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Former Samsung Engineers Build Smart Umbrella That Tells If It's Going To Rain (mashable.com)
A team of former Samsung engineers have developed a smart umbrella, dubbed Opus One, that tells its owner if it's going to rain with the shake of the handle. International Business Times reports: Developed by a team of former Samsung engineers, Opus One smart umbrella works when it is connected to the smartphone via Bluetooth 4.1 through its companion app Jonas. The device gets weather reports every morning from credible sources and sends alert to its owner when its handle is shaken. Red light on the device indicates rain on that particular day, while a green one indicates clear skies. Jonas collects weather data of select cities and sends the information to Opus One smart umbrella, thus helping the owner to know if it's going to rain on a particular day. The device notifies its owner by vibrating if the smartphone connected to the app receives calls, emails or text messages. The smart umbrella also vibrates if its owner leaves behind the smartphone that is connected to it before the user gets too far away. The smartphone too will vibrate and alert its owner if the smart umbrella is left behind. This will help prevent loss of both the products. The umbrella runs on AAA batteries and costs about $105.
The only way they could have designed this to be more of a meme is if they made it an 'Internet of Things' device, and made it 'wirelessly charging'.
With so many sources of weather forecasts, with news, with notifications, an umbrella doing the same thing is pretty meh... That the umbrella pairs with phone to help either from getting lost -- that's a feature possibly worth $105. Until the umbrella blows inside out, then I'm back to $10 ones.
With AAA batteries it's unlikely to start a fire, and even if it does, the rain will put it out.
"BSD: Free as in speech. Linux: Free as in beer. Windows 10: Free as in herpes." --Man On Pink Corner in #52607549.
If I already have the umbrella with me, it doesn't matter if it is going to rain or not. I can wait for it to start raining. If I am outside, I will know if it is raining or not.
If it has to communicate with a phone to determine if it is raining. Well... why not just use the phone?
If you want a $100 umbrella. Get one of these. I live in a rather windy city and have never had an inversion or damage. Makes a nice walking stick, as I can put all of my weight on it with no problems. I have not used it for self defense, however.
My guess is the "smart" umbrella is a cheap $10 dollar one (that they sell at the convenience store for $20 when it is raining), with some crappy electronics in it.
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
For a smart umbrella it's pretty dumb.
So stupid.
Why would you be carrying an umbrella in the first place if you didn't expect it to rain?
Couldn't you check the weather report on any of 5000 weather sites, or god forbid, look out a fucking window?
This is an idiot's 'solution' to a non-existent problem.
(Fortunately for me, I live in Seattle- I know it's going to rain.)
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
I believe you can find a video of the prototype at 35 seconds here.
The smart umbrella also vibrates if its owner leaves behind the smartphone that is connected to it before the user gets too far away. The smartphone too will vibrate and alert its owner if the smart umbrella is left behind. This will help prevent loss of both the products.
No. You can still lose both items... this makes it tough to lose just the one .
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
Not a bad use of their time, given that they're unemployable with Samsung on their resume.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_large_numbers
Hopefully you're just trolling though.
> Weather cannot reliably be forecasted, and anyone who's paid attention knows this.
Even just a radar map alone is sufficient to predict what the weather will be like *today*. Predicting a week out, you may as well just use the long-term average (summer will probably be hot).
Global warming is of course an entirely different ball of wax. Based on my efforts to find the most objective information I could find, it appears to be a lot like Saint Nickolas - a real thing, with a LOT of hype and fiction built up around it.
"credible sources"? Please, pull the other one...
If there was ever a source of "fake news", it would be in the weather forecast.
Maybe something practical would be a drone with a huge canopy hovering overhead, but having to carry an umbrella that needs a net connection to tell me when I should open it? Oh dear! I hope it doesn't flash the red light when indoors. I might break a mirror or knock over the salt shaker.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Now we know why.
This will go nicely with my bullet-proof vest that alerts me when gun crime is reported nearby.
-Dave
I bet they burnt lots of midnight oil to pull off this glowing achievement. Quite frankly, this fiery company is doing wonders to rekindle people's interest in the world of hi-tech.
fuck that.
Scenario 1:
Hey, smart umbrella owner, is it going to rain today?
Erm... let me see. Damn! Left my umbrella in a cafe/on the metro/etc.
Scenario 2:,
Hey, smart umbrella owner, is it going to rain today?
Hang on, let me check. I left it over... Hey! Who's stolen my umbrella!
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Is the evolution of the word "smart" complete yet? At the very least, lexicographers should now include the following:
adj., unnecessarily complicated. augmented with electronics in a way that is perceived as foolish.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
Those two colors are so 1980s. How about....
Blue -- Clear Skies
White -- Rain
Green -- Frogs
Red - Hell Fire
I dont carry an umbrella unless there's a chance of rain or it is in fact raining, there's like 8 things from when I get up to when I leave to tell me the weather of the day why would I want THIS?
Why would I check a device that I typically don't need to touch (umbrella) to determine if I need an umbrella. Wouldn't the better solution be to check another device I have in my possession daily to determine if I need the umbrella? Admittedly, I only read the article summary. Go easy on me!
Let's make like a bird... and get the flock outta here.
If you left it at home, it's going to rain.
Nope, no sig
and why they would need multiple engineers.
it's just a bluetooth chip and a vibra. barely qualifies as a product. furthermore, making it a part of the umbrella rather than an attachment limits it's usage severely.
and think about it, the product is already on the market as a non-umbrella product. such bluetooth reminder gadgets have been on the market for OVER A FUCKING DECADE. it's like putting a watch into an umbrella and not just giving you the watch. it's like a product that would have been cool IF it actually measured air pressure and humidity and predicted raining based on that and changed color to match or something like that. if it did something coooool.
My regular old umbrella already does that by following a simple procedure. Look in back seat. If I don't see the umbrella, it will rain. If I do see it, clear skies.
If I take it to work, it won't rain, if I leave it at home it will pour.
... especially the price.
I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
There also is a 10% chance you will be showed in molten lithium when the battery explodes.
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
They should sell a stack of these to the national weather service. Then maybe they would be able to predict the weather.
As it is now, they can't even predict the weather right now. Even windows (the glass kind) would improve things.
in SV
That let me know it's going to be sunny out! And the windbreaker, thermal underwear...
We get all four seasons, sometimes within the same 24 hour period. And, in some rare instances, within the same couple hours! We keep a coat in our vehicles until after Memorial day. We had snow last year in MAY. We've had tornadoes after thanksgiving. We've had rain, hail, thunderstorms & snow in the same night. An umbrella that can tell us when it will rain? Yeah right.
often. Who the hell is going to spend $105 on an umbrella?
That was going to be my only question, will it explode? Designed by Samsung, some how it's got to eventually catch on fire or explode.
So, a tiny device listens for either yes or no from a smart phone and if it is yes, it turns a motor. Big fucking wow.
... you're drunk.
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