- It’s official! Nintendo Switch 2 will be out June 5th. For her impressions on the system, I catch up with Kate Kozuch from Tom’s Guide in NYC
- Speaking of games, learn about the new location-based large-scale multiplayer mobile phone game, SLAP: Water Wars & Assassin, with Lauren Steidl and Ian Andolsek from Integrated Reality Labs
- Back on the show we’ve got Akshita Iyer, CEO and founder of Ome (pronounced “home” without the “h”), to tell us what’s new with the smart kitchen tech company
- Thank you to Visa and SanDisk for your support!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the ever changing world
of technology? Can check it out? Can help make some
sense of it all. Breaking down geeksbeak into street speak.
Technology columnist, author, and TV personality Mark Saltzman covers consumer
technology each week for every listener. Mark tackles the latest news, reviews,
and how toos to help you understand what's hot, what's
(00:21):
not and why.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Hey, everyone, welcome to check it out. It's episode three
eighty eight. Hope you're all doing great. I just came
back from New York again. I was there last week,
if you recall with high Sense, seeing their new TVs,
including one hundred and thirty six inch model that was
talked about on last week's show.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
And then this week I was at a.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Nintendo event to get my hands on the Nintendo Switch Too,
the upcoming video game console, the successor to the Nintendo
Switch from twenty seventeen. It's coming out June fifth, and so.
One of the first interviews on this week's Tech It
Out is with Kate Kosich from Tom's Hardware. She's also
a content creator, like an influencer. She's so nice. Anyways,
(01:08):
She's going to be on the show to chat about
Nintendo Switch to in her impressions of the new system.
I caught up with her in New York, where she's based,
and then this weekend, I'm off to Milan. I know,
tough life, little violins, but I'm going to be with
the company Asus to see some new laptops. A handful
of journalists will be attending Design Week in Italy, and
(01:30):
tech will be very much a part of that story,
especially when it comes to laptops. I mean, how do
you make your computers stand out from others? It's not
the sexiest of gear, but when they have really cool
designs and engineers working on the different look and style
of the devices, innovative material that give it a fresh spin,
all that kind of stuff is really neat. So going
(01:51):
to be pretty weird to see laptops on the runway
or whatever. I don't even know what to expect them,
just making this up, but it'll be fun, and I'm
going to report on what I see next week on
tech it Out. I'll probably find someone from Asus to
chat with, but there's gonna be many other companies as well.
So yeah, if you are a regular listener to tech
it Out, first of all, thank you, but you know
(02:12):
that I've had a bit of a whirlwind couple of months,
three times in New York in like five weeks, and
I'll be back again in April doing some TV work
at the end of the month. Then I head to
San Francisco, may go back to Europe after that. Anyhow,
it sounds exhausting and it sounds like I'm bragging, so
I'm gonna just stop right there. But hey, I love
being a freelance journalist. I do have the ability the
(02:33):
freedom to go on these kinds of things. And my
wife Kelly is super understanding and she will be coming
with me to Milan. By the way, We're going to
stay on after Design Week in Milan and go up
to the Alps, Lake Como and Lake Madjior, and then
going to Venice afterwards. No, please don't write me and
tell me that I'm mispronouncing things. This happens once in
(02:53):
a while on this show Lake mad Jor. I don't know,
But anyhow, I digress. We have a great tech it
out planned for you this hour. We are going to
first talk about the Nintendo Switch Too, with Kate Kosch
from Tom's Hardware, a very popular digital magazine for all
things tech. Speaking of games, we're then going to learn
about Slap, water Wars, and Assassin. This is a new
(03:14):
game that's based on the real world game water Wars,
or sometimes called Assassin or Senior Assassin. It's when seniors
run around the real world and tag and they've got
a target and it's a real world game, but they're
bringing this into the mobile scene, so available at the
app Store for iPhone and Android. Again, Slap is the
name of the app, but the games are water Wars
(03:35):
and Assassin. Also on the program today, OHM as in
Home without the H. We're going to catch up with them.
They're a kitchen tech company that has some innovative designs
for all homeowners, including a smart stove knob that does
some pretty neat things, including some safety features. So we're
going to talk with OHM on this week's tech it
Out as well. There's no place like OHM. Okay, sorry,
(03:59):
dad joke. All of this and more on a brand
new tech it out powered by Visa. Securing the world's
payments is priority one. I'll tell you more about Visa's
anti fraud efforts shortly, but let's officially kick off the
show with our first interview recorded in New York at
the Nintendo Direct event where the company officially unveiled the
launch date of Nintendo switch To. So forgive some of
(04:21):
the ambient noise when I sat down with Kate, but
let's go ahead and play that interview. I am sitting
here with Kate Kovich, managing editor for Tom's Guide, very
popular publication covering all things tech. Great to see you,
and also last week at another event. All right, so
Nintendo Switch Too, it's official. What are your thoughts? So
we sat through the Nintendo Direct, which was video that
(04:42):
people at home can watch as well, but then we
got some hands on time with it. So at a
high level, what is Nintendo switch to?
Speaker 4 (04:48):
Nintendo switch To is the next evolution of the switch experience.
So what's fundamental to switch is the fact that you
can dock it and play on your TV, separate the
joycns and be able to play with your friends to
a different controller, or you can take it on the go.
It has the built in screen, so that's still fundamentally
at the core of the Switch Too. But my biggest
takeaway is that the switch to is fixing all the
(05:10):
little complaints that everyone had with the original switch from
the flimsy kickstand to the joy cons that fall off
the rails to the screen. That just leaves you wanting
a little bit more to enjoy some of the epic
titles that have joined the Nintendo Switch gaming world.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
So let's unpack some of that.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
At its core, the Nintendo Switch and now the Nintendo
Switch Too, which is coming out June fifth, is a
versatile console because you can play on the go to
reduce the are we there yet from the backseat if
you will, on a road trip, but then you can
dock it and play it on a big screen TV
when you get to the hotel or back at home.
But what separates the Nintendo Switch Too from the Nintendo
Switch are a number of improvements that you've alluded to.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Let's start with the screen.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
The original Nintendo Switch was a six point two inch
that's correct.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Way now what are we talking.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
Now we're talking seven point nine. There were some rumors
that is going to be an eight inch display, but
I don't think anyone's going to be complaining whatody hears?
Speaker 5 (06:04):
No, of course, not at this point.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
But not only that, the Switch to has double the
pixels of the original Switch, so you're going from seven
to twenty P to.
Speaker 5 (06:11):
Ten eighty P.
Speaker 4 (06:12):
That is a huge jump in resolution that from some
of our hands on time was incredibly evident.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
And they've also up the refresh rate up to one
hundred and twenty frames per second, which means smoother, Yeah,
smoother gameplay, which is important for games like Mario Kart World,
which is a launch title, so a fast paced kart
racing you know, cartoony like game, It's now going to
be silky smooth.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
Mario Kart World is one of the most exciting games
I have played in so long. It takes a classic format,
but it spins it on its head and introduces new
gameplay features that we have never seen in Mario Kart before.
And Mario Kart's been around forever, at least in my world,
so we have now two different ways to play in
Mario Kart that you didn't before. First, it's an open
(06:57):
world format, so if you're not in a circuit, if
you're not playing a race, you can just go explore,
try and find some coins, crash into some familiar faces,
see what the world around Mario Kart World is like.
But then my favorite feature and probably the best gaming
experience I've had with the switch to so far was
Knockout Mode in Mario Kart World. Knockout Mode takes you
(07:20):
through different time sections where each round fewer and fewer
reserves will make the cut. So if you don't make
it to that first benchmark before you know the five
people behind you, you're out.
Speaker 5 (07:30):
It's so competitive.
Speaker 4 (07:31):
I was so into it and actually extremely upset when
I got cut in the fourth round.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Ouch. I also like you touched on this a bit.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
The free row mode I believe it's called where you
can just drive around with somebody online and even stop
and take pictures of one another within the.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Game share it, which I think is really clever.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
You know, you can discover new parts of the map,
maybe some shortcut like outside of a race, which I
think is great.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
And I would say that's only a taste of the
new community features that are built into the switch too awesome.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
And speaking of community, so along with a bigger screen
with better resolution and a faster refresh rate, there's the
beefed up kickstand JOYCN controllers which are removed on each
side of the unit should you want to. That is
now magnetic, and that is again alleviating a pain point
often found in the predecessor. But let's talk about the
(08:20):
community for the first time. There's a dedicated sea button
near the right joy con that, as you might expect,
see us for chat.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Tell us a bit about this feature.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
You know, I actually have my original Switch with me
here and I'm looking at it and I'm sad that
i don't see that Sea button there, because I feel
like now it's just going to become such a staple
of the Switch to experience.
Speaker 5 (08:39):
I think it's best to look at game.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
Chat as a suite of features that can connect players
wherever they are. So if friends are getting home from school,
maybe you don't live so close different bus stops, you
can log on at the same time, hit that Sea button,
answer a call from your friend, and you guys can
be gaming. But you don't have to play games together.
I think that needs to be the biggest differentiation. It's
not co op gaming. It's I can enjoy my game.
You can enjoy your work here, pallel play right and
(09:03):
even better, Yet, if you're stuck in a part of
a game that I've already beat, you can screenshare with
me and I can walk you through it and maybe
give you some tips on how to beat it.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
I love that feature as well, so along with real
time multiplayer chat with the built in microphone that has
noise cancelation, So even if it's a bit noisier, like
what you might hear right now, there's some ambient noise
at this event, you can't block that out, which is great.
It's already integrated because with the original Nintendo Switch it
wasn't so easy to voice chat. You had to attach
an external microphone. And there's also the ability to add
(09:33):
a video camera. There's two USBC ports instead of one,
so you snap into a camera on top for video
calling and like during gameplay as well.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
Right, there is a new gadget or accessory if you will,
for the Switch to called the Nintendo Switch to Camera.
Great name. Right can attach to your switch and basically
be your interface for not just this remote gameplay that
I've discussed with game chat, but if you're playing a
game like Mario Party Jamber that's actually being upgraded as
(10:01):
part of the Switch to Edition games, you'll now be
able to have cameras in your living room if you're
playing with your friends and family. It adds all this
new functionality to the game where it's actually your face.
That's like jumping up and down and hitting the bricks
or trying to avoid getting flamed by bowser.
Speaker 5 (10:17):
It's a really fun new way to play.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
And we did see a lot of games here today.
Some are refreshed versions of previous hits, like from the
Legend of Zelda franchise. We saw a new Donkey kong
ip here at the show, as well as other third
party games like Hadis two and Cyberpunk.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
So June fifth, it's Nintendo switch to there's going.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
To be a bundle with the Mario Kart World game
as well.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
And for pricing, how much.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
Will it be for forty nine?
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Great? So again, we've been chatting with Kate Kovich.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Where can we learn more about you and what's your
preferred social handle?
Speaker 4 (10:49):
I got two for you at Tom's Guide Everywhere, and
then you're also going to find me at Kate Kozych
k t e koz Uch.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
Good to see you, Kate, Thanks so much for your time.
Speaker 5 (10:58):
So great to see you all right.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Speaking of games, when we return on Tech it Out,
we're going to get the skinny on Slap Water Wars
and Assassins. This is a new game you can download
for free from the Apple App Store or the Google
Play Store to play IRL in real life with your phone, though,
but you'll get all the details after this short break,
so stick with us.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
We'll be right back with a lot more check it.
Speaker 6 (11:23):
Out Listen to Check it Out whenever you want to
find the Check it Out podcast, did I Too, or
wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
Welcome back to check it Out.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
We cover cybersecurity a lot on this program and how
you can best protect yourself in the digital age, even
if you're not super tech savvy. One part of the
solution is securely shopping online, and so I'm thrilled about
my partnership with Visa on Tech it Out, as they've
made some significant investments in fraud prevention over the past
five years, as much as ten billion dollars yes that's
(12:04):
billion with a B, to support Visa's brand promise to
protect the financial information of individuals and businesses. Zero liability
means peace of mind when you shop online using your
Visa card.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
There can be no half measures when it.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Comes to cybersecurity, which is why the company takes an
aggressive and multi layered approach to combating the rising threat
of malicious software and other threats by well funded and
global criminal enterprises. Read more about Visa and how securing
the world's payments is priority one at Visa dot Com
Slash Security. That's Visa dot Com Slash Security. You may
(12:39):
be aware of the game Senior Assassin or Senior water Wars,
the viral hit often played by students in the twelfth
grade during their senior year before graduation. But there's now
a location based, large scale multiplayer mobile version of that game.
It's called Slap water Wars and Assassin. We're going to
hear all about it now with Lauren's she's CEO of
(13:01):
the company, Integrated Reality Labs, and we also have on
the line Ian Andlsick. He is co founder and president
of the company. So these are the folks behind the
mobile games Slap water Wars and Assassin. Welcome to the show,
Lauren and Ian. Good to chat with you.
Speaker 7 (13:15):
Great to be here, Thank you, Mark, Thank you Mark.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
Great.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
So, Lauren, why don't we start with you before we
talk about the mobile game. Please give us a bit
of a one oh one on the social media phenomenon
that it's based on. Again, I think it's called either
Senior Assassin or maybe called water Wars or a combination
of the two. What is this craze all about?
Speaker 5 (13:33):
Yeah, so you're right.
Speaker 7 (13:34):
Senior Assassin goes by different names, including water Wars depending
on where you're playing or what circles you're playing in,
but it's played by over one hundred and thirty million
people the Senior Assassin and games like it every year globally,
and it actually is a phenomenon that's gained a lot
of attention in recent years, as you noted, but it
(13:54):
actually dates back to at least the eighties, if not earlier.
It's basically a big, grassroots game of tag which hundreds
of people will participate in. They each receive a specific target,
and when you eliminate that person, you inherit their target,
and then the last person standing wins.
Speaker 5 (14:11):
And generally speaking.
Speaker 7 (14:12):
Within recent years, as we have ubiquitous mobile devices in
high school and beyond settings to prevent sheeting, what kids
have started doing is asking players to record video evidence
of these tags. So water gun or nerf gun, whatever
they're using to tag with in one hand, phone in
the other hand. But as Ian will describe, our technology
(14:34):
and slap makes this a lot easier, right.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Because it combines both the weapon and I use that
in air quotes and the ability to capture that tag
in one.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
So that's great.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
And forgive my ignorance here, I knew it's been around
for a while, but since the eighties, I'm blown away.
I called it a craze, which implies it's new.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
But that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
So yeah, Ian, with that in mind, let's hear about
the multiplayer game called Slap, Water Wars and Assassin. So
this is your game that's out now. Congratulations, by the way,
tell us about it.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Yeah, thank you. Mark.
Speaker 8 (15:03):
So, actually, before discussing Slap as an application and game itself,
they probably makes sense to talk about integrated reality labs
breakthrough technology that powers the game. Sure, multiplayer real world
gaming has been an ambition in gaming for many years,
for well over a decade, and people have tried to
solve this problem in a variety of ways that have
(15:25):
never been able to make it work technically. So we
use Bluetooth and ultra wideband, so basically the phones talk
to one another when they are in close proximity and
in real time, and so that allows us to actually
have fast paced real time games, whereas if we were
to just rely on GPS and everyone's used GPS before
(15:47):
and seeing how it can be slow or inaccurate, we
are actually able to facilitate these large scale, fast paced
in person games.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
So, Lauren, with that in mind, can you walk us
through how it works. So you download the game it's
called SLAP colon water Wars and Assassin, and then what
what would you see through the screen?
Speaker 7 (16:08):
Yes, so Senior Assassin and water Wars, those are the
first games that SLAP enhances by allowing these players in
the way using the technology that Ian articulated, to digitally
tag their opponents in a low latency way when they
get within close range. So the way that this would work,
you download the app. We need permissions for the Bluetooth
(16:29):
signaling component and location services so that you can execute
the digital tagging mechanic right, and then you set a
safe zone, so you can set a global safe zone
at your school and also a personal one, say at
your home in your neighborhood, so that you disappear from
the game map if you don't want people knowing your
location information at that level. And then when the game starts,
(16:51):
you get your Senior Assassin or water Wars target given
to you by the app, you can find them using
the real world game map, and when you get close
to them and within tagging range, a button appears, and
this is what allows you to confirm the elimination, and
it also triggers a video which captures the real life
tag interaction. Again, this is often carried out with a
water gun or a nerf gun, so it creates this
(17:13):
really fun, outrageous viral kind of like Prime for Virality content,
and that serves both as a way of engaging the group.
It's shared out to everybody that's in the match, but
it also is another way that we can confirm that
the elimination happens. For example, if the target contests whether
or not they were actually hit by the water gun
or nerf gun, they can share this out and kind
(17:33):
of crowdsource that feedback and information from the entire group,
so they can upvote or down vote the video. So
it creates this kind of fun community way of attesting
to whether or not the tag happened.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
When we return on tech at Out, we're going to
learn more about Slap water Wars and Assassin. I'm curious
to know what it looks like. If the game is
kind of like Pokemon Go, where you can see information
super imposed on the screen that's not really the in
real life, you know what I mean, like a water gun.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
Target or something.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
I've got that question and a few others, so stick
with us. We're going to continue to get our game
on kind of a theme this week. I guess following
that Nintendo switch to chat, so we'll be right back
with more check it out.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
I want to follow Mark Google Mark with a C
and Saltzman with a Z breaking down geeks peak into
street speak. This is check it Out Check it Out
with technology columnist, author, and TV personality Mark Saltzman.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Welcome back to check it Out. We're learning about Slap,
water Wars and Assassin. This is a new mobile phone
game from a company called Integrated Reality Labs.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
We are chatting with Laurence Steitele.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
She's CEO of the company, as well as Ian Andelseck
he's co founder and president. And is it like augmented
reality where a game like Pokemon Go where you're seeing
the real world through the camera lens of your smartphone,
but there's digital information super imposed on top, like a
Pikachu or another kind of Pokemon character, where it looks
like it's in your real world environment. Is your game
(19:11):
similar in the sense that when you have a video
captured of the tag, there's something like on top of
the screen, you know what I mean, Like it looks
like it's a mesh between the virtual world and the
physical one.
Speaker 7 (19:24):
It's a really good question right now. The answer is no,
just because mobile augmented reality, as you describe, where you're
superimposing this three D game content on the world around you,
whether it's a Pikachu or something else. There are some
technical limitations, and people can go down a rabbit hole
online to figure out what those are. But just suffice
(19:44):
to say, it makes it really challenging to have many
people kind of playing concurrently in the same game when
you're using that kind of three D content. So we've
actually stripped out three D content machine vision technology that
goes into that that's employed by Niantic and other augmented
reality game creators, because it limits the multiplayer capacity. So
(20:05):
we're really just focused on what's happening in the real
world because that's that game content is really fun in
and of itself, and getting really precise about the positioning
between these players so they can have these really quick, dynamic,
low latency TAG interactions, and it's extensible too, so this
doesn't have to just be limited to like tagging and seeking.
(20:25):
But we see this as you know, bringing fast place
online multiplayer shooters into real life using just mobile phones
and no other hardware.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
For example, speaking of precision, Lauren and ian I will
ask you about how many the game can support at
the same time. But Lauren, just you mentioned precision and
that ultra wideband is one of the technologies you leverage,
not just Bluetooth. So does that imply it's like an
iPhone centric game where you've got that more precise directional
tracking through the phone.
Speaker 7 (20:54):
Yeah, right now. Of course, not all smartphones incorporate ultra wideband,
so that's something that we get to leverage when players
do have the later generation iPhones using this, But we
don't limit this to phones that incorporate ultra wideband. Really
any smartphone and in the future other devices smart devices too,
like smart watches. We can even imagine a world where
(21:16):
next generation smart glasses are facilitating this. Anything that has
access to these dead reckoning sensors and Bluetooth really can
facilitate this experience.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Awesome slap is available now, so is it iPhone only? Lauren, sorry,
or is it Android too?
Speaker 7 (21:33):
It's available on Android and on app.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Okay, so yeah, I just want to clarify, thank you,
and Ian Slap is the platform, is that fair? And
water Wars and Assassin is the game? And if so,
how many people can play water Wars and Assassin at
the same time?
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 8 (21:47):
So Slap is the app itself, okay, And right now
it supports Assassin and water Wars, but in near future
it will support a wide variety of other games too,
So Manhunt, Capture the Flag, Hide and Seek, and we're
in fact even going to allow users to create their
own multiplayer real world games cool and share them with
(22:09):
their friends and communities.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
And the common thread among all of them is that
they're played irl in real life.
Speaker 8 (22:14):
That's right, They're all played in real life in your communities,
connected with your friends. It's his social experience.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
Got it? And how many people can play at the
same time.
Speaker 8 (22:23):
Right now, Slap supports hundreds of players simultaneously, but in
your future, we'll be able to support tens of thousands
within a single match.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Wow, that sounds ambitious, Lauren, Is this new? Because I
know that there are some reviews on the App Store
dating back to twenty twenty three, tied to slat or
is this a new game within the Slap app.
Speaker 7 (22:44):
Yeah, it's a good question. The company started in twenty
twenty two. In twenty twenty three, we were in beta.
We had our beta version of the app on iOS
at that time, only iOS. Sure, so there were some
users that left reviews back in twenty twenty three. In
recent months we've been in soft launch on iOS and
now we're on both iOS and Android and have commercially launched.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
So how much does it cost to play Ian? Why
don't we wrap up there? And where can we get going?
Speaker 8 (23:11):
It's free to play. You can you can play it
with your friends and family for free. If you're very
competitive and you'd like the premium version, it's for ninety
nine per week or twelve ninety nine per month.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
And what do you get for the premium version?
Speaker 2 (23:24):
I was going to ask you how you monetize it
if it's free? So there is an optional premium version
of the game. What do you get with that that
you don't get in the free version?
Speaker 8 (23:32):
So the analogy we like to use is that when
you're playing Slap, you're sort of like James bond and
that Slap is your cue. So as you upgrade Slap,
you get better tools to track your target down that
means faster refreshes on the location. In the near future,
you'll have additional safe zones, so places where you can't
be found or caught and to add just some peace
(23:54):
of mind throughout your day. And then for fun, we
allow premium users to anonymously tount their target.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Okay, but you can win the game if you play
the free version.
Speaker 8 (24:04):
Absolutely most people play the free version.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
And yeah and win, just okay, awesome.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
And then Lauren, how do we get going? Just go
to the app store if you're on iPhone or Google
Play if you're on.
Speaker 7 (24:14):
Android, you can download this on the App Store or
the Google Play Store, and you'll want to get some
friends to play with you. The more people the better.
You'll need at least three people to get the game started.
And you can play in your neighborhood, your city, on
your school campus. And once you start the game and
join the lobby, you can send additional invites to other
folks that want to jump in and play, and then
(24:35):
you can start hunting your target. And you need to
keep your head on a swivel because you don't know
you know, you don't know who's targeting you as well.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
If you don't have any friends that you can play with,
can you be randomly matched with others in your location?
I know you have to be physically in the same
city or.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
What have you.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
But do you have to invite somebody or can you
just be paired up with others who want to play
the game?
Speaker 8 (24:55):
So and then your future, we're going to enable discoverable lobbies.
So if you would like to basically host a game
but you don't have folks in mind to play with,
you can say, hey, this is the game I'm hosting.
These are the rules, and then folks can request to
join it and you can make sure you want to
play with them, and if you do, then you have
a match.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
Again.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
The app is called Slap, the game is water Wars.
There's also Assassin baked into Slap. Lauren and Ian, thank
you so much for your time. Congrats on the official
launch of these new games.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
Very exciting.
Speaker 7 (25:26):
Thanks so much for having us.
Speaker 8 (25:27):
Mark, Thanks Mark, thanks for having us.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Hey, if you want to reach out on social media,
let me know what you think of tech it Out.
Maybe you've got suggestions for an upcoming guest or an
upcoming topic, or maybe you just have a tech question
for me.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
I'll spell my name in a moment, but you can
find me on.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
X threads, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, blue Sky, and TikTok.
It's Mark Saltsman m A R C S A L
t Z M A N so Mark with the C
Saltsman with a Z. I'm on all those platforms, or
if you prefer email, just head over to my website,
(26:02):
Mark Saltzman dot com and let me know where you're
tuning into the show from, whether it's on your local
talk radio station or in podcast form. I always get
a kick out of hearing where people are based. All right,
when we return on teck it Out, we're going to
talk with the company Ohm about smart kitchens.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
Stick with us.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
We'll be right back breaking down GeekSpeak into street speak.
Check it out holosted by Mark Saltzman.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
Welcome back to check it out. Well, it's been about
two years since we had our next guest on the show.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
Aksheita Ayer.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
She's CEO and founder of OHM, which is spelled omme
kind of like home without the age. When she was
on to talk Kitchen Tech in twenty twenty three. Well,
Atcheedah is back with us to tell us what's new
with this smart ome company.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
Thanks for your time.
Speaker 9 (26:59):
To Mark, thank you so much for having me again.
It was a pleasure to be on two years ago.
I can't believe how fast the time flies, and I'm
excited to chat about what we've been up to for sure.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Yeah, I think you were on the three hundredth episode
a special teck it out back then. So great to
have you back on at a high level.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
Akshiita.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Perhaps you can start off by reminding us what Home
is all about the company.
Speaker 5 (27:20):
Absolutely at Home.
Speaker 9 (27:21):
We build smart solutions for a safer home, and it
all started with a personal experience when my mom accidentally
left the stove on one too many times and started
a kitchen fire. And if you didn't know, like I
didn't know at the time, the number one cause of
house fires is people just getting distracted and leaving the
stove on, or pets or kids accidentally turning a burner on.
And I realized that while we have so many smart
(27:44):
devices in the rest of the home, you know, door
locked doorbells, their mustats, full security systems.
Speaker 5 (27:49):
The kitchen had a bit of a long way to go.
Speaker 9 (27:51):
Especially because appliance has just lasted a really long time.
And so my thought was, well, if we're retrofitting most
other products in our home, what if we could retrofit
your most used cooking appliance, your stove, and at the
same time really solve for this very critical safety concern
that's affecting a lot of people. And so I set
out to build a smart knob, and that is exactly
(28:13):
what we build. So our smart knob replaces your existing
stove knob. It works like a regular stove knob, so
you don't have to relearn how to use your stove.
You push who turn, same as always very intuitive. The
only difference with our knob is that it has a
bunch of smart sensors and proprietary technology in it that
allow it to automatically turn the burner.
Speaker 5 (28:34):
Off if you leave it on by accident.
Speaker 9 (28:35):
And so every time you turn the burner on, our
knob knows which burners on, what setting it's at, how
long it's been on for, and then it has the
ability to proactively turn the burner off or even adjust
the temperature if you need, based on what's happening in
your kitchen.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
So this would work for that one burner only, correct, Like,
because if you have four burners, as we do for
our cook top, then you would need four smart stove knobs.
Speaker 5 (28:58):
Correct, You would need four for each burner that you have.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
And do you sell them as a pack.
Speaker 5 (29:02):
We do both, So.
Speaker 9 (29:02):
We sell individual knobs if you just want to try
it out or if you know, many people have their
favorite burner and so if you just want to retrofit
your favorite burner, you can do that.
Speaker 5 (29:11):
But then we also do sell.
Speaker 9 (29:13):
A pack of four, five, six, depending on how many
burners you have. And the reason we do both is
because we really wanted to lower the threshold to at
least have you try a solution like this. It's nothing
like our knob has really been you know, commercialized before,
and so we do offer that individual knob, but of
course we highly recommend a comprehensive you know, safety measure,
(29:35):
meaning you know, you you replace all four of your burners.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
And doesn't matter if it's a gas stove for electric
one or induction.
Speaker 9 (29:43):
Nope, it doesn't matter if it's electric and gas induction,
as long as it has knobs.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Okay, actualeta, is there anything new since we last spoke
about the smart stove knob, any new features or any
new products.
Speaker 7 (29:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (29:54):
Absolutely, It's been quite an event for the last couple
of years.
Speaker 5 (29:57):
So when we last spoke, we were.
Speaker 9 (29:59):
You know, in the middle of expanding our reach of
the Gen one smart knob. What we realized after you know,
shipping to customers across the country with Gen one, was that.
Speaker 5 (30:10):
We had limited compatibility.
Speaker 9 (30:12):
At least we wanted to with Gen one really prove
that this was a product that works functionally, and at
the same time noticed that, you know, we really could
only work on ranges where the knobs are vertical because
the Gen one knob was relatively big, and you know,
if you look at any other smart devices, especially smart
door locks, your Gen one product is usually your proof
(30:33):
of concept, and so we tried to make it as
compatible as possible. But after a few years of shipping
Gen one, we decided that we had enough feedback to
redesign the knob and launch a Gen two version, which.
Speaker 5 (30:47):
We did last September.
Speaker 9 (30:48):
And so it was about a year and a half
of completely redesigning from the ground up with almost all
custom components, because what we found with Gen one was,
you know, we were pulling a lot of components off
the shelf, and so we really had limited flexibility on
the form factors, so that, you know, we could only
make it compatible with so many ranges.
Speaker 5 (31:07):
With Gen two, it's about half the size.
Speaker 9 (31:10):
It comes in only two parts, the top the not bottom,
which makes charging easier, installation easier, and most importantly, we
have expanded compatibility not just on ranges, but also to
stove tops, where the knobs are typically smaller and closer together.
We have a longer battery life, and it's just much
more aesthetically pleasing. We were super excited about it because
(31:31):
it really gave us the opportunity to of course expand
our reach, but then also really start to work with
the appliance manufacturers where it cannot only retrofit this onto
quote unquote dumb ranges that are out there and digitize
that experience, but then also work towards an integrated solution
where in the long run, every stove or range that
(31:52):
is sold can have this technology already built in.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Yeah, I'm looking at the om Kitchen dot com website
and I see that the OME Smart Knob two point
zero is what you're selling now.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
It's one twenty nine for one.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
But you also have a four or five and six
pack that you chatted about earlier, and it says here
that you can control your stove from anywhere, showing an
app as well. So what would be an application for
that that you're you know, you're sitting on the couch
and you want to be able to turn off that stove.
Speaker 5 (32:17):
We do not allow for remote turn on, just for
safety reasons.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
Yeah, by accident pocket tis.
Speaker 9 (32:22):
Accidentitely turning on, but once you've pushed in turn and
it's on, check to make sure your stove is off.
Speaker 5 (32:27):
So, you know, a big use case for us is
when you leave the house, you have that moment of panic.
Speaker 9 (32:31):
You know, you don't necessarily want to drive all the
way home, and so you can actually check on our
app to see if all the burners are off, and
then if they are not off, you can automatically turn
them off remotely. You can also adjust the temperature setting
through the app, and you can also do all of
these things through your voice assistance. So really trying to
make the safety functionality just work in the background, so
the automatic shut off will engage if you leave the
(32:53):
stove on for more than fifteen minutes. Or whatever your
auto shut off setting is. But then yeah, I mean
you can set cooking timers. There so much more that
you can do just to make your time in the
kitchen much less stressful and give you that peace of
mind that we have everywhere else in the home.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
More about OME Smart Kitchens when we return on teck
it out.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
Follow Mark Saltzman on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram.
Speaker 6 (33:15):
Listen to check it out whenever you want.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
Ome smart Ome.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
We are chatting with Aksheita I or She's the CEO
and founder of OHM that's home without the ah. They
are the makers of the OME Smart Knob two point zero,
which replaces your existing stove knobs and can replace your old.
Speaker 3 (33:43):
One in less than a minute.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
It says on the website we are chatting about smart
home technology. Akshida's joining us for the first time in
almost two years to continue on with our chat. Can
you share some of your predictions on how AI, which
seems to be the real buzzword today and other smart
home tech can and shape the kitchen of the future.
Speaker 9 (34:02):
Yeah, I think there are so many avenues where AI
can really help accelerate technology, especially in the home and
the user applications. I think you know, for us, the
first and foremost is really proactive safety, right, So you know,
these devices that can act, as you know, kind of
kitchen guardians in a way, preventing fires, gas leaks, accidents
(34:22):
by detecting unsafe conditions and automatically responding without you having
to step in.
Speaker 5 (34:27):
So you know, our smart knob is an example of that.
Speaker 9 (34:29):
And I hope that with time, these smart appliances can
learn user habits, just like your nest thermostat learns what
temperature you like your house at and it automatically.
Speaker 5 (34:38):
Sets that for you.
Speaker 9 (34:39):
Where clients is can learn your habits and send those
real time alerts to prevent unattended cooking hazard, especially for
like we talked about older adults and families with kids.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
I like that there's also an efficiency story here cutting
food waste.
Speaker 3 (34:52):
How can AI help there?
Speaker 9 (34:54):
Yeah, I mean I think you know, as you mentioned,
you know, personalizing your kitchen, optimizing your recipe content based
on dietary needs, allergies, food preferences. You know, imagine a
smart assistant or an app that can suggest meals based
on what's in your fridge.
Speaker 5 (35:09):
And then I think on.
Speaker 9 (35:10):
The you know, sustainability and energy efficient side, AI can
help by suggesting eco friendly cooking methods and then also
reducing food waste through inventory tracking. Right, So, I mean
your fridge is a great example of items that can
go bad, and I know that there is work being
done on image recognition and the fridge that can automatically.
Speaker 5 (35:33):
Tell you know what.
Speaker 9 (35:34):
Ingredients are going to go bad and that you need
to use them quickly. And I think that can really
help on the smart appliance side, to let you know
the ingredients that are nearing their expiration data and to
really minimize waste. I think that's a huge one that
I think all of us can relate to.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
And before I let you go, Akshita, what would you
say are some of the current challenges tied to smart kitchens.
Is it familiarity that a lot of the people who
may want to take advantage of like yours may not
be the most comfortable using tech, or is there like
a price obstacle?
Speaker 9 (36:05):
Honestly, I think awareness is not a big one in
my mind. I think it's the other two that you mentioned, so,
you know, the first one being just the intuitiveness, right,
I think one of the biggest reasons smart home products
have a hard time getting adoption is because they're difficult
to install, difficult to understand. What we really recognized was
(36:25):
that you need to really seamlessly fit into someone's daily habits, right,
and not really try to change consumer behavior and really
just add and augment the appliances or you know, the
products that you use day to day. So I think
really making sure that we're creating products that are easy
to understand is important. The way we see it at
(36:47):
this point is really to take our technology to the
next level is to work with the bigger companies that
have that infrastructure in.
Speaker 2 (36:54):
Place, yeah, like appliance makers and such. So finally, the
best website again is simply own kitchen dot com. Is
that right? Yes, that's right, okay o me kitchen dot
com at Cheeta. It's been great chatting with you. Let's
not make it another two years before we have you
back on and wishing you much success with the second
generation the ome smart Knob two point zero and thanks
(37:15):
for all the educational work you do as well for
the category as a whole, not just about your own solution.
Speaker 3 (37:20):
So I really like what you're doing. Thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (37:22):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
I just wanted to give Visa a shout out one
more time. Did you know that shoppers are three times
more likely to enter an unfamiliar store if it displays
a Visa logo, and customers are five times more likely
to think a merchant is reputable. This is because Visa
has invested billions over the years in fraud prevention, so
you don't need to think twice about shopping at retail
(37:45):
or online with your Visa card. Nor should businesses be
concerned about secure payments. Visa is deploying advanced technology to
ensure customer data is not vulnerable no matter where the
transactions take place. To learn more about Visa's work and
protecting you and your purchase, head over to Visa dot
com slash security. That's Visa dot com slash security. I
(38:06):
also wanted to acknowledge and thank sand Disc, one of
my favorite tech companies. I rely on their storage solutions
all the time, both internal and external, but the rebranded
company has done really well with its solid state drives
for laptops and desktops. Great for content creators because unlike
an external hard drive, which is really good just for
backup purposes, you know, throw a bunch of files on there,
(38:27):
and put it away for long term storage. Solid state
is fast and reliable and light and there's no moving
parts so it's more durable, which all means you can
easily work off those drives. So if you're a content
creator like a podcast or a YouTuber at TikToker, you're
editing in the field like you know on that laptop
or tablet or phone. These files are getting massive, so
you're going to want to have external storage, so check
(38:49):
out SanDisk dot com for their line of SSDs, micro
SD cards, and USB thumb drives. Thanks for tuning in
to check it out everyone. Hope you enjoyed this week's episode.
I look forward to broadcasting next week's show from Belon.
Take care of yourself and we'll chat in a week
Chat
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the ever changing world
of technology? Can check it out? Can help make some
sense of it all. Breaking down geeksbeak into street speak.
Technology columnist, author, and TV personality Mark Saltzman covers consumer
technology each week for every listener. Mark tackles the latest news, reviews,
and how toos to help you understand what's hot, what's
(00:21):
not and why.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Hey, everyone, welcome to check it out. It's episode three
eighty eight. Hope you're all doing great. I just came
back from New York again. I was there last week,
if you recall with high Sense, seeing their new TVs,
including one hundred and thirty six inch model that was
talked about on last week's show.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
And then this week I was at a.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Nintendo event to get my hands on the Nintendo Switch Too,
the upcoming video game console, the successor to the Nintendo
Switch from twenty seventeen. It's coming out June fifth, and so.
One of the first interviews on this week's Tech It
Out is with Kate Kosich from Tom's Hardware. She's also
a content creator, like an influencer. She's so nice. Anyways,
(01:08):
She's going to be on the show to chat about
Nintendo Switch to in her impressions of the new system.
I caught up with her in New York, where she's based,
and then this weekend, I'm off to Milan. I know,
tough life, little violins, but I'm going to be with
the company Asus to see some new laptops. A handful
of journalists will be attending Design Week in Italy, and
(01:30):
tech will be very much a part of that story,
especially when it comes to laptops. I mean, how do
you make your computers stand out from others? It's not
the sexiest of gear, but when they have really cool
designs and engineers working on the different look and style
of the devices, innovative material that give it a fresh spin,
all that kind of stuff is really neat. So going
(01:51):
to be pretty weird to see laptops on the runway
or whatever. I don't even know what to expect them,
just making this up, but it'll be fun, and I'm
going to report on what I see next week on
tech it Out. I'll probably find someone from Asus to
chat with, but there's gonna be many other companies as well.
So yeah, if you are a regular listener to tech
it Out, first of all, thank you, but you know
(02:12):
that I've had a bit of a whirlwind couple of months,
three times in New York in like five weeks, and
I'll be back again in April doing some TV work
at the end of the month. Then I head to
San Francisco, may go back to Europe after that. Anyhow,
it sounds exhausting and it sounds like I'm bragging, so
I'm gonna just stop right there. But hey, I love
being a freelance journalist. I do have the ability the
(02:33):
freedom to go on these kinds of things. And my
wife Kelly is super understanding and she will be coming
with me to Milan. By the way, We're going to
stay on after Design Week in Milan and go up
to the Alps, Lake Como and Lake Madjior, and then
going to Venice afterwards. No, please don't write me and
tell me that I'm mispronouncing things. This happens once in
(02:53):
a while on this show Lake mad Jor. I don't know,
But anyhow, I digress. We have a great tech it
out planned for you this hour. We are going to
first talk about the Nintendo Switch Too, with Kate Kosch
from Tom's Hardware, a very popular digital magazine for all
things tech. Speaking of games, we're then going to learn
about Slap, water Wars, and Assassin. This is a new
(03:14):
game that's based on the real world game water Wars,
or sometimes called Assassin or Senior Assassin. It's when seniors
run around the real world and tag and they've got
a target and it's a real world game, but they're
bringing this into the mobile scene, so available at the
app Store for iPhone and Android. Again, Slap is the
name of the app, but the games are water Wars
(03:35):
and Assassin. Also on the program today, OHM as in
Home without the H. We're going to catch up with them.
They're a kitchen tech company that has some innovative designs
for all homeowners, including a smart stove knob that does
some pretty neat things, including some safety features. So we're
going to talk with OHM on this week's tech it
Out as well. There's no place like OHM. Okay, sorry,
(03:59):
dad joke. All of this and more on a brand
new tech it out powered by Visa. Securing the world's
payments is priority one. I'll tell you more about Visa's
anti fraud efforts shortly, but let's officially kick off the
show with our first interview recorded in New York at
the Nintendo Direct event where the company officially unveiled the
launch date of Nintendo switch To. So forgive some of
(04:21):
the ambient noise when I sat down with Kate, but
let's go ahead and play that interview. I am sitting
here with Kate Kovich, managing editor for Tom's Guide, very
popular publication covering all things tech. Great to see you,
and also last week at another event. All right, so
Nintendo Switch Too, it's official. What are your thoughts? So
we sat through the Nintendo Direct, which was video that
(04:42):
people at home can watch as well, but then we
got some hands on time with it. So at a
high level, what is Nintendo switch to?
Speaker 4 (04:48):
Nintendo switch To is the next evolution of the switch experience.
So what's fundamental to switch is the fact that you
can dock it and play on your TV, separate the
joycns and be able to play with your friends to
a different controller, or you can take it on the go.
It has the built in screen, so that's still fundamentally
at the core of the Switch Too. But my biggest
takeaway is that the switch to is fixing all the
(05:10):
little complaints that everyone had with the original switch from
the flimsy kickstand to the joy cons that fall off
the rails to the screen. That just leaves you wanting
a little bit more to enjoy some of the epic
titles that have joined the Nintendo Switch gaming world.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
So let's unpack some of that.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
At its core, the Nintendo Switch and now the Nintendo
Switch Too, which is coming out June fifth, is a
versatile console because you can play on the go to
reduce the are we there yet from the backseat if
you will, on a road trip, but then you can
dock it and play it on a big screen TV
when you get to the hotel or back at home.
But what separates the Nintendo Switch Too from the Nintendo
Switch are a number of improvements that you've alluded to.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Let's start with the screen.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
The original Nintendo Switch was a six point two inch
that's correct.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Way now what are we talking.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
Now we're talking seven point nine. There were some rumors
that is going to be an eight inch display, but
I don't think anyone's going to be complaining whatody hears?
Speaker 5 (06:04):
No, of course, not at this point.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
But not only that, the Switch to has double the
pixels of the original Switch, so you're going from seven
to twenty P to.
Speaker 5 (06:11):
Ten eighty P.
Speaker 4 (06:12):
That is a huge jump in resolution that from some
of our hands on time was incredibly evident.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
And they've also up the refresh rate up to one
hundred and twenty frames per second, which means smoother, Yeah,
smoother gameplay, which is important for games like Mario Kart World,
which is a launch title, so a fast paced kart
racing you know, cartoony like game, It's now going to
be silky smooth.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
Mario Kart World is one of the most exciting games
I have played in so long. It takes a classic format,
but it spins it on its head and introduces new
gameplay features that we have never seen in Mario Kart before.
And Mario Kart's been around forever, at least in my world,
so we have now two different ways to play in
Mario Kart that you didn't before. First, it's an open
(06:57):
world format, so if you're not in a circuit, if
you're not playing a race, you can just go explore,
try and find some coins, crash into some familiar faces,
see what the world around Mario Kart World is like.
But then my favorite feature and probably the best gaming
experience I've had with the switch to so far was
Knockout Mode in Mario Kart World. Knockout Mode takes you
(07:20):
through different time sections where each round fewer and fewer
reserves will make the cut. So if you don't make
it to that first benchmark before you know the five
people behind you, you're out.
Speaker 5 (07:30):
It's so competitive.
Speaker 4 (07:31):
I was so into it and actually extremely upset when
I got cut in the fourth round.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Ouch. I also like you touched on this a bit.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
The free row mode I believe it's called where you
can just drive around with somebody online and even stop
and take pictures of one another within the.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Game share it, which I think is really clever.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
You know, you can discover new parts of the map,
maybe some shortcut like outside of a race, which I
think is great.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
And I would say that's only a taste of the
new community features that are built into the switch too awesome.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
And speaking of community, so along with a bigger screen
with better resolution and a faster refresh rate, there's the
beefed up kickstand JOYCN controllers which are removed on each
side of the unit should you want to. That is
now magnetic, and that is again alleviating a pain point
often found in the predecessor. But let's talk about the
(08:20):
community for the first time. There's a dedicated sea button
near the right joy con that, as you might expect,
see us for chat.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Tell us a bit about this feature.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
You know, I actually have my original Switch with me
here and I'm looking at it and I'm sad that
i don't see that Sea button there, because I feel
like now it's just going to become such a staple
of the Switch to experience.
Speaker 5 (08:39):
I think it's best to look at game.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
Chat as a suite of features that can connect players
wherever they are. So if friends are getting home from school,
maybe you don't live so close different bus stops, you
can log on at the same time, hit that Sea button,
answer a call from your friend, and you guys can
be gaming. But you don't have to play games together.
I think that needs to be the biggest differentiation. It's
not co op gaming. It's I can enjoy my game.
You can enjoy your work here, pallel play right and
(09:03):
even better, Yet, if you're stuck in a part of
a game that I've already beat, you can screenshare with
me and I can walk you through it and maybe
give you some tips on how to beat it.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
I love that feature as well, so along with real
time multiplayer chat with the built in microphone that has
noise cancelation, So even if it's a bit noisier, like
what you might hear right now, there's some ambient noise
at this event, you can't block that out, which is great.
It's already integrated because with the original Nintendo Switch it
wasn't so easy to voice chat. You had to attach
an external microphone. And there's also the ability to add
(09:33):
a video camera. There's two USBC ports instead of one,
so you snap into a camera on top for video
calling and like during gameplay as well.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
Right, there is a new gadget or accessory if you will,
for the Switch to called the Nintendo Switch to Camera.
Great name. Right can attach to your switch and basically
be your interface for not just this remote gameplay that
I've discussed with game chat, but if you're playing a
game like Mario Party Jamber that's actually being upgraded as
(10:01):
part of the Switch to Edition games, you'll now be
able to have cameras in your living room if you're
playing with your friends and family. It adds all this
new functionality to the game where it's actually your face.
That's like jumping up and down and hitting the bricks
or trying to avoid getting flamed by bowser.
Speaker 5 (10:17):
It's a really fun new way to play.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
And we did see a lot of games here today.
Some are refreshed versions of previous hits, like from the
Legend of Zelda franchise. We saw a new Donkey kong
ip here at the show, as well as other third
party games like Hadis two and Cyberpunk.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
So June fifth, it's Nintendo switch to there's going.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
To be a bundle with the Mario Kart World game
as well.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
And for pricing, how much.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
Will it be for forty nine?
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Great? So again, we've been chatting with Kate Kovich.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Where can we learn more about you and what's your
preferred social handle?
Speaker 4 (10:49):
I got two for you at Tom's Guide Everywhere, and
then you're also going to find me at Kate Kozych
k t e koz Uch.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
Good to see you, Kate, Thanks so much for your time.
Speaker 5 (10:58):
So great to see you all right.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Speaking of games, when we return on Tech it Out,
we're going to get the skinny on Slap Water Wars
and Assassins. This is a new game you can download
for free from the Apple App Store or the Google
Play Store to play IRL in real life with your phone, though,
but you'll get all the details after this short break,
so stick with us.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
We'll be right back with a lot more check it.
Speaker 6 (11:23):
Out Listen to Check it Out whenever you want to
find the Check it Out podcast, did I Too, or
wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
Welcome back to check it Out.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
We cover cybersecurity a lot on this program and how
you can best protect yourself in the digital age, even
if you're not super tech savvy. One part of the
solution is securely shopping online, and so I'm thrilled about
my partnership with Visa on Tech it Out, as they've
made some significant investments in fraud prevention over the past
five years, as much as ten billion dollars yes that's
(12:04):
billion with a B, to support Visa's brand promise to
protect the financial information of individuals and businesses. Zero liability
means peace of mind when you shop online using your
Visa card.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
There can be no half measures when it.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Comes to cybersecurity, which is why the company takes an
aggressive and multi layered approach to combating the rising threat
of malicious software and other threats by well funded and
global criminal enterprises. Read more about Visa and how securing
the world's payments is priority one at Visa dot Com
Slash Security. That's Visa dot Com Slash Security. You may
(12:39):
be aware of the game Senior Assassin or Senior water Wars,
the viral hit often played by students in the twelfth
grade during their senior year before graduation. But there's now
a location based, large scale multiplayer mobile version of that game.
It's called Slap water Wars and Assassin. We're going to
hear all about it now with Lauren's she's CEO of
(13:01):
the company, Integrated Reality Labs, and we also have on
the line Ian Andlsick. He is co founder and president
of the company. So these are the folks behind the
mobile games Slap water Wars and Assassin. Welcome to the show,
Lauren and Ian. Good to chat with you.
Speaker 7 (13:15):
Great to be here, Thank you, Mark, Thank you Mark.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
Great.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
So, Lauren, why don't we start with you before we
talk about the mobile game. Please give us a bit
of a one oh one on the social media phenomenon
that it's based on. Again, I think it's called either
Senior Assassin or maybe called water Wars or a combination
of the two. What is this craze all about?
Speaker 5 (13:33):
Yeah, so you're right.
Speaker 7 (13:34):
Senior Assassin goes by different names, including water Wars depending
on where you're playing or what circles you're playing in,
but it's played by over one hundred and thirty million
people the Senior Assassin and games like it every year globally,
and it actually is a phenomenon that's gained a lot
of attention in recent years, as you noted, but it
(13:54):
actually dates back to at least the eighties, if not earlier.
It's basically a big, grassroots game of tag which hundreds
of people will participate in. They each receive a specific target,
and when you eliminate that person, you inherit their target,
and then the last person standing wins.
Speaker 5 (14:11):
And generally speaking.
Speaker 7 (14:12):
Within recent years, as we have ubiquitous mobile devices in
high school and beyond settings to prevent sheeting, what kids
have started doing is asking players to record video evidence
of these tags. So water gun or nerf gun, whatever
they're using to tag with in one hand, phone in
the other hand. But as Ian will describe, our technology
(14:34):
and slap makes this a lot easier, right.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Because it combines both the weapon and I use that
in air quotes and the ability to capture that tag
in one.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
So that's great.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
And forgive my ignorance here, I knew it's been around
for a while, but since the eighties, I'm blown away.
I called it a craze, which implies it's new.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
But that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
So yeah, Ian, with that in mind, let's hear about
the multiplayer game called Slap, Water Wars and Assassin. So
this is your game that's out now. Congratulations, by the way,
tell us about it.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Yeah, thank you. Mark.
Speaker 8 (15:03):
So, actually, before discussing Slap as an application and game itself,
they probably makes sense to talk about integrated reality labs
breakthrough technology that powers the game. Sure, multiplayer real world
gaming has been an ambition in gaming for many years,
for well over a decade, and people have tried to
solve this problem in a variety of ways that have
(15:25):
never been able to make it work technically. So we
use Bluetooth and ultra wideband, so basically the phones talk
to one another when they are in close proximity and
in real time, and so that allows us to actually
have fast paced real time games, whereas if we were
to just rely on GPS and everyone's used GPS before
(15:47):
and seeing how it can be slow or inaccurate, we
are actually able to facilitate these large scale, fast paced
in person games.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
So, Lauren, with that in mind, can you walk us
through how it works. So you download the game it's
called SLAP colon water Wars and Assassin, and then what
what would you see through the screen?
Speaker 7 (16:08):
Yes, so Senior Assassin and water Wars, those are the
first games that SLAP enhances by allowing these players in
the way using the technology that Ian articulated, to digitally
tag their opponents in a low latency way when they
get within close range. So the way that this would work,
you download the app. We need permissions for the Bluetooth
(16:29):
signaling component and location services so that you can execute
the digital tagging mechanic right, and then you set a
safe zone, so you can set a global safe zone
at your school and also a personal one, say at
your home in your neighborhood, so that you disappear from
the game map if you don't want people knowing your
location information at that level. And then when the game starts,
(16:51):
you get your Senior Assassin or water Wars target given
to you by the app, you can find them using
the real world game map, and when you get close
to them and within tagging range, a button appears, and
this is what allows you to confirm the elimination, and
it also triggers a video which captures the real life
tag interaction. Again, this is often carried out with a
water gun or a nerf gun, so it creates this
(17:13):
really fun, outrageous viral kind of like Prime for Virality content,
and that serves both as a way of engaging the group.
It's shared out to everybody that's in the match, but
it also is another way that we can confirm that
the elimination happens. For example, if the target contests whether
or not they were actually hit by the water gun
or nerf gun, they can share this out and kind
(17:33):
of crowdsource that feedback and information from the entire group,
so they can upvote or down vote the video. So
it creates this kind of fun community way of attesting
to whether or not the tag happened.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
When we return on tech at Out, we're going to
learn more about Slap water Wars and Assassin. I'm curious
to know what it looks like. If the game is
kind of like Pokemon Go, where you can see information
super imposed on the screen that's not really the in
real life, you know what I mean, like a water gun.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
Target or something.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
I've got that question and a few others, so stick
with us. We're going to continue to get our game
on kind of a theme this week. I guess following
that Nintendo switch to chat, so we'll be right back
with more check it out.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
I want to follow Mark Google Mark with a C
and Saltzman with a Z breaking down geeks peak into
street speak. This is check it Out Check it Out
with technology columnist, author, and TV personality Mark Saltzman.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Welcome back to check it Out. We're learning about Slap,
water Wars and Assassin. This is a new mobile phone
game from a company called Integrated Reality Labs.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
We are chatting with Laurence Steitele.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
She's CEO of the company, as well as Ian Andelseck
he's co founder and president. And is it like augmented
reality where a game like Pokemon Go where you're seeing
the real world through the camera lens of your smartphone,
but there's digital information super imposed on top, like a
Pikachu or another kind of Pokemon character, where it looks
like it's in your real world environment. Is your game
(19:11):
similar in the sense that when you have a video
captured of the tag, there's something like on top of
the screen, you know what I mean, Like it looks
like it's a mesh between the virtual world and the
physical one.
Speaker 7 (19:24):
It's a really good question right now. The answer is no,
just because mobile augmented reality, as you describe, where you're
superimposing this three D game content on the world around you,
whether it's a Pikachu or something else. There are some
technical limitations, and people can go down a rabbit hole
online to figure out what those are. But just suffice
(19:44):
to say, it makes it really challenging to have many
people kind of playing concurrently in the same game when
you're using that kind of three D content. So we've
actually stripped out three D content machine vision technology that
goes into that that's employed by Niantic and other augmented
reality game creators, because it limits the multiplayer capacity. So
(20:05):
we're really just focused on what's happening in the real
world because that's that game content is really fun in
and of itself, and getting really precise about the positioning
between these players so they can have these really quick, dynamic,
low latency TAG interactions, and it's extensible too, so this
doesn't have to just be limited to like tagging and seeking.
(20:25):
But we see this as you know, bringing fast place
online multiplayer shooters into real life using just mobile phones
and no other hardware.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
For example, speaking of precision, Lauren and ian I will
ask you about how many the game can support at
the same time. But Lauren, just you mentioned precision and
that ultra wideband is one of the technologies you leverage,
not just Bluetooth. So does that imply it's like an
iPhone centric game where you've got that more precise directional
tracking through the phone.
Speaker 7 (20:54):
Yeah, right now. Of course, not all smartphones incorporate ultra wideband,
so that's something that we get to leverage when players
do have the later generation iPhones using this, But we
don't limit this to phones that incorporate ultra wideband. Really
any smartphone and in the future other devices smart devices too,
like smart watches. We can even imagine a world where
(21:16):
next generation smart glasses are facilitating this. Anything that has
access to these dead reckoning sensors and Bluetooth really can
facilitate this experience.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Awesome slap is available now, so is it iPhone only? Lauren, sorry,
or is it Android too?
Speaker 7 (21:33):
It's available on Android and on app.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Okay, so yeah, I just want to clarify, thank you,
and Ian Slap is the platform, is that fair? And
water Wars and Assassin is the game? And if so,
how many people can play water Wars and Assassin at
the same time?
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 8 (21:47):
So Slap is the app itself, okay, And right now
it supports Assassin and water Wars, but in near future
it will support a wide variety of other games too,
So Manhunt, Capture the Flag, Hide and Seek, and we're
in fact even going to allow users to create their
own multiplayer real world games cool and share them with
(22:09):
their friends and communities.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
And the common thread among all of them is that
they're played irl in real life.
Speaker 8 (22:14):
That's right, They're all played in real life in your communities,
connected with your friends. It's his social experience.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
Got it? And how many people can play at the
same time.
Speaker 8 (22:23):
Right now, Slap supports hundreds of players simultaneously, but in
your future, we'll be able to support tens of thousands
within a single match.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Wow, that sounds ambitious, Lauren, Is this new? Because I
know that there are some reviews on the App Store
dating back to twenty twenty three, tied to slat or
is this a new game within the Slap app.
Speaker 7 (22:44):
Yeah, it's a good question. The company started in twenty
twenty two. In twenty twenty three, we were in beta.
We had our beta version of the app on iOS
at that time, only iOS. Sure, so there were some
users that left reviews back in twenty twenty three. In
recent months we've been in soft launch on iOS and
now we're on both iOS and Android and have commercially launched.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
So how much does it cost to play Ian? Why
don't we wrap up there? And where can we get going?
Speaker 8 (23:11):
It's free to play. You can you can play it
with your friends and family for free. If you're very
competitive and you'd like the premium version, it's for ninety
nine per week or twelve ninety nine per month.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
And what do you get for the premium version?
Speaker 2 (23:24):
I was going to ask you how you monetize it
if it's free? So there is an optional premium version
of the game. What do you get with that that
you don't get in the free version?
Speaker 8 (23:32):
So the analogy we like to use is that when
you're playing Slap, you're sort of like James bond and
that Slap is your cue. So as you upgrade Slap,
you get better tools to track your target down that
means faster refreshes on the location. In the near future,
you'll have additional safe zones, so places where you can't
be found or caught and to add just some peace
(23:54):
of mind throughout your day. And then for fun, we
allow premium users to anonymously tount their target.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Okay, but you can win the game if you play
the free version.
Speaker 8 (24:04):
Absolutely most people play the free version.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
And yeah and win, just okay, awesome.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
And then Lauren, how do we get going? Just go
to the app store if you're on iPhone or Google
Play if you're on.
Speaker 7 (24:14):
Android, you can download this on the App Store or
the Google Play Store, and you'll want to get some
friends to play with you. The more people the better.
You'll need at least three people to get the game started.
And you can play in your neighborhood, your city, on
your school campus. And once you start the game and
join the lobby, you can send additional invites to other
folks that want to jump in and play, and then
(24:35):
you can start hunting your target. And you need to
keep your head on a swivel because you don't know
you know, you don't know who's targeting you as well.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
If you don't have any friends that you can play with,
can you be randomly matched with others in your location?
I know you have to be physically in the same
city or.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
What have you.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
But do you have to invite somebody or can you
just be paired up with others who want to play
the game?
Speaker 8 (24:55):
So and then your future, we're going to enable discoverable lobbies.
So if you would like to basically host a game
but you don't have folks in mind to play with,
you can say, hey, this is the game I'm hosting.
These are the rules, and then folks can request to
join it and you can make sure you want to
play with them, and if you do, then you have
a match.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
Again.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
The app is called Slap, the game is water Wars.
There's also Assassin baked into Slap. Lauren and Ian, thank
you so much for your time. Congrats on the official
launch of these new games.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
Very exciting.
Speaker 7 (25:26):
Thanks so much for having us.
Speaker 8 (25:27):
Mark, Thanks Mark, thanks for having us.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Hey, if you want to reach out on social media,
let me know what you think of tech it Out.
Maybe you've got suggestions for an upcoming guest or an
upcoming topic, or maybe you just have a tech question
for me.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
I'll spell my name in a moment, but you can
find me on.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
X threads, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, blue Sky, and TikTok.
It's Mark Saltsman m A R C S A L
t Z M A N so Mark with the C
Saltsman with a Z. I'm on all those platforms, or
if you prefer email, just head over to my website,
(26:02):
Mark Saltzman dot com and let me know where you're
tuning into the show from, whether it's on your local
talk radio station or in podcast form. I always get
a kick out of hearing where people are based. All right,
when we return on teck it Out, we're going to
talk with the company Ohm about smart kitchens.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
Stick with us.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
We'll be right back breaking down GeekSpeak into street speak.
Check it out holosted by Mark Saltzman.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
Welcome back to check it out. Well, it's been about
two years since we had our next guest on the show.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
Aksheita Ayer.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
She's CEO and founder of OHM, which is spelled omme
kind of like home without the age. When she was
on to talk Kitchen Tech in twenty twenty three. Well,
Atcheedah is back with us to tell us what's new
with this smart ome company.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
Thanks for your time.
Speaker 9 (26:59):
To Mark, thank you so much for having me again.
It was a pleasure to be on two years ago.
I can't believe how fast the time flies, and I'm
excited to chat about what we've been up to for sure.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Yeah, I think you were on the three hundredth episode
a special teck it out back then. So great to
have you back on at a high level.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
Akshiita.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Perhaps you can start off by reminding us what Home
is all about the company.
Speaker 5 (27:20):
Absolutely at Home.
Speaker 9 (27:21):
We build smart solutions for a safer home, and it
all started with a personal experience when my mom accidentally
left the stove on one too many times and started
a kitchen fire. And if you didn't know, like I
didn't know at the time, the number one cause of
house fires is people just getting distracted and leaving the
stove on, or pets or kids accidentally turning a burner on.
And I realized that while we have so many smart
(27:44):
devices in the rest of the home, you know, door
locked doorbells, their mustats, full security systems.
Speaker 5 (27:49):
The kitchen had a bit of a long way to go.
Speaker 9 (27:51):
Especially because appliance has just lasted a really long time.
And so my thought was, well, if we're retrofitting most
other products in our home, what if we could retrofit
your most used cooking appliance, your stove, and at the
same time really solve for this very critical safety concern
that's affecting a lot of people. And so I set
out to build a smart knob, and that is exactly
(28:13):
what we build. So our smart knob replaces your existing
stove knob. It works like a regular stove knob, so
you don't have to relearn how to use your stove.
You push who turn, same as always very intuitive. The
only difference with our knob is that it has a
bunch of smart sensors and proprietary technology in it that
allow it to automatically turn the burner.
Speaker 5 (28:34):
Off if you leave it on by accident.
Speaker 9 (28:35):
And so every time you turn the burner on, our
knob knows which burners on, what setting it's at, how
long it's been on for, and then it has the
ability to proactively turn the burner off or even adjust
the temperature if you need, based on what's happening in
your kitchen.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
So this would work for that one burner only, correct, Like,
because if you have four burners, as we do for
our cook top, then you would need four smart stove knobs.
Speaker 5 (28:58):
Correct, You would need four for each burner that you have.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
And do you sell them as a pack.
Speaker 5 (29:02):
We do both, So.
Speaker 9 (29:02):
We sell individual knobs if you just want to try
it out or if you know, many people have their
favorite burner and so if you just want to retrofit
your favorite burner, you can do that.
Speaker 5 (29:11):
But then we also do sell.
Speaker 9 (29:13):
A pack of four, five, six, depending on how many
burners you have. And the reason we do both is
because we really wanted to lower the threshold to at
least have you try a solution like this. It's nothing
like our knob has really been you know, commercialized before,
and so we do offer that individual knob, but of
course we highly recommend a comprehensive you know, safety measure,
(29:35):
meaning you know, you you replace all four of your burners.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
And doesn't matter if it's a gas stove for electric
one or induction.
Speaker 9 (29:43):
Nope, it doesn't matter if it's electric and gas induction,
as long as it has knobs.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Okay, actualeta, is there anything new since we last spoke
about the smart stove knob, any new features or any
new products.
Speaker 7 (29:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (29:54):
Absolutely, It's been quite an event for the last couple
of years.
Speaker 5 (29:57):
So when we last spoke, we were.
Speaker 9 (29:59):
You know, in the middle of expanding our reach of
the Gen one smart knob. What we realized after you know,
shipping to customers across the country with Gen one, was that.
Speaker 5 (30:10):
We had limited compatibility.
Speaker 9 (30:12):
At least we wanted to with Gen one really prove
that this was a product that works functionally, and at
the same time noticed that, you know, we really could
only work on ranges where the knobs are vertical because
the Gen one knob was relatively big, and you know,
if you look at any other smart devices, especially smart
door locks, your Gen one product is usually your proof
(30:33):
of concept, and so we tried to make it as
compatible as possible. But after a few years of shipping
Gen one, we decided that we had enough feedback to
redesign the knob and launch a Gen two version, which.
Speaker 5 (30:47):
We did last September.
Speaker 9 (30:48):
And so it was about a year and a half
of completely redesigning from the ground up with almost all
custom components, because what we found with Gen one was,
you know, we were pulling a lot of components off
the shelf, and so we really had limited flexibility on
the form factors, so that, you know, we could only
make it compatible with so many ranges.
Speaker 5 (31:07):
With Gen two, it's about half the size.
Speaker 9 (31:10):
It comes in only two parts, the top the not bottom,
which makes charging easier, installation easier, and most importantly, we
have expanded compatibility not just on ranges, but also to
stove tops, where the knobs are typically smaller and closer together.
We have a longer battery life, and it's just much
more aesthetically pleasing. We were super excited about it because
(31:31):
it really gave us the opportunity to of course expand
our reach, but then also really start to work with
the appliance manufacturers where it cannot only retrofit this onto
quote unquote dumb ranges that are out there and digitize
that experience, but then also work towards an integrated solution
where in the long run, every stove or range that
(31:52):
is sold can have this technology already built in.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Yeah, I'm looking at the om Kitchen dot com website
and I see that the OME Smart Knob two point
zero is what you're selling now.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
It's one twenty nine for one.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
But you also have a four or five and six
pack that you chatted about earlier, and it says here
that you can control your stove from anywhere, showing an
app as well. So what would be an application for
that that you're you know, you're sitting on the couch
and you want to be able to turn off that stove.
Speaker 5 (32:17):
We do not allow for remote turn on, just for
safety reasons.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
Yeah, by accident pocket tis.
Speaker 9 (32:22):
Accidentitely turning on, but once you've pushed in turn and
it's on, check to make sure your stove is off.
Speaker 5 (32:27):
So, you know, a big use case for us is
when you leave the house, you have that moment of panic.
Speaker 9 (32:31):
You know, you don't necessarily want to drive all the
way home, and so you can actually check on our
app to see if all the burners are off, and
then if they are not off, you can automatically turn
them off remotely. You can also adjust the temperature setting
through the app, and you can also do all of
these things through your voice assistance. So really trying to
make the safety functionality just work in the background, so
the automatic shut off will engage if you leave the
(32:53):
stove on for more than fifteen minutes. Or whatever your
auto shut off setting is. But then yeah, I mean
you can set cooking timers. There so much more that
you can do just to make your time in the
kitchen much less stressful and give you that peace of
mind that we have everywhere else in the home.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
More about OME Smart Kitchens when we return on teck
it out.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
Follow Mark Saltzman on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram.
Speaker 6 (33:15):
Listen to check it out whenever you want.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
Ome smart Ome.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
We are chatting with Aksheita I or She's the CEO
and founder of OHM that's home without the ah. They
are the makers of the OME Smart Knob two point zero,
which replaces your existing stove knobs and can replace your old.
Speaker 3 (33:43):
One in less than a minute.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
It says on the website we are chatting about smart
home technology. Akshida's joining us for the first time in
almost two years to continue on with our chat. Can
you share some of your predictions on how AI, which
seems to be the real buzzword today and other smart
home tech can and shape the kitchen of the future.
Speaker 9 (34:02):
Yeah, I think there are so many avenues where AI
can really help accelerate technology, especially in the home and
the user applications. I think you know, for us, the
first and foremost is really proactive safety, right, So you know,
these devices that can act, as you know, kind of
kitchen guardians in a way, preventing fires, gas leaks, accidents
(34:22):
by detecting unsafe conditions and automatically responding without you having
to step in.
Speaker 5 (34:27):
So you know, our smart knob is an example of that.
Speaker 9 (34:29):
And I hope that with time, these smart appliances can
learn user habits, just like your nest thermostat learns what
temperature you like your house at and it automatically.
Speaker 5 (34:38):
Sets that for you.
Speaker 9 (34:39):
Where clients is can learn your habits and send those
real time alerts to prevent unattended cooking hazard, especially for
like we talked about older adults and families with kids.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
I like that there's also an efficiency story here cutting
food waste.
Speaker 3 (34:52):
How can AI help there?
Speaker 9 (34:54):
Yeah, I mean I think you know, as you mentioned,
you know, personalizing your kitchen, optimizing your recipe content based
on dietary needs, allergies, food preferences. You know, imagine a
smart assistant or an app that can suggest meals based
on what's in your fridge.
Speaker 5 (35:09):
And then I think on.
Speaker 9 (35:10):
The you know, sustainability and energy efficient side, AI can
help by suggesting eco friendly cooking methods and then also
reducing food waste through inventory tracking. Right, So, I mean
your fridge is a great example of items that can
go bad, and I know that there is work being
done on image recognition and the fridge that can automatically.
Speaker 5 (35:33):
Tell you know what.
Speaker 9 (35:34):
Ingredients are going to go bad and that you need
to use them quickly. And I think that can really
help on the smart appliance side, to let you know
the ingredients that are nearing their expiration data and to
really minimize waste. I think that's a huge one that
I think all of us can relate to.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
And before I let you go, Akshita, what would you
say are some of the current challenges tied to smart kitchens.
Is it familiarity that a lot of the people who
may want to take advantage of like yours may not
be the most comfortable using tech, or is there like
a price obstacle?
Speaker 9 (36:05):
Honestly, I think awareness is not a big one in
my mind. I think it's the other two that you mentioned, so,
you know, the first one being just the intuitiveness, right,
I think one of the biggest reasons smart home products
have a hard time getting adoption is because they're difficult
to install, difficult to understand. What we really recognized was
(36:25):
that you need to really seamlessly fit into someone's daily habits, right,
and not really try to change consumer behavior and really
just add and augment the appliances or you know, the
products that you use day to day. So I think
really making sure that we're creating products that are easy
to understand is important. The way we see it at
(36:47):
this point is really to take our technology to the
next level is to work with the bigger companies that
have that infrastructure in.
Speaker 2 (36:54):
Place, yeah, like appliance makers and such. So finally, the
best website again is simply own kitchen dot com. Is
that right? Yes, that's right, okay o me kitchen dot
com at Cheeta. It's been great chatting with you. Let's
not make it another two years before we have you
back on and wishing you much success with the second
generation the ome smart Knob two point zero and thanks
(37:15):
for all the educational work you do as well for
the category as a whole, not just about your own solution.
Speaker 3 (37:20):
So I really like what you're doing. Thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (37:22):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
I just wanted to give Visa a shout out one
more time. Did you know that shoppers are three times
more likely to enter an unfamiliar store if it displays
a Visa logo, and customers are five times more likely
to think a merchant is reputable. This is because Visa
has invested billions over the years in fraud prevention, so
you don't need to think twice about shopping at retail
(37:45):
or online with your Visa card. Nor should businesses be
concerned about secure payments. Visa is deploying advanced technology to
ensure customer data is not vulnerable no matter where the
transactions take place. To learn more about Visa's work and
protecting you and your purchase, head over to Visa dot
com slash security. That's Visa dot com slash security. I
(38:06):
also wanted to acknowledge and thank sand Disc, one of
my favorite tech companies. I rely on their storage solutions
all the time, both internal and external, but the rebranded
company has done really well with its solid state drives
for laptops and desktops. Great for content creators because unlike
an external hard drive, which is really good just for
backup purposes, you know, throw a bunch of files on there,
(38:27):
and put it away for long term storage. Solid state
is fast and reliable and light and there's no moving
parts so it's more durable, which all means you can
easily work off those drives. So if you're a content
creator like a podcast or a YouTuber at TikToker, you're
editing in the field like you know on that laptop
or tablet or phone. These files are getting massive, so
you're going to want to have external storage, so check
(38:49):
out SanDisk dot com for their line of SSDs, micro
SD cards, and USB thumb drives. Thanks for tuning in
to check it out everyone. Hope you enjoyed this week's episode.
I look forward to broadcasting next week's show from Belon.
Take care of yourself and we'll chat in a week
Chat
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