Community Magazine June 2014

74 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE Make Your Summer Celebration MORRIS MASSRY A survey of the “coolest” gadgets for parties on hot summer days. With the summer almost here, many are looking forward to warmer weather, soaking up the sun by the beach, or a relaxing swim. The summer is also a time of celebration – engagements, weddings, and lots of other parties take place during the summer. Here are a few of the latest and greatest innovations to bear in mind as you plan your summer celebration. HI-TECH r Summer Celeb DJI Phantom 2 Vision Quadcopter Everyone has heard of aerial drones. The U.S. military uses them for reconnaissance, and one day, Amazon. com hopes to use them to ship goods to your door. DJI’s Phantom 2 is a drone with a built-in camera that streams and records live video and pictures to your iPhone. Capture the whole party and candid shots from overhead, and see all the action on your phone’s screen from high above. Lynx Smart Grill Imagine a BBQ grill that understands you when you say, “Cook these steaks medium-rare.” The igniters turn on by themselves to just the right level, and the grill tells you when it’s time to flip the meat, and cooks the steak to perfection automagically…Oh, and it sends a message to your smartphone when your food is ready to be served. The secret to the grill’s know-how is that it actually connects to your home’s Wi-Fi network, giving it access to a database of recipes and cook times. So if you tell it you’re having steak for dinner, it will automatically preheat the burners and tell you exactly where to place the cuts of meat on the grill for optimal searing. The Smart Grill allows you to enjoy time with your guests, instead of hovering over the grill. And if you do get distracted and miss all the voice and app cues, the grill will automatically shut itself off to ensure your food doesn’t burn. Sound Appeal BlueVIBE Bluetooth Outdoor Speakers When people hear the word Bluetooth, they think of tiny in-ear devices, or of connecting a phone to their car. Bluetooth technology has made great strides in recent years, and the latest and greatest compression technologies deliver wireless sound that is on-par with wired connections. The days of iPod docks are long gone – and you no longer need to be tied down to your indoor sound system to control your outside music. Now you can wirelessly streammusic directly from your smartphone to Sound Appeal’s BlueVIBE speaker system, and control the playlist from anywhere in your backyard or pool area. Monsieur Robotic Bartender Brushing elbows on your way through crowds, struggling to catch the bartender’s eye – all that hassle for a tasty beverage. If only we could leave all the hard work to a machine. Fortunately, there is Monsieur, the “robotic bartender,” just the machine you need. Monsieur is pre-loaded with drink profiles, and lets you adjust the mix of ingredients (stored in containers built into the machine) on the fly or in your profile settings. Dispensing can also be timed for specific ingredients, so you can “layer” the ingredients in your cocktails. The partner app for iOS and Android lets you connect directly to any Monsieur machine to place drink orders remotely.An Event feature lets multiple users send in their drink orders, which go into a queue to be dispensed in the order that they arrived. Party-goers can also browse the drink list while waiting to use the tablet interface, cutting down on wait time. There’s also a “surprise me” mode if making a decision just isn’t your thing. As for keeping ingredients topped up, the app will track stock levels and alert you when you’re running low on supplies. There’s even an on-board cleaning mode, which runs hot water through the machine to force out debris.