power button and it'll say "Power on" and then "Pairing" - so you always know what's going on with the unit.

Pairing was automatic with Android - it really is one click connect. Ubuntu was similarly easy to set up (once I upgraded BlueMan).

Holding down the volume keys acts as a track skip, and the "phone" buttons answers and hangs up calls as needed.

The headphones happily pair with as many devices as you have - just remember to switch off your phone's Bluetooth before attempting to connect them to another device.

Sound Quality

Despite what the audiophiles tell you, Bluetooth is perfectly capable of streaming high-fidelity audio. You're probably not going to use the RE-E01 as your reference listening set - but for commuting or exercising, they're just right.

Stereo separation is perfect, and even at high volume there's little evidence of distortion. Bass is decent although not exactly earth shattering, but the adjustable ear buds block most external noise. Once you crank up the volume there is some sound leakage - so be considerate when on public transport.

Voice quality is good. You may need to adjust the angle in your ear to get the best sound - but the noise cancellation works well and filters out background noise with surprising effectiveness.

One downside, on the review sample I was sent, the right earphone would occasionally cut out. This appears to be a random factory defect, and they are shipping me a replacement set. A quick thwack to the side of my head and the sound came back. I was curious as to what was causing the problems - well, there's only one thing for it...

Let's take a look inside!

When I get a new bit of kit, I simply cannot resist cracking it open to see what its guts look like.

There are no screws involved - a spludger or small screwdriver should easily find a purchase in the seam just by the power button.

What do we see?

The "multi-function" LED is, of course, separate LEDs (two at the top, red and blue). The microphone (bottom left) is connected to the main board by wires. Fairly standard push buttons protected with a little foam. But what's the main chip in the middle?

Aha! It is the CSR8635. Good to know that this delivers exactly what's promised on the packaging. You'll see some cheap headphones substitute chips with inferior quality sound.

The CSR8635 provides (PDF)

• Wideband Audio for voice - should make for improved phone call quality.
• MP3, AAC, and SBC codec support - for native audio decoding.
• 96kHz DAC - for improved audio quality
• AVRCP 1.4 - so can be controlled by all Bluetooth capable phones.
• Battery indicator - this is apparently only available in iOS, I couldn't find any way to see it in Android. Oh well!

Let's quickly flip the circuit board over.

Nothing remarkable. The wires are a little on the thin side - they're not intended to for you to fiddle with. The loose circuit appears to be inside the speaker itself. It is trapped behind a little blob of glue in a sealed plastic unit. Judging from the way the sound sometimes cuts out and is brought back with a little pressure applied to the speaker, I suspect a slightly damaged wire or loose contact.

The left ear-bud only contains the battery and charging circuitry.

A neat package. Easy to pull apart and put back together should you feel the need.

Verdict

The Oittm Bluetooth Headphones are £19.99. At that price range you'll find hundreds of headphones on Amazon. The Oittm are ridiculously lightweight - you'll barely know you're wearing them and they can be chucked in your handbag or pocket without taking up significant space.

The flat cable makes for a surprisingly good anti-tangle device. The lurid green colour is distinct without being obnoxious.

The in-ear hooks help keep everything in place. As long as you choose the right size, you can run and jump as much as you like without them dislodging.

One caveat - the pair that I received had a fault which caused the right speaker to occasionally cut out. LOPOO UK offered to replace them extremely quickly. These sorts of intermittent issues are tricky to spot by retailers, so I can't be too harsh on them.

You can buy the Oittm Bluetooth Headphones on Amazon.

Introducing the Onda V96. A 3G tablet for around £60.

Hardware

It's a pretty solid set of specs. The 9.6 inch IPS Screen runs at 1280*800. Colours are clear from all angles, skin tones are well reproduced. The screen is bright - if anything a little too bright on its dimmest setting.

There's 5 point multi-touch - so you can use all your fingers (or your noses if you'd like).

The device is powered by MediaTek's MTK6582 - a Quad Core 1.3GHz chip which can be found in loads of devices. There's only 1GB of RAM, but it seems plenty for most tasks.

Of the 16GB storage, around 12GB is free. There are a couple of demo songs, videos, and pictures which can be safely removed. A MicroSD slot provides for up to 128GB of extra storage. Interestingly, the internal storage is divided in two.

A 2GB partition for apps and a 12GB partition for media. Most apps will happily install the larger partition - and an extra SD card can be inserted if needed.

The tablet has GPS, but no compass - so you can't play AR games like Pokémon Go.

The only other thing missing is 5GHz WiFi. I was able to pull down around 35Mbps using the fast.com speed test - perfectly fine for video and web browsing.

Of particular interest are the dual 3G SIM slots.

Nestled under a slide off panel is space for two full-sized SIMs. Dual SIM devices haven't really taken off in the UK - which is a great shame. It means you can have both a work and personal number on same device. You can keep your home SIM in while using a roaming SIM abroad. Or just get seamless coverage when you move into an area not covered by one of your network providers.

Build Quality

The tablet is a bit of a mixed bag. It certainly feels sturdy enough - and the "gold" finish both looks good and feels pleasant.

The physical buttons are a disappointment. It doesn't feel like there's a spring behind them, so it is rather hard to tell if you've pressed them properly. Because they are located on the right side of the tablet, it's easy to accidentally press them. Easier still if you're holding the device vertically.

Having the micro-USB port on the top is useful - much less likely for the cable to get in the way when it is up there.

The SIM cover is tightly fixed, so shouldn't drop off without a good tug.

Software

The tablet is running Android 4.4.2.

Given that Android 6 has been out since October 2015, that's unfortunate. Onda don't seem to be in the habit of releasing software updates. The only one I can find involves downloading a .RAR from Baidu and flashing the tablet using Windows.

One good thing is that the software seems pretty close to "stock" - there are no annoying skins or significant manufacturer customisations. The launcher is fairly close to standard and, of course, can be replaced.

The stock launcher is included if you'd prefer that.

One thing you'll notice very quickly is that there are Chinese apps installed by default. You get the standard Google Gmail, Play, Maps, etc - but also a lot of Chinese apps.

我的中文不很好 (My Chinese is not very good!) which presented me with a problem - what are all these apps? What do they do?

Playing around in them is very confusing - especially when presented with screens like this.

The notification area quickly fills up with Chinese alerts.

All these apps can be removed - although they'll come back if you do a factory reset. I would strongly recommend that you disable or uninstall them before adding any personal information to the tablet. Take a look at the permissions list for the default apps.

It is well worth switching on "ask for app permissions" as soon as possible. There are several apps which will try to send premium rate text messages when you use them.

You should also switch on Google's "Verify Apps" - which should provide for some basic malware detection.

One nice tweak that I found was the ability to schedule when the device switches on and off. Handy if you want to save battery power over night.

I completely understand the desire of tablet manufacturers to include as many "value added" services as possible. At £60 per unit - including shipping to the UK - there can't be much profit margin. Each app and advert adds up brings in extra revenue.

But abusing users like this never ends well - customers find the adverts annoying at best, or a security risk at worse. Not a great way to build brand loyalty.

That said, a scan with both Lookout and AVG didn't reveal anything dangerous pre-installed on the tablet. I'd still recommend disabling any apps you aren't intending to use.

Performance

I was slightly worried about how well this would cope with intensive apps. Turns out, just fine.

The latest version of Angry Birds Transformers 3D played without any issues.

Gameplay was smooth and the sound was crackle-free.

YouTube happily played 720p video flawlessly. Lipsync was accurate

Things do start to stutter a bit if you're rapidly switching between high-powered apps. Similarly, large web pages can take a few seconds to render.

The popular "Gears" OpenGL Benchmarks manages 48fps. At £60, that's an acceptable performance level - you're not going to be playing GTA V on this thing.

The Geekbench3 test scores show reasonable performance. The battery is good for the price - it managed 8 hours of simulated light use with the screen on dim. That'll decrease if you're using the 3G network, obviously. I got just under an hour of gameplay from Transformers 3D.

Audio

Sound is provided by two speakers on the back - they're not super loud, but they'll do.

A standard 3.5mm jack is just above the power button - although the tablet doesn't come with a headset.

As a bonus, there's an FM radio app which uses your headphones as an antenna.

Cameras

The rear camera is 2MP with a flash, the front facing camera is 0.3MP.

In bright sunshine the camera is - again - adequate but unexciting.

The front camera is decent enough for a bit of video calling, but doesn't excel.

Bonus Linux Compatibility!

For people running Ubuntu, the device identifies on lsusb as

0bb4:0c02 HTC (High Tech Computer Corp.) Dream / ADP1 / G1 / Magic / Tattoo (Debug)

That's a bit cheeky - reusing HTC's USB ID - but it won't cause any serious problems. The device responds to ADB and fastboot. I couldn't find any 3rd party ROMs for the device, which is a shame.

Over USB, the device mounted via MTP and was fully accessible. Developer tools were enabled by default. The rooting tools I could find worked in Windows, but wouldn't run under WINE. I used KingRoot successfully.

Bluetooth file transfer and teathering worked well.

Bugs

• Rebooting the device resets your launcher preferences. It defaults to the Onda launcher rather than whichever one you've set.
• The headphone socket reacts to the "hang up" button, but not volume controls. But, to be fair, it seems every phone handles this differently.
• I occasionally noticed the tablet spontaneously vibrate - without showing an alert.
• Despite setting the language to English, a few obscure settings (like voice control) remain in 中文.
• Factory resetting defaults to 中文 - and doesn't take you through the standard Android "getting started" process.

Overall

This tablet is under £65. And you pretty much get exactly what you pay for. It's a good looking tablet with an adequate screen, adequate sound, and adequate software.

If you want, you can buy the iPad Air 2 for £340 - it's a best in class tablet which costs over five times as much as the Onda V96. Even then, you won't get dual 3G SIM slots or expandable storage.

There are a glut of Android tablets at around the £60 price point. You can pick and choose exactly which features you prioritise - screen size, resolution, SIM cards, software level, etc.

For browsing, music, movies, and a bit of gaming - this is just fine.

Aside from the physical buttons which I found a little unresponsive, the only real let down is the masses of irrelevant software which is shovelled onto the device. Once you've removed all of the random Chinese apps, you're left with a perfectly decent device running a stock, albeit older, Android.

It won't set the world alight - but it won't break the bank either.

You can buy the Onda V96 3G for £60 including shipping from Gearbest.

This was a sponsored post.

It's a testament to the success of the Raspberry Pi. Anyone with £30 to spare can pick one up and start hacking. Want to build an IoT fishtank? Start with a Pi. Need to monitor air pollution? Start with a Pi. Have a vague idea...? You get the picture.

The only problem with the Pi is the age-old complaint about just how user-friendly the command-line is. I've spent a lot of time with kids and adults who are familiar with computers - but utterly stumped when it comes to the CLI. Trying to get an LED to illuminate when you press a button using Python can be an exercise in frustration. It just doesn't match the mental models that people have on how computers should work.

Programming a Pi for IoT tasks should be as simple as coding a game in Scratch. A visual, drag-and-drop interface with instant feedback.

That's where Cayenne comes in handy. It's a free app which you can install on your Pi in about 5 minutes. If you install their mobile app, your phone will automatically find the Pi (if you're on the same WiFi network) and you can configure it directly. Cayenne offers five main areas of functionality.

A GUI for your GPIO

Once set up, you get this delightful web interface which will allow you to assign and monitor your GPIO pins. A couple of clicks and you're all set. No Python to mess with or external libraries to load.

It also means connecting up sensors and output devices becomes a breeze. Wire them in, tell Cayenne what and where they are. Done.

Which means...

Dashboard All The Things!

You instantly get a dashboard showing your Pi, its stats, and all its sensors.

It's a beautiful HTML5 representation of everything going on in your device - and it allows you to...

IFTTT For Your Pi

Even if you're already an accomplished programmer - sometimes it's just easier to do things in a visual manner. The If-This-Than-That style of webservices has totally revolutionised how people make complex interactions. Cayenne finally makes it simple to get started with IoT on Pi. If the light is shining, turn on the fan.

Scheduling

This is a brand new feature - and a most welcome one. Anyone who has accidentally typed
crontab -d rather than crontab -e will know just how frustrating it is to manage scheduled tasks on the Pi!

Cayenne will give you a simple, graphical way to turn your home into a smart-home. Once you've connected devices, you can schedule actions to happen as and when you need them. Set security cameras to come on at specific times, start your slow-cooker as you come home from work, or get the lights to switch off after you leave for work.

Phone Access

And, everything is accessible over your phone! You can monitor, configure, and adjust your Pi via your iPhone - with Android coming soon.

Get Cayenne

The Cayenne software is free - although you will need to register an account with them first. There's a comprehensive set of documentation and several introductory videos if you want to explore all the power it provides.

There's an active developer community, and the team behind the project are keen to find out how they can improve the app.

Right, I'm off to track down my missing Pi and put it to work!

I'm comparing this to other cameras I've reviewed in the past - including Y-Cam and Sercomm models.

The first thing to note is that this is one of the cheaper cameras on the market. At around £40, it's a third of the price of the Y-Cam models. But does that low price means it compromises on features?

What's In The Box

As well as the camera and power supply (output of 5V, 2A) you get a wall-mounting kit and instruction leaflet.

The leaflet is poorly translated - but there's not really a great deal of complexity here. Plug in the camera to the network, then plug it into the power.

There's an Android app and iOS app for you to configure the device. Or you can connect via your web browser - by default, the camera is available on port 81.

All the apps - including desktop apps - are available at http://www.netcam360.com/en.html

With the app you're able to fully control the camera - including receiving audio from it. If you want to access it from outside your network, you'll need to set up the necessary port forwarding.

Hardware

This is a fully featured IP Cam.

• This is a Pan / Tilt camera. It can rotate ~350° and can tilt ~150° from pointing straight up.
• 10 Infrared LEDs around the camera give it night vision
• Microphone on the base allows you to hear what's going on in a room.
• Speaker on the side to generate alarms - or you can use the microphone on your phone to talk to people near the camera..
• 2.4GHz WiFi, LAN port, 3.5mm audio jack.
• Micro SD card support for local file saving

Really, the only let-down is the comparatively poor resolution of the camera itself. Although the unit claims to deliver 720p, the maximum resolution is 640*360!

Software

The software is basic, but functional.

• Android App.
• iOS App.
• Built in web browser (port 81 by default).
• MJPEG support for streaming.
• RTSP support (although I couldn't get it working).
• ONVIF support (untested).

Usage

The Web UI is basic - but good enough.

There's a full suite of settings for you to fiddle with. Everything is reasonably sensibly laid out.

The same can be said for the Android app - everything works without much fuss.

With the Android app, you can use the touchscreen to control the camera's movement. You can also hold down the microphone button and use your phone's mic to broadcast your voice out to the camera! Nifty :-)

The camera also works perfectly with 3rd party webcam apps.

Digging around in the web UI, it seems that users of Internet Explorer are able to force the camera into 720p mode. However, if you don't want to install an OCX file, or can't use IE - it doesn't look like there's a way to get 720p out of the camera.

Alarms

Every IP camera is tricky to set up. This is no worse than any of the others. It will allow you to send photos via email, upload them to FTP, or save them on the Micro SD card.

The alarm sensitivity took a little bit of practice to get right, but once it has been configured you never have to touch it again. It might have been nice to support SMB or SFTP - but for a budget camera, it'll do.

Conclusions

You get quite a lot of camera for your money. The only real drawback is the limited resolution if you don't use Internet Explorer.

The Pan/Tilt motor is virtually silent. Even if you sit next to it, you'll hear it only as a whisper.

Infrared capabilities are good - you'll be able to see in even the darkest room.

This is a re-badged WansCam JW0004. It's a cheap-and-cheerful model. The basic functionality is great, the camera's sensor is adequate for domestic use, and the software is of the usual quality.

You can buy THZY's YHDO Security Camera with Night Vision on Amazon for around £40.

API

So, you want to integrate this into your other systems, eh? Ok!

I found this information via Lud's blogpost on the JW0004.

WansCam offer API documentation in Chinese - this is my attempt to translate the more useful parts of it!

This is not a complete list - but should be enough to get you started.

All of these will require authorisation. Sometimes the API parameters are user=&pass= and sometimes they are loginuse=&loginpas==

Get Still Image

http://--:81/snapshot.cgi?user=&pwd=

Get a streaming video

MJPEG

http://--:81/videostream.cgi?loginuse=&loginpas=

See various configuration settings

http://--:81/get_status.cgi

http://--:81/get_params.cgi

http://--:81/get_misc.cgi

http://--:81/get_factory_param.cgi

http://--:81/get_camera_params.cgi

http://--:81/get_record.cgi

Network Stuff

Initiate a WiFi scan:

http://--:81/wifi_scan.cgi

What WiFi networks can the camera see?

http://--:81/get_wifi_scan_result.cgi

Reboot and reset

http://--:81/reboot.cgi

http://--:81/restore_factory.cgi

Logs

Alarm Logs

http://--:81/get_alarmlog.cgi

Infrared Controls

IR Off

http://--:81/camera_control.cgi?loginuse=&loginpas=¶m=14&value=0

IR On

http://--:81/camera_control.cgi?loginuse=&loginpas=¶m=14&value=1

Resolution

Set resolution to 320*180

http://--:81/camera_control.cgi?loginuse=&loginpas=¶m=15&value=1

Set resolution to 640*360

http://--:81/camera_control.cgi?loginuse=&loginpas=¶m=15&value=0

Motion

Motion control is slightly tricky.

The &command= controls the direction of movement.

• &command=0 Up
• &command=2 Down
• &command=4 Left
• &command=6 Right
• &command=90 Up + Left
• &command=92 Down + Left
• &command=91 Up + Right
• &command=93 Down + Right

The &onestep= controls how far it will move in that direction.

• &onestep=0 - move as far as possible (i.e. all the way up, down, left, right).
• &onestep=1 - move a short distance in the direction of travel.

So, to move all the way up:

http://--:81/decoder_control.cgi?loginuse=&loginpas=&command=0&onestep=0

To stop all motion.

http://--:81/decoder_control.cgi?loginuse=&loginpas=&command=3&onestep=0

To Calibrate and return to centre:

http://192.168.0.40:81/decoder_control.cgi?loginuse=&loginpas=&command=25&onestep=0

PTZ Speed

Bit of a complex one this. The patrol_X_rates take one of three values.

• 1 Slow
• 5 Medium
• 10 Fast

Chained together, they look like

http://--:81/set_misc.cgi?loginuse=&loginpas=
   &ptz_patrol_rate=1
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One of the most common complaints in large companies is just how dreadful corporate supplied equipment is. Wheezing old laptops running out of date Windows, using ancient browsers, hamstrung by lousy anti-virus programs. The time between booting up and being able to work is often long enough to make a coffee, have a biscuit, read the morning paper, and contemplate your future with the company.

Phones aren't much better. Best case scenario you get given the phone from the person who previously had your job and you have to spend half a day wiping their finger-grease off the screen. Worst case? "We've got you this BlackBerry you can use..."

Either way, you're now stuck carrying two phones - not ideal.

That's where the drive for Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) comes from. You have a phone. Everyone has a phone. You probably have a laptop too. Why does a company need to supply you with a device which doesn't meet your lifestyle needs?

Aside from "well, that's just what we've always done," the big issue is security. How does a business make sure that only authorised people can get access to their information? What happens if a phone is left in a bar, or a laptop is stolen from a café?

Modern smartphones now support a plethora of security tools which allow a company to securely manage their employee's devices.

Android Device Administration is an excellent tool. Company administrators can set minimum password standards, ensure that storage is encrypted, and even disable the camera if a worker is in a sensitive facility. If a device goes missing it can either be located or remotely wiped.

Similar services are also available for iPhone, Windows, and BlackBerry - assuming that the user is willing to have such features activated on her phone.

For laptops, the situation is slightly different. By storing the majority of company information in Cloud Services, there is less sensitive information left on the laptop. With the use of a good password policy and two-factor-authentication, businesses should be able to secure their data from unauthorised access.

BYOD isn't a universal panacea - good businesses should be providing decent tools for their employees where needed - but adopting sensible policies which don't place too great a burden on the user, are a great way to mitigate the risks.

You can find out more about Dell's BYOD services via this infographic.

Yes, I'm talking about Infra-Red. Good old IR has been around for ages - you're bound to have a few devices which rely on it.

The folks at Gearbest have sent me an Orvibo WiFi Smart Remote in exchange for an honest review. Its promise is pretty simple - control all your Infra-Red gadgets via your smartphone. So, how does it perform?

Unboxing

It's very well presented - glossy black finish, with a sturdy feel to it.

All the product shots of the device make it look like it would dominate a lounge table.

But the Shezen built device is surprisingly small - just 11cm in diameter and a whisker over 3cm tall.

In the box you get the device, a 1m long micro-USB charging cable, 3 screws and rawl-plugs (should you wish to attach it to a wall), and a (poorly translated) instruction manual.

It's an elegant piece of kit. Reminiscent of a UFO. The eerie blue light on top can't be dimmed or switched off - it just gently pulses - so you probably want to place it out of your eye-line.

There are multiple IR transmitters (more on that later), so it really shouldn't matter where you place it in relation to your devices.

The App

In order to set-up and control the device, you'll need the app on your smartphone. It's available for iOS and Android on the Google Play App Store. If you don't have Google Play, you can download the APK directly.

You can add new devices, set up custom remote controls, add scenes (press one button - have multiple commands sent to different devices), create schedules, and set up passwords.

The app suffers from a fairly poor translation to English - but seems easy enough to muddle through.

There a "Cloud Service" which claims to be able to back up your configurations. I couldn't get my phone to talk to the servers in China reliably. Sniffing the traffic showed that it all went via HTTP - so don't stick your garage door codes in there!

Really, the only thing the app is missing is a widget. It would be great to press a single button on my home screen and have my TV switch on and tune to the channel I like, while closing my blinds and turning on the AC.

Set Up

I'll admit - this is where I nearly came unstuck. According to the manual, I should plug the Orvibo AllOne into the power, then use the app to configure it. That didn't work.

I'm not sure what I was doing wrong, but I tried multiple Android handsets and tablets - nothing seemed to work. Eventually, I tried connecting it to a WiFi network which didn't have a password - and it worked straight away. I'm not sure if it didn't like my SSID, my password, or the WPA provided by Virgin Media. None of my other electronics have a problem with my home WiFi network.

Eventually, after using the AP configuration screen multiple times, I was able to get it to connect. A slightly frustrating experience but one which only needs to be completed once.

Use

Once set up, I was impressed by just how quickly everything worked. As soon as I pressed a button on my phone, the TV reacted. Here's a quick video:

(My camera catches the IR flashes - you don't see them in real life).

There are a wide range of remotes supported, all with unique layouts. They're fairly customisable and quick to access.

The app claims to be able to download TV remote control profiles - but I couldn't get this to work. Instead you have to set the Allone into learning mode, aim your regular remote control at it, then simultaneously hold down the relevant button in the app and press the same button on your remote. A little cumbersome, but it seems to work.

Hacking

Plugging the USB device into a computer doesn't reveal anything interesting - all it does is charge. A quick use of nmap didn't pick up anything interesting either. There's no web server, REST API, telnet, SSH, or anything useful for an easy hack.

Thanks to the Open Source community, we can stand on the shoulders of giants! There is a Node.js library for controlling the Orvibo AllOne. I'm not overly familiar with Node.js, but it's fairly clear that the interface for the device is based around sending UDP packets to port 10,000 on the device.

packetLength = _s.lpad(decimalToHexString(ir.length / 2 + 26).toString(), 4, "0"); // This takes the length of our whole packet (IR + 26 bytes) and converts it to hex. Uses _s to pad it with 0s to make it valid hex
irLength = _s.lpad(decimalToHexString(ir.length / 2).toString(), 4, "0"); // And we do the same, but with our hex
irLength = _s.chop(irLength,2).reverse().join(""); // Cut up our length into hex and reverse it (needed for the IR length. Strange..)
randomBitA = Math.floor((Math.random() * 2048)); // The A1 won't blast twice if this remains the same (some kind of accidental blast guard?), so get a random value
randomBitB = Math.floor((Math.random() * 2048)); // Same as above
payload = payload.concat(['0x68', '0x64'], this.hex2ba(packetLength), ['0x69', '0x63'], this.hex2ba(hosts[index].macaddress), twenties, ['0x65', '0x00', '0x00', '0x00'], randomBitA, randomBitB, this.hex2ba(irLength), this.hex2ba(ir)); // Put it all together

Not the easiest structure in the world - but should provide a solid basis for building libraries in other languages.

Cracking It Open

The metal base at the bottom twists off - revealing a single screw. Undo that, and the lid easily slips off. There are four IR transmitters around the circumference - they're the white squares. That's why this device can be placed in most locations - the beams scatter out in all directions.

There's a single black IR receiver which is used for learning remote controls. I wasn't able to remove the tiny screws holding it all in place - but I assume the WiFi module is on the underside.

Judging by the MAC address, the WiFi module is the HF-LPB100.

Specifications & Other Notes

From the manufacturer's website:

``` Power supply: DC 5V 600mA Max current: 10A IR: 38 KHz FR: 433MHz ASK Material: High transmittance PC+stainless steel Wireless standard: Wi-Fi 2.4GHz b/g/n Wireless frequency: 2.412-2.484GHz Security type: WEP/TKIP/AES Security mechanism: WEP/WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK Wireless consumption: less than 0.3W Working temperature: -20-60 Celsius Working humidity: less than 80 % `

I don't have any 433MHz devices, so I was unable to test that.

After powering up the device, it connected to the WiFi within a few seconds. Although, weirdly, it kept changing IP address every-so often. I set the router to give it a static IP address.

Verdict

The Orvibo is very much a "stop-gap" technology. In an ideal world, all your tech would work over Bluetooth and WiFi. Until that day comes, being able to control older equipment via your phone is undeniably useful.

The price is decent considering what you get.

The Orvibo WiFi Smart Remote is available for £28.57 / €39.67 / $34.99.

Use the coupon code Allone to receive a discount, taking the price to £23.72 / €32.93 / $34.99.

This is a really useful device if you've got several IR devices that you don't want to upgrade.

It's let down by a complicated connection method and a poorly translated app. Although there's no official API, it does have a degree of hackability should you wish to experiment.

Overall, once it's on your WiFi, it's a solid and good looking device which does exactly what it promises.

The device was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

Anyone who has ever run a blog is probably familiar with these sorts of email - I get one or two a week.

Hi Terence,

I recently sent you an email about hosting an advertisement on your site. I hope you received it, if not it may have ended up in your junk folder.

I believe we offer a very attractive system of advertising. You would be paid a yearly-renewable fee for placing a text-based advertisement that is appropriate to the topic of your site.

Please get back to me if you are interested in placing an advertisement on Shkspr.mobi?

Kind Regards,

Jesse Morgan

jesse.morgan@mediadiscovery.com

I rarely reply to such spam, however, having heard of Media Discovery's shady practices in the past, I thought I'd respond and find out more.

This is what I got back:

After reviewing your website, we think that a new blog post would be the best and least intrusive option for you. We have two ways of doing this:

A) You are free to come up with the content of the article or blog post, but we do ask that it is in some way relevant to our client and is composed of roughly 300 words.

B) I can ask our copywriters to craft an article to fit your site.

To see an example, kindly visit: http://www.mycarreviews.co.uk/citroen-c4-review/. The advert can be found within the third paragraph - 'J.D. Power'.

We’ll pay you an annual upfront payment and we will endeavour to make sure that you are paid within two working days, using PayPal or Moneybookers. Working with a telecommunications, beauty, health, tourism or finance client would ensure you would get 130 EUR per year, while working with an online gaming client (poker, casino, bingo etc) would ensure you would get 140 EUR per year.

Please let me know if you're interested, so I can have your site assessed by our Technical Team. I can then send the advert details and client information.

Alternatively, if you have any more questions about this advert type, then please do let me know.

Thanks,

Jesse

This is what the "advert" looks like: The eagle-eyed among you will notice that this doesn't look like an advert. The site carries no mention of the fact this is a sponsored article. (I've no way of verifying whether JD Power paid for this advert, or even if the blog's author is working with Media Discovery.)

I queried this - surely it's not right that advertising should be displayed in such a manner. Their response?

Thank you for your message.

We prefer it if our adverts are not marked out as such. They tend to be more successful when they look as natural as possible.

Many thanks.

This is, as far as I can tell, an illegal practice.

There are various laws and regulations governing advertising in the UK. The Office of Fair Trading specifically calls out the following practice as illegal under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations, the following is an offence:

Being honest about advertorials

Using editorial content in the media to promote a product where a trader has paid for the promotion (advertorial) without making that clear in the content or by images or sounds clearly identifiable by the consumer.

Can A Blog Get In Trouble For This?

There are two potential risks for bloggers who don't acknowledge the providence of their sponsored content. Firstly is the issue of legal liability. I am not a lawyer - but I would be very wary of publishing content like this. Regulation 18 states:

Innocent publication of advertisement defence

18.—(1) In any proceedings against a person for an offence under regulation 9, 10, 11 or 12 committed by the publication of an advertisement it shall be a defence for a person to prove that—

he is a person whose business it is to publish or to arrange for the publication of advertisements;

he received the advertisement for publication in the ordinary course of business; and

he did not know and had no reason to suspect that its publication would amount to an offence under the regulation to which the proceedings relate.

I spoke to the ASA who confirmed that it was unlikely an individual publication would get in to trouble - they'd much rather go after the advertiser.

Secondly, major search engines - Google in particular - can completely remove you from their results if it suspects you have been spamming.

In the above JD Power example, the link doesn't use the nofollow attribute which further contributes to its spammy nature.

What Can Be Done

In the UK, the regulator is the Advertising Standards Authority. Unsurprisingly, they take a keen interest in the online space. After having a chat with their advisers, I have lodged a complaint with the ASA using their online form.

I don't fundamentally disagree with the notion of advertising on blogs - I use Amazon's affiliate scheme to earn a few coins, and I have occasionally run campaigns from ebuzzing. Crucially, I always explicitly say if a post is sponsored and who the sponsor is.

How can you trust a publication if they refuse to tell you where their interests lie?

If you're a blogger and have been approached by company trying to engage in deceptive practices, I strongly suggest you file a formal complaint against them with your local regulator.

This is a sponsored post from ebuzzing

I love my little Dell Laptop - it's served me well over the years. And it has become a magnet for stickers - some for companies who have long since gone bust! Recently, I've upgraded the hard disk to a pure solid state drive. The speed increase is incredible. Coupled with adding an extra GB of RAM, the machine is now faster than ever. It's just a pity that Dell limited the machine to 2GB of RAM.

But, there's no denying it's getting a little long in the tooth. Video playback is only possible at fairly low resolutions, editing is a nightmare, there's no built in camera, and I think the headphone port is on the way out.

I Hate Tablets

Tablets are great if all you want to do is watch a movie or do some idle scrolling. That's no good for me - I need to work on my machine. I hate using touchscreen keybaords - either my fingers are too fat, or the screens are innaccurate. Even the best oleophobic screen gathers fingerprints and scratches if used for a sustained period of time. That said, I do like tablet's portability. I like the ease of use if I am just surfing. But unless I can plug in a keyboard and mouse - or any USB peripheral - a tablet is functionally useless to me.

Enter The Duo

Is the Duo the best of both worlds?

Dell's Inspiron Duo laptop is an intuitive machine, hailed as “the new convertible” thanks to its innovative flip-hinge design. Switching effortlessly from tablet to laptop, it’s perfect for both work and play.

I wouldn't call it intuitive - but it is innovative. It's only £450 for the base model - which is cheaper than an iPad 2. The tech-specs are fairly good - but not dramatically so. For a device which is going to be moved around a lot, I would have expected an SSD as standard. As it is, it's not even one of the customisable options. Some enterprising people have cracked the case open and added their own SSD. But it's not for the faint-hearted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMOiHRGpsLE

There is, however, a rather odd "AudioStation". Essentailly, it's a dock for the Duo. Quite why it needs it when you can stand it up using the keyboard, I don't know. At £99 for a charging station with built in speakers, it's not high up my list of must-haves. There are only two USB slots available on the regular chassis and - bizarrely - no HDMI or VGA output for connecting to an external screen. In keeping with the "seamless" ideals, there's not ethernet port - this is a WiFi only device. There's no 3G support - so you'll need a USB dongle or to tether to your phone. The battery - which doesn't look to be easily upgradeable is good for 4 hours. Again, it's ok, but it's not astounding. The Duo also comes with Windows 7. I suggest you reject the Windows EULA and ask Dell for a refund of the Windows License.

Ubuntu Support

Despite Dell's much vaunted support for Linux, it appears that support for the Duo is incomplete. The touchscreen mostly works - but there's no multi-touch yet. Similarly accelerometers don't detect that the screen orientation has changed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6HLXtIprUg

There's a long running thread on Ubuntu Forums which should step you through the rather easy set up of Ubuntu. There are a few manual files to edit - but the basic hardware is well supported. Other Linux distros should work just as well.

The Competition

Want to win one of two Dell Duos? Of course you do!

Eligible contributors (18+ and UK resident) will be in with a chance of winning 1 of 2 Inspiron Duos, and 10 runner-up prizes of We7 premium memberships (3 month), just for letting sharing with us your favourite work and play tracks through the work, play, love application. The closing date for the competition is 21st April 2011.

Dell have set up a Facebook page which has their new Work and Play application. To enter, simply select your 10 favourite tracks for Work and Play. So, think of the tracks you use to inspire you in work and play - tell Dell - win a laptop. Nifty!

Conclusion

I'm certainly leaning towards the Duo as my next laptop. If Dell were to include a working version of Ubuntu - and perhaps an SSD as an upgrade option - it would be a no brainer. As it is, I'll see how Ubuntu develops as the community hacks away at it. I've already proved to myself that I can easily upgrade a laptop's hardware - but I'm not that keen to go poking in the guts of another machine. The Duo certainly represents value for money - especially if you're a Windows user - but I'd be prepared to pay a little more if they offered some more flexible options. As will all my sponsored posts, your feedback is important to me. Vote in the poll or let me know in the comments what you think.

I love me a Segway!

I only wish they were street legal in the UK.

Anyway, Bing have paid me to say...

Brian’s technological adventures lead him to a store in Los Angeles where he experiences the greatest invention of all time - the Segway.

Now watch the video.

If you're interested in sponsoring a blog post - get in touch.

Brian Badonde, Facejacker’s eccentric art critic at large, has launched his new web-based series entitled "The Art of Technology." The series follows Brian Badonde in his quest to learn more about how technology can enrich his already extravagant life with the help of Bing.

This week's episodes feature Badonde furthering his quest to harness the power of technology using Beautiful Bing. Along the way he gets to know a Bing engineer a little better and ventures across the pond to the Bing offices in the U.S of A, all in the name of finding life-enhancing technology.

Brian Badonde, comments: "Filming the Bart of Bechnology was in many ways a biritual journey for me. Never before have so many people so generously allowed me to binkle with bechnology with such freedom of bexpression. I hope my fans, bart critics and bart lovers from around the world will join together, in one bollective bonsciousness to bembrace the new series and that it helps them see the true beauty that blies at the very beart of bechnology."

You can see the whole series, including the first two episodes, at http://www.youtube.com/artoftechnologyuk

If you're interested in sponsoring a blog post - get in touch.

Into the crowded arena steps the HTC Wildfire.

I'm a huge fan of the HTC hardware - but I often feel that they ignore the customer service side of things. For too long they were silent on when their firmware releases were coming out - leaving VillainROM and Cyanogen to pick up the slack.

Android phones have typically come in two flavours, hyper expensive devices like the Nexus One and cheap-as-chips devices like the LG Apex. (Seriously? US$80 for a phone... wow!)

The Wildfire sits comfortably between the two at a reasonable sub-£200 price to own the phone outright. I'm sure it's free on contract.

Right - watch this video so that I can earn tuppence ha'penny from eBuzzing.

The specs are impressive for such a cheap phone. The Android version is the slightly outdated 2.1 - I'd have expected HTC to stick Android 2.2 (Froyo) on there - especially as 2.3 (Gingerbread) is launching imminently. Hopefully HTC won't be so lackadaisical with its update process for this phone.

You can buy the HTC Wildfire from Amazon and all good phone retailers.

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