IFTTT

IFTTT has built a reputation for itself as the glue that can hold the Internet of Things and the cloud together, and now it's opening up its most advanced features for regular users. IFTTT - or If This, Then That - is effectively a cloud-based hub for connected devices and services that might not normally work together. With its Applets, users can hook up their Nest thermostat to their Gmail account and get a notification if the temperature drops, for instance, or flash their Hue lights if their favorite team scores.

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Pizza company Domino's has yet again tapped modern technology to improve the pizza-ordering process, this time announcing a new partnership with IFTTT, making it the first-ever restaurant brand to get on the platform. To kick things off, Domino's has announced some IFTTT Applets able to work with the company's Pizza Tracker to adjust smart homes in optimal ways (for pizza delivery). Do you have sprinklers on outside, for example? They'll automatically be turned off when Tracker says the delivery is underway.

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Mayfield Robotics' Kuri robot companion may not have launched yet, but it's already getting smarter, adding facial detection as well as IFTTT integration. The personable robot was announced at CES 2017 back in January, a Bosch-backed project to put a friendly AI in the modern connected home. Now, the ways in which Kuri will be able to interact with both people and its environment have been improved.

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Earlier this year, toy-maker Sphero debuted the Star Wars Force Band wearable, making the previously released robotic BB-8 even cooler than it already was. Basically, the wristband allowed the small droid to be controlled with hand movements. Now Sphero has one-upped itself once again, introducing the ability to pair the Force Band with various smart home apps and appliances, all powered by IFTTT.

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Just a few days ago, Microsoft fully launched Flow, which was its own take on the automation platform market but with an eye towards the workplace. IFTTT, who can be credited as having popularized the idea, isn’t taking things sitting down. But rather than aiming its guns specifically at the enterprise, it is trying to do one better. It is evolving its “Recipes” metaphor into “Applets”, and, while doing so, is also targeting enterprise partners, but not to the exclusion of regular consumers and power users.

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It seems that Microsoft is now getting into the habit (again) of creating new products that can be seen as a rivaling copy of a popular service. Skype Teams, for example, is set to kill Slack. Microsoft Flow, which has been in preview for quite some time now, is aiming its guns at IFTTT. But while IFTTT has the advantage of popularity, age, and non-exclusivity, Microsoft Flow is going to hit hard in one area where IFTTT might have trouble settling in: the enterprise.

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Google has set about taking over our abodes this morning with a full reveal of the device called Google Home. This is the device we saw briefly earlier this year around Google I/O 2016, now coming from Google in a release-level manner. It doesn't look all that unlike a candle, or a wine glass, or a ... you know what. This system connects with a number of services right out the gate, including YouTube Music, Spotify, Pandora, Google Play Music, TuneIn, and iHeartRadio.

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IFTTT may be the glue for the Internet of Things, but now the useful service-linking platform is going embedded, with deep app integration making cooking up smart home recipes even more straightforward. IFTTT - or "If This Then That" - has announced an update today that sees its recipes embedded into third-party apps from Ring, Automatic, and more.

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IFTTT, short for IF-This-Then-That, is one of those "Web 2.0" things that power users love but regular Joes and Janes can't fully grasp. At the same time, it has created a new culture of automation, be it desktops or smartphones, and could even help the fledgling IoT industry to truly take off and expand beyond its limited borders. Microsoft, who already launched its own take on automation with Flow, is taking another stab at it via its Microsoft Research arm. Curiously and tragically named "CAP", short for Conditional Action Programmer", the still experimental platform puts a different twist to the idea by letting users type in their tasks in a more natural English language form.

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Although not exactly a household name among consumers, IFTTT has become the darling of power users of all shapes and sizes, platforms, and devices. The web-based service basically takes inputs, triggers, and other events that can send a sort of signal and ties it with any other action. Taking a page from that strategy, Microsoft has silently launched Flow, a service that sounds and looks almost like IFTTT. But, as they say, looks can be deceiving, and that's because Flow is only available for Microsoft's business and education customers.

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The OnHub is an odd and unexpected surprise from Google. While it has a very strong resemblance to Amazon's Echo, OnHub is primarily a wireless router. It's a smart router, though, allowing for more control and information via a smartphone. It is also meant to be the hub of Google's smart home ambitions. But there are only so many things you can do with a router, right? Google is now challenging that perception by opening up OnHub to popular web platform IFTTT, allowing almost anything to be done with the router.

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As seen previously, Amazon's new Dash Buttons are physical equivalents of 1-click checkout options, allowing Amazon Prime members to order common household items with a single press of the WiFi-connected device. But one programmer has come with a fairly simple hack that turns the $5 buttons into something that can track just about any type of data point. In a detailed post on Medium, Edward Benson explains how he turned a Dash Button into a system that collects data on his baby.

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