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Control Your “Smart Home” With the Touch of a Button

Bellevue startup Pebblebee prepares to launch its latest gadget, the Stone

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This article originally appeared in the December 2015 issue of Seattle magazine.

Bellevue-based Pebblebee made a name for itself last year with the Honey ($24.99 at pebblebee.com), a small Bluetooth “key finder” device designed to help users keep track of oft-misplaced household items. This year the tech startup releases the Stone, a tiny gadget—roughly the size of a quarter—that looks like its namesake, except that it has a button on one side.

The simplest way to describe this newer product might be to call it a tracker that’s more advanced than its predecessor. The Stone’s most notable feature? Its programmability. A user can set up the Stone so that, in response to a trigger (when the button is pressed or when the temperature is too low or too high, for example), it automatically performs a task through the user’s smartphone.

The device’s usefulness depends on how much you’ve invested in other “smart home” products. For instance, it can only change your thermostat setting if you already have a thermostat connected to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. In less-connected (read: nearly all) households, the Stone will be more fun than functional.  

 

SENSORIUM Takes on Our Screen Addiction

SENSORIUM Takes on Our Screen Addiction

Dance, drag, and immersive art collide in an eight-week exploration of our phone-obsessed lives, with a few surprises along the way. 

What do drag queens, smartphone addiction, art installations, and an old luggage shop have in common?  According to longtime Seattle choreographer Alana O’Farrell Rogers, a lot.  “There’s no dead time anymore,” says Rogers, explaining how the proliferation of smartphones fills the empty spaces that once served as time for rest or connection. Where we snuggled…

Salt-N-Pepa on Breaking Barriers and Staying Power

Salt-N-Pepa on Breaking Barriers and Staying Power

Ahead of their performance at Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture gala, the hip-hop pioneers talk about creative ownership, connecting with new generations, and the songs that still resonate.

The Museum of Pop Culture (MOPOP) will host its annual ICONS of Pop Culture Gala in Seattle on October 22, honoring five artists and institutions whose work has helped shape entertainment and culture.  This year’s honorees are martial arts and film legend Bruce Lee, fashion designer Jeremy Scott, the video game franchise Halo, hip-hop pioneers…

Studio Sessions: Christopher Paul Jordan

Studio Sessions: Christopher Paul Jordan

Drawing on childhood memories, neighborhood history, and salvaged materials, Christopher Paul Jordan’s latest show at Cornish’s Behnke Family Gallery explores how the past stays with us.

Start in the middle. It’s good advice for telling a story, and a way into Christopher Paul Jordan’s paintings. By the time you encounter them, their materials have already been something else, and who knows what they might move on to become. The Tacoma interdisciplinary artist works with salvaged objects, including screens, picture frames, canvas,…

Rearview Mirror: Wedding Bells, A Furniture Launch, and the Symphony’s New Look 

Rearview Mirror: Wedding Bells, A Furniture Launch, and the Symphony’s New Look 

Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).

WEDDING BELLS I’ve been a bit absent from this column lately, but I think I have a pretty good excuse: I got married! It’s already been three weeks since my September 19 wedding, but I’m still reflecting on the magic of the day. My fiancé, well husband now (I can’t get used to saying it!),…