<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Google</span></p><p class="caption">Google hardware chief Rick Osterloh</p></div><p></p></div></div>Google held a splashy press event in San Francisco on Tuesday to unveil <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-google-hardware-products-announced-2016-10">a bunch of new hardware</a>, including a designed-from-scratch phone called the Pixel, a fabric-covered virtual reality headset called Daydream View, an Amazon Echo competitor called Google Home, and a home WiFi system known as Google WiFi.</p><p>Unlike Google's past dalliances in hardware, this time all the products are under one division, led by former Motorola president Rick Osterloh, and they seemed more coherently tied together than ever before. </p><p>For instance, Google's intelligent agent, the Google Assistant, shows up in both the WiFI connected "Home" speaker and in the new Pixel phone, although you activate it slightly differently - with Home, you have to say "Okay Google" every time, while the Pixel simply lets you press and hold the home software button. The Pixels are the first (and so far only) phones to work with the Daydream headset. You can get a Daydream View and a base for the Home in the same off-white color called "Snow."</p><p>The products themselves also seemed solid when I tried them in Google's demo area, although we haven't had a chance to review them independently.</p><p>The Home smart speaker really does understand if you ask it to "play that Smashmouth song from Shrek," or tell it to turn down your Nest thermostat - I was particularly impressed at how well it picked up our voice commands in a crowded and noisy space. The Pixel looks as good as any other high-end smartphone. The Daydream View may make you look like a dork (like all VR viewers), but it's got some smart design touches, like the little cubby where you tuck the remote control, and it comes in some cool colors and is covered with a pleasant soft fabric.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Google</span></p><p class="caption">The Daydream View and remote.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>All that aside, I still think Google's heart is elsewhere. Why?</p><ul><li><strong>Following, not leading.</strong> All the new products are <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-copying-apple-amazon-facebook-2016-10">like something else that already exists</a>. The Pixel is like the iPhone. The Home is like the Echo. The Daydream View is a cheap VR starter kit, far less sophisticated (and far cheaper) than Facebook's Oculus or Sony's PlayStation VR. The WiFi is like Eero or any number of other startups - and in fact, companies have been promising to simplify WiFi for more than a decade. (I have a five-year-old Cisco Valet that promised simpler home WiFi, and it still isn't very good, and I remember Microsoft's brief-lived home WiFi routers in 2004 or so, which promised the same thing.</li><li><strong>Google isn't manufacturing the phone.</strong> Google designed it, it's got some <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-chip-development-effort-2015-10">custom Google silicon</a> in it, but the actual manufacturing is being handled by HTC - a phone maker. </li><li><strong>We've seen this movie before.</strong> If Google were really serious about getting into the hardware business in a big way, why did it spend over $12 billion to buy a major phone maker, Motorola, in 2011 only to jettison that business to Lenovo less than 3 years later? As <a href="https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/lenovo-to-acquire-motorola-mobility.html">Larry Page said when he sold Motorola</a>, "it helps to be all-in when it comes to making mobile devices." Do we think Page has changed his mind? </li><li><strong>No retail play. </strong>Where are people going to be able to test and buy these things? When Microsoft got into hardware, it opened a big set of retail stores. Amazon plans to set up <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-big-expansion-retail-pop-up-stores-2016-9">as many 100 retail pop-up kiosks in malls</a>, as Business Insider previously reported. Google's retail strategy? Online and partners - you'll buy these things at <a href="https://madeby.google.com/home/features/#?filters=entertainment,answers,manage,plan,home,fun">Walmart and Best Buy</a>, alongside dozens of other products from every consumer electronics company in the sun. As far as support goes, online chat will attempt to take the place of the Apple Genius Bar. </li><li><strong>Financials. </strong>Google doesn't break out its hardware sales on its financials. If it starts, that would be a sign that it's serious about this business.</li></ul><p>Perhaps most telling, when Google CEO Sundar Pichai was talking today, he didn't show the kind of excitement and energy he shows at Google I/O, the company's annual event for developers. Pichai is a software developer; those are his people. He was most animated during a long diversion about about Google's machine learning prowess in translating English to Chinese - a tough problem, but a software engineering problem, not a hardware problem. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Matt Rosoff/Business Insider</span></p><p class="caption">Sundar Pichai at the Google hardware event.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Google hardware boss <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-rick-osterloh-makes-public-debut-2016-10">Osterloh took pains to reassure the world</a> on Tuesday that the company was serious about hardware this time and is in it for the long haul.</p><p>But in fact, the best part of these Google hardware products isn't the hardware. It's the software and services that underpin them - the brains behind the Google Assistant, the unlimited photo storage for the Pixel provided by Google's cloud, the Daydream virtual reality platform that third parties will be able to use to create 3D content.</p><p>So this is not Google turning into Apple. It's more akin to Google following Microsoft when it started doing hardware in 2010 to help show what Windows 8 was capable of on touch screen devices. Microsoft does take hardware seriously. It has some excellent designers. It's making some very strong products and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-panos-panay-history-microsoft-surface-2016-8/">forcing Apple to respond</a>.</p><p>But it's hardware in service of Microsoft's other products and its broader strategy of productivity everywhere, not hardware for its own sake.</p><p>That's the template Google is following. Google's broader strategy is providing access to all the world's information, and selling advertisements against the attention consumers pay to get that information. Consumers or investors who think otherwise risk confusion and disappointment.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-clean-iphone-smartphone-2016-9">Your iPhone is disgusting - here are the 3 best ways to clean it</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="1vMW9hMzE6gi1srv7Oj8K1DPh8G-NTMM" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Google still isn't a hardware company, and it's not even playing on the same field as Apple

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Infinity pools, multimillion-dollar clubhouses, tennis courts, and spas are among the many amenities at luxury <keyword id="1323206" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="RV">RV</keyword> resorts.</li><li>RV lots can come with villas or cottages that are outfitted with private kitchens, sun decks, fire pits, and private pools.</li><li>Many luxury resorts only allow Class A motorhomes, which are the largest and most spacious type of RV and can cost up to $2 million.</li><li>COVID-19 has increased sales of motorhomes and inquiries for RV resorts as <keyword id="6354692" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Travel">travel</keyword>ers are looking for safe ways to travel domestically.</li></ul><p>The sun is setting in Indio, California, and Dan Cross and wife, Colleen, are driving a golf cart along a palm tree-fringed path.</p><p>They're heading to their friends' home for dinner, where dinner is served on a private outdoor patio near the pool. Mountains loom in the distance and the blazing sun fades away as the friends talk in <a href="https://www.desertshoresresort.com/">Desert Shores Motorcoach Resort</a>, the luxury <keyword id="9293857" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="rv-resort">RV resort</keyword> the Crosses have called part-time home for the past 12 years and where a lot costs an average of $400,000.</p><p><div type="image" title="desertshoresresort (7)" height="1630" width="2173" msid="77506641" hostid="261"></div></p><p>The Crosses have been RVing for nearly 35 years, and they've been in the high-end RV market for most of that time. Their primary residence is in Iowa, and they chose California to escape the cold Midwestern winters. They stay at Desert Shores from November through April, and to live there is to have a social existence. </p><p>"There's an awful lot of socializing going on within the park," Cross told Business Insider. "During a typical week, you find people inviting their friends and neighbors over and having dinner on their patios."</p><p>RVing has long been a popular travel option, but as the coronavirus pandemic led to border shutdowns around the world, many Americans have turned to old-fashioned domestic road travel to satiate their cabin fever. RVshare, a peer-to-peer rental marketplace, reported a 650% increase in bookings since early April.</p><p>RVs are hotels, cars, and offices in one — with the added perk of bathrooms and WiFi. For families on the go, the sights and national parks in Western states like South Dakota, Wyoming, Arizona, and California remain top RV destinations. But for travelers who appreciate the finer things in <keyword id="6360041" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="life">life</keyword>, luxury RV resorts, which are similar to five-star hotels, prove to be extremely popular.</p><p>Not just a place to park your RVs, RV resorts have spacious lots and operate essentially like country clubs, with monthly dues in exchange for access to a wide array of amenities.</p><h2><strong>No ordinary RV park</strong></h2><p>Just 30 minutes from Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Park and one hour from Big Bear Lake, Desert Shores has 141 lots.</p><p>All guests at Desert Shores sleep in their motorhomes, but each of those lots also has a villa. They're aptly named "villas": Each measures between 1,200 and 1,800 square feet and is replete with its own pool, hot tub, and patio. Indoors, space opens up to a kitchen, a great room, a bathroom, and a garage. Owners can put their lots into a rental pool and renters must stay for a minimum of 31 days. </p><p><strong><div type="image" title="desert shores pool rv" height="694" width="925" msid="77506644" hostid="261"></div> </strong></p><p>Guests also have access to a 10,000-square-foot clubhouse, pool, spa, kitchen, ballroom, fitness center, tennis courts, a dog park and enhanced security.</p><p>Darren Leigh Smith, Desert Shores' Broker, says the resort attracts buyers seeking an upscale experience. </p><p>"Our guests are primarily snowbirds from colder states, and most are self-made husband-and-wife duos who have built small businesses together," Smith said. "All of the hard work they put in affords them the time to enjoy life away from work more. They come to Desert Shores because of the extra space we provide with our large lots and casitas, which allows them to invite their kids and grandkids to visit, which can be hard to do with typical RV resorts."</p><h2>Welcome to your land yacht</h2><p>These specific restrictions match most of those who own Class A motorhomes. Like many of the luxury RV resort offerings, Desert Shores requires guests to have Class A motorhomes (also referred to as bus conversions and motorcoaches), which typically measure 36- to 45-feet long. They're the largest on the market, sleeping eight to 10 people.</p><p>These are also considered the most luxurious RVs out there and cost anywhere from $50,000 and to $3 million.</p><p><strong> <div type="image" title="Featherlite RV" height="1875" width="2500" msid="77506649" hostid="261"></div></strong></p><p>Among the many companies that create Class A motorhomes are Monarch, Marathon Coaches, Prevost, and Anderson Mobile Estates. These motorhomes are often regarded as "land yachts" for their expensive fabrics and flooring, top-notch appliances, and even rooftop hot tubs. <strong> </strong></p><p><a href="http://www.featherlitecoaches.com/">Featherlite Coaches</a>, a luxury motorcoach manufacturer, creates conversion motorhomes on the Prevost bus chassis with floor plans that can include multiple bathrooms, bunk beds that convert to closets, and dinettes that convert to coffee tables for entertaining. Many are even installed with Amazon Alexa voice controls, Apple TV, HDTV satellite antennas, and cellular routers to stay connected even in the most remote locations.</p><p>Mark Eisenhart, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Featherlite Coaches, told Business Insider the company has seen a marked increase in sales and deliveries of coaches since mid-May. Compared to the same months last year, sales and deliveries have more than doubled, Eisenhart said.<strong> </strong></p><p>"As more executives need to travel, and more families search for a safer way to travel and vacation, coaches offer a method to satisfy both needs," Eisenhart said.</p><h2><strong>The North Carolina RV resort beloved by Fortune 500 execs</strong></h2><p>The camaraderie and like-minded community is what draws people to RV resorts.<strong> </strong></p><p>"RV people are different. They like being outdoors, and they like being with their spouse," said Kyle McCain, an RVer and President of the Board of Directors at <a href="https://www.mtn-falls.com/">Mountain Falls Motorcoach Resort</a> in Lake Toxaway, North Carolina. "Any one of us can get on an airplane and fly to the Ritz-Carlton. But if you're at an RV resort, you like being with similar people."<strong> </strong></p><p>Mountain Falls attracts an affluent clientele that includes Fortune 500 business executives, developers, oil company executives, hoteliers, and wine connoisseurs. McCain says COVID-19 has positively impacted sales at Mountain Falls, reporting a 127% increase in revenue and 102% increase in rentals over the last year.</p><p><strong> <div type="image" title="mountain RV" height="1122" width="1496" msid="77506652" hostid="261"></div></strong></p><p>There are 230 lots, most of which come with a cottage and can set you back $1.2 million to $3 million. There's no lack of activities to partake in on-site: the RV park has tennis courts, pickleball courts, a fitness center and spa, a nine-hole golf course, and two pools. That's in addition to a concierge who organizes off-property activities like hiking, and a chic clubhouse with stately stone fireplaces and a dining room.</p><p>"At Mountain Falls, ownership is inspired by the absolute beauty we're surrounded by — a state park wilderness on one side and the Blue Ridge Mountains on the other side," McCain said. "That, combined with the best amenities and social events that we, as 38-year RVers, have ever experienced."</p><p>Lisa Proctor and her husband, both of whom are retired, have been traveling to Mountain Falls for four years. They head there for the summer months to escape the sweltering Tennessee heat. Their small dog Roxy has been a trusty companion on their travels.</p><p>"RV living is, more than anything else, about being outside and away from the noise, confinement and complexity of urban life," she told Business Insider.</p><p><div type="image" title="Mountain Falls RV park" height="1004" width="1339" msid="77506655" hostid="261"></div></p><h2><strong>'A piece of paradise forever'</strong></h2><p>While some love the seclusion, others choose resorts for their proximity to the ocean and world-class golfing. Enter: <a href="https://www.naplesmotorcoachresort.com/">Naples Motorcoach Resort</a> in Naples, Florida.</p><p>Many RVers love Naples Motorcoach Resort because they can bring their boats for day trips or fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, to which the resort offers direct access. The 184-lot luxury resort's grounds feature manicured gardens, palm trees, and tidy green lawns. Among its amenities are three pools, fitness center, poker room, private theater, billiards room, and a ballroom.<strong> </strong></p><p>Chad Geffert, General Manager of Naples Motorcoach Resort, told Business Insider that owners typically build custom casitas with amenities like tiki huts, outdoor kitchens, and fire pits. Lots range from $129,900 to $289,000, excluding the cost of the customizations.</p><p><strong><div type="image" title="NaplesPicture" height="1637" width="2183" msid="77506660" hostid="261"></div></strong></p><p>"RV ownership has gone up in the industry, and I think it's related to the fact that RVs are probably the safest way to travel for the next few years," Geffert said. Of Naples Motorcoach's clientele, he noted, "It's all large-scale, Class A motorhomes. When people come down from the north, they'll spend the whole season down here. It's more of a long-term resort with the option to buy and have a piece of paradise forever."</p><p>At <a href="https://www.hearthsidegrove.com/">Hearthside Grove Motorcoach Resort</a> in Petoskey, Michigan, vacationers are able to access the outdoors in complete luxury. Lots have cottages with chic amenities and contemporary interiors, but they do not come cheap: Purchasing a lot can cost up to $1 million. </p><p>The resort is ensconced in lush woodlands and is just minutes from the lake with easy access to golfing, sailing, fishing trips, and cooking classes with local chefs. It's the perfect family-friendly resort.</p><p><div type="image" title="Hearthside Grove The Only 5 Star Luxury RV Resort in Michigan 1" height="1250" width="2500" msid="77506664" hostid="261"></div></p><p>The ease of having an RV, especially during COVID-19, is paying off for several travelers. Cross and his wife will return to Desert Shores for their usual November to April season, but in the meantime, they're hoping to take a trip up to Michigan with the lifelong friends they've met at Desert Shores resort.</p><p>"We've built probably the best friends of our lives there," he said. "Like family." </p>

Inside the wild world of luxury RV travel in America, where an RV site can cost up to $3 million and business is booming amid the pandemic

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Sol-Lux Alpha</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>There's no place like home, especially when home is a multi-million dollar urban condominium complex that runs entirely off the grid.</p><p><a href="http://www.solluxalpha.com/">Sol-Lux Alpha</a> is an ultra-luxe residence coming to San Francisco that generates its own power via rooftop solar panels and cuts down heating and cooling energy costs up to 90% through efficient design.</p><p>Upon completion later this year, t<span>he</span><span> four-family structure</span><span> </span><span>will be so energy efficient, it could change the way buildings are constructed in </span><span>San Francisco</span><span>, if not the rest of the country.</span></p><p><span>"We feel this is a building model of the future," John Sarter, a developer at <span>Off the Grid Design, LLC</span>, tells Tech Insider. "We have the power ... to be participants in the [energy] system, not just consumers, but producers."</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Sol-Lux Alpha</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span><span>Sol-Lux Alpha will be California's first net-zero energy "passive house" condominium complex, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-worlds-tallest-passive-house-will-be-in-new-york-city-2015-7">which means</a> it <span>meets strict energy efficiency standards set by Germany's Passive House Institute.</span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span>Rooftop solar panels generate all the energy tenants use, from powering kitchen appliances to an underground electric vehicle charging station. Any excess energy is sold to the local grid and puts money on tenants' pockets.</span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span>An energy storage system builds up a cache of energy in case of city power outages. It's enough to supply the average American home's <a href="https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=97&amp;t=3">electricity consumption</a> for five days.</span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span>The panels still leave room on the roof for a deck and outdoor kitchen, which is covered by a water-collection canopy. The system catches rainwater and uses it to shower the planters and vertical garden wall.</span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Sol-Lux Alpha</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span>The building's amenities go beyond infrastructure. Homeowners can track their energy use through an energy meter that plugs into the building's circuit breaker. Developers hope the technology encourages them to be more mindful.</span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span>"I</span></span></span>t's designed to make people really think about, 'Do I need to leave this plugged in?'" <span>Sarter says.</span></p><p><span>Each three-bedroom, two-bath unit is also outfitted with ultrasonic motion detectors that turn lights and outlets off when you leave the room.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Sol-Lux Alpha</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>The condos don't come cheap. According to Sarter, each 1,760-square-foot unit will run between $2 million and $3 million. That price includes part-ownership of the solar panels.</span></p><p><span><a href="http://www.solluxalpha.com/">Sol-Lux Alpha</a> opens fall 2016, with ambitions to develop more passive buildings on the same San Francisco block in the future.</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/no-cell-phones-wifi-technology-national-radio-quiet-zone-green-bank-2016-6">There's a part of the US where you can't use cell phones or WiFi routers</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="Y1NjJkNDE6xpsym59k70FbSX80QFFs8q" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

These $3 million luxury condos could change the way we make buildings

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="http://burningman.org/event/brc/"><p class="source"><span>Flickr/Bureau of Land Management</span></p></a></div><p></p></div></div>Burning Man, the annual festival that celebrates art, counterculture, and radical self-reliance, begins Sunday in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. </p><p>The weeklong event has long drawn a wild crowd that eschews modern society and technology in favor of partying and constructing strange buildings in the middle of the desert. </p><p>You won't find cell service or any other connection to the outside world anywhere in the seven-square-mile camp. </p><p>But there's at least one way to communicate with your fellow burners should an emergency arise.</p><p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/app/id719829352?mt=8&amp;&amp;referrer=click%3D29969400-0c0e-41d5-a7d0-cc1e0e6b26f7">FireChat</a>, an app developed by San Francisco-based <a href="http://opengarden.com/">Open Garden</a>, creates a local network that makes it possible to instantly communicate with anyone, even without an internet connection.</p><p>"The question we try to answer is, 'what do you do if you really, really need to reach someone?'" Open Garden CMO <span>Christophe Daligault told Business Insider. "We developed it for any situation where you might have unreliable internet access." </span></p><p>FireChat works through what's called a "mesh network," which uses the WiFi or Bluetooth port on your smart phone to connect directly with another phone. As phones connect, they form a local network, or mesh. </p><p>"People think that WiFi means internet access, but you can also use that transport layer to connect directly with one another," Daligault said.</p><p>The technology could conceivably be useful for chatting with friends on public transit while underground, during a flight, or while attending other big events with a high density of people and no internet access.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Open Garden</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Launched in March 2014, FireChat saw its first big use case at last year's Burning Man, when thousands of burners encountered mud that made it difficult to access the playa. Daligault said that thousands quickly took to FireChat to communicate, helping their fellow burners to work around the mud. </p><p>When the app first launched, you needed to be within 200 feet of another FireChat-enabled phone for the technology to work correctly. But this year, FireChat is partnering with Hub Culture to build a 30-foot pole that will expand the mesh network even further. </p><p>Dubbed a "signal totem," the tower uses wind-generator power and routers, but it doesn't connect to the internet. </p><p>They plan to build the totem near the center of the playa, near the Geek A Transformation Station. </p><p>Daligault said that the totem is relatively cheap and easy to build, and he could see the design being replicated elsewhere. </p><p>That could come in handy for situations like this <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/burning-man-bugs-2015-8">year's stink bug infestation</a>, which Burning Man organizers <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/burning-man-bugs-gone-2015-8">say has disappeared</a>. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Open Garden</span></p><p class="caption">A rendering of how the mesh network will cover the Burning Man grounds.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Such an advanced technology is bound to get a reaction from some of the event's more radical attendees, many of whom use the week at Burning Man as an escape from the noise of the modern world. </p><p>"Anything you put in front of burners will have a polarizing reaction, and some won't like it," Daligault said. "But others might be going with a bunch of friends or family, and we can see them needing a way to send a quick message to say that everyone is OK." </p><p>Since it doesn't provide internet access, however, burners need to download the FireChat app before they leave for the playa, if they intend to use it to chat. The app is free to download <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/app/id719829352?mt=8&amp;&amp;referrer=click%3D29969400-0c0e-41d5-a7d0-cc1e0e6b26f7">on iOS</a> and <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.opengarden.firechat&amp;referrer=utm_source%3Dfirechat.opengarden.com%26utm_medium%3Dweb%26utm_campaign%3Dbutton">Android</a>. </p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/time-lapse-video-hot-air-balloons-festival-classic-2015-8">Watch this beautiful time-lapse video of a hot air balloon festival </a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="Z5bm1udjrju63aZwa1hZRooX3bcrAmnk" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

How techies can still communicate with each other while they're without internet at Burning Man

<p><div class="image-container float_right" style="width:480px"><div class="image"><p class="source">Screenshot</p><p class="caption">The <keyword id="1764005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="chromecast">Chromecast</keyword></p></div></div><keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> surprised the tech world this week with the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-chromecast-2013-7">introduction of the Chromecast</a>, a tiny $35 dongle that plugs into your TV's HDMI port and lets you beam in videos from the Web.</p>
<p>Tech <a href="http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/07/chromecast-is-googles-miracle-device/">pundits went nuts</a>. Some declared it <a href="http://gigaom.com/2013/07/24/why-chromecast-is-such-a-big-deal-for-google-and-a-threat-to-apple/">a threat Apple's AirPlay</a>, which works with the Apple TV, iPhone, iPad, and some Macs.</p>
<p>But after diving into the caveats that come with the Chromecast, it appears everyone's love affair with the gadget is over.</p>
<p>Here's why:</p>
<ul>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">As </span><a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/25/4556978/can-chromecast-succeed-where-google-tv-failed">The Verge points out</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, you're still pretty limited in what video services you can stream to Chromecast. It works with Netflix, Pandora, and content you own through the Google Play store for Android, but you can't play stuff stored locally on your computer, phone, or tablet yet like you can with Apple's AirPlay.</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Google originally gave away three free months of Netflix streaming with the Chromecast, effectively reducing the cost to just $11. But Google </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-ends-the-netflix-deal-for-the-chromecast-2013-7">stopped the offer within 24 hours</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, saying it sold out of a pre-planned number of Netflix subscriptions it had planned to give away. It appears that Google wasn't prepared for high demand. (The Chromecast is already sold out for now, by the way.)</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The tiny gadget actually requires an unsightly power cord to work, something the </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=chromecast">product shots and ads cleverly hide</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">. That's because regular HDMI ports don't pump out enough power to run a device like the Chromecast.</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Some have noticed latency issues with the Chromecast, meaning streaming quality isn't very good unless you have a good WiFi router and zippy Internet connection. It's likely a lot of people will have problems streaming to the Chromecast.</span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Criticism aside, the Chromecast does feel like an interesting product, especially considering it's dirt-cheap price. We'll have a full review of the Chromecast next week.</span></p>

The World's Love Affair With Google's Chromecast Dongle Appears To Be Over

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>AP Images</span></p><p class="caption">Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>When John Chambers announced his retirement as CEO of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/cisco">Cisco</a>, he hand-picked Chuck Robbins to be his successor. And when Robbins officially took over, he called his shot: Under his leadership, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-cisco-ceo-more-changes-to-come-2015-6">Cisco would move faster - much faster - to stay ahead of the changing times</a>. </p><p>At the time, Cisco was still a Silicon Valley powerhouse, but doubts were beginning to swirl. Companies were moving to Amazon's cloud, or Microsoft's, or Google's, in a trend that's only accelerated in the years since. And the more they relied on the cloud for their computing infrastructure, the less they were spending on their data centers - and data center networking hardware, like the kind that Cisco is best known for.</p><p>Going on four years later, and Wall Street is definitely taking notice of Robbins' progress: Cisco shares are up almost 60% from the day Robbins took the reins at the company, and were up some 13% in 2018 alone. The company has a market cap of about $200 billion at the time of writing.</p><p>In its 2018 fiscal year, Cisco booked its highest-ever annual revenues of $49.3 billion, up from $48 billion in 2017, with 32% of that coming from recurring sources like subscriptions, while software was about 10%. Networking gear is still Cisco's bread-and-butter, but the mix is changing.</p><p><em>"</em>The irony of this whole cloud transition is that it is actually one of the key forces that's leading to our growth, whereas four or five years ago it was viewed as an existential threat," Robbins told Business Insider at a sit-down interview at Cisco headquarters in December. </p><p>Don't underestimate that trend, either: "Growth doesn't come easy at a mature company, especially with mostly-mature technologies," says Rohit Mehra, VP of network infrastructure and a long-time Cisco-watcher with research firm IDC.</p><p>Here's what Robbins had to say about his journey from the bottom of Cisco all the way to the top, what comes next, and how he revitalized the $200 billion company into a lean, mean, cloud-focused machine. </p><p><em>"</em>I think that we're just living in a time where every company has to challenge themselves every year as to, what do we have to change," says Robbins. "I mean, you also have to wake up and say: What were we doing last year that's going to keep working this year, and what do we have to change?" </p><h2>Change from inside</h2><p>Like his <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-rise-of-microsoft-ceo-satya-nadella-2016-1">contemporary Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft</a>, Robbins is a true Cisco insider. </p><p>Robbins got his degree in mathematics from UNC Chapel Hill in 1987, and worked for five years at the North Carolina National Bank as a programmer. What's funny, he says, is that this gig gave him hands-on time with Cisco's first-ever products, well before he actually joined the company in 1997. First coming aboard as a sales account manager, Robbins climbed the ladder, from regional manager, and ultimately up to CEO. </p><p>He says that this has given him a variety of perspectives on Cisco: First as a customer and user, then as a member of the rank-and-file staff, and ultimately as an executive at its highest levels. He credits these experiences with helping him develop as a leader.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Wikimedia Commons</span></p><p class="caption">Cisco's first-ever router, released circa 1986.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>"Just watching the industry evolve, and then being here, I think that you get instincts about how this thing, and how it's moving," Robbins says. </p><p>To that end, he credits his insider status with giving him some key advantages as he tries to move the company forward. It's given him a good grounding in what, exactly, needs to get done, as well as knowledge of how to navigate office politics and processes to actually make things happen. </p><p>"The perfect candidate is an insider who knows that you need to change, because if you know you need to change, then being an insider just enables you to do it more quickly, because you know how to get things done inside the company," Robbins says. Contrast that to an outsider, he says, who might recognize the need for change, but "not understand how to get it done quickly, not understand the political undertones that you have to navigate."</p><h2>The three big things</h2><p>Robbins credits his predecessor John Chambers for doing a lot help Cisco evolve before retiring from the CEO job. Key acquisitions like Meraki, a wireless networking startup that's now <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cisco-meraki-startup-culture-2018-8">one of Cisco's most important businesses</a>, were made under Chambers' watch, Robbins notes. </p><p><strong>Read: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cisco-meraki-startup-culture-2018-8">How a startup that Cisco bought six years ago is totally shaking up the $208 billion company's status quo</a></strong></p><p>When Robbins took over, the time was right for the company to take an even bigger step towards reinvention - "There's always an opportunity when there's a leadership change," he says. </p><p>His goals were threefold: First, "provide clarity to the market" about Cisco's role in the cloud computing market. Second, "reinvigorate the innovation in our core franchises" - he says "there were a lot of people who didn't believe that there was any innovation left to bring" in that regard. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Business Insider/Julie Bort</span></p><p class="caption">John Chambers, Robbins' predecessor as CEO and Executive Chairman of Cisco.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>"Which we disagree with, or at least I did," says Robbins. "Good news is, I found most [employees] to agree [with me]."</p><p>The third priority was to give customers more flexibility in how they use Cisco products and services. This has, in turn, led to Cisco focusing its efforts on subscription-based businesses, like cloud security and compliance. </p><p>Not everybody was on board.</p><p>Some Cisco executives weren't interested in pursuing this new direction: Some were close to retirement anyway, and others took it as a sign that it was time to leave and pursue new opportunities as CEOs themselves. Indeed, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cisco-padmasree-warrior-is-out-report-2015-6">several high-ranking Cisco executives, including former CTO Padmasree0 Warrior, left in the months just following Robbins' ascension as CEO.</a></p><p>Ultimately, though, Robbins says that he found a strong core of Cisco employees who wanted to work with him on this push, which was good, because he needed the help.</p><p>"There are lots people who actually agreed, and frankly helped shape [the vision], because I didn't know every answer," says Robbins. "I mean, I just had an idea of what I thought we needed to do, and then you put a lot of smart people around you." </p><h2>The big catalyst</h2><p>Core to Robbins' strategy is the idea of what he calls intent-based networking. </p><p>A big reason why cloud services like Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure are so successful is because they remove a ton of complexity, argues Robbins. You throw your servers up in one or more clouds, and let Amazon or Microsoft or whoever else worry about the hard work of securing and managing the network. </p><p>This is where Robbins saw the opportunity to innovate. Not every company wants to, or is able to, move to the cloud wholesale. Robbins wants to make it as easy for those customers to manage their networking infrastructure as it is to run it in the cloud. The strategy involves helping IT pros spend less time worrying about the nitty-gritty of running a network, and shortcut straight to what they hope to get out of it - hence, intent-based networking.</p><p>The first big example of this, Robbins says, was the Catalyst 9000 line of network switches, which he says was Cisco's fastest-adopted product ever when it launched in mid-2017.</p><p>These switches are programmable, meaning that IT departments can automate security and compliance processes, even if they're managing an uplink to the cloud. And they integrate with Cisco's DNA subscription service, which helps networking pros manage, maintain, and secure their networks on an ongoing basis. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Cisco</span></p><p class="caption">The Cisco Catalyst 9000 line of network switches brings the software and hardware businesses closer together. The production version doesn't have a glass top.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>This combination of hardware and software accomplishes some key goals for Cisco, says Robbins: It allows Cisco to keep on trucking with building networking gear, while the subscriptions give it a credible play in the red-hot cloud market. Cisco even helps manage these processes if some of a customer's infrastructure is, in fact, in the cloud.</p><p><em>"</em>The reality also is that there are many problems in the world that still need incredibly high performance hardware. That's just the nature of what we do," says Robbins. "But that also aligns with what is perceived favorably by Wall Street. And it creates a more predictable business model."</p><p>The success of the Catalyst line, and the success of similarly intent-based products like the Cisco HyperFlex server infrastructure platform, has given Robbins confidence that the company can, indeed, still innovate. And he says that it means that more changes are on the horizon. </p><p>In the next few months, a broad base of Cisco products will be going through similar "transitions," he says. "We haven't had that in as long as I can remember."</p><h2>So far, so good</h2><p>Robbins says that the move towards subscriptions was something of a gamble. But in a world where everything from Adobe Photoshop to music and movies are purchased via a monthly subscription, it was a necessary move.</p><p>"I had no idea how our customers would respond to the shift of subscriptions, but frankly this is just the way they buy things today," says Robbins. In general, he says, customers are grateful that Cisco is trying to meet them where they are, and work at making their lives easier. </p><p>And while Cisco has a reputation as serving the Fortune 500, Robbins says that it's seeing huge growth in the midmarket, too.</p><p>The Catalyst 9000 switches were adopted by mid-sized companies who wanted enterprise-grade features, without enterprise-levels of complexity, he says. And Meraki, the Cisco subsidiary, helps even small companies manage their corporate WiFi and protect against threats - Mehri, the analyst, sees it as the leader in its market. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Katie Canales/Business Insider</span></p><p class="caption">Todd Nightingale is in charge of Meraki, a cloud networking startup that showed Cisco how to do subscription businesses.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Still, things aren't perfect, says Mehri: Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications company that's been in the news a lot lately, is challenging Cisco's market dominance in key foreign markets, notes Mehri. And it's still worrisome for Cisco that Amazon Web Services and the other cloud providers are either building their own networking gear, or just customizing cheap white-labeled alternatives, rather than purchasing the company's wares. </p><p>In the end, though, Cisco has a lot going for it, and Robbins has made lots of moves to make it competitive, in Mehri's view.</p><p>"Cisco will be healthy for a long time," says Mehri. </p><p>Robbins would likely agree with that assessment. While he says that he's pleased with the work done so far, it would be a mistake to get too wrapped up with Cisco's strong performance on the stock market.</p><p>"Look, you get to enjoy that for about 10 minutes, and you don't ever take it for granted," says Robbins. "We have to keep executing, and the great news for us is we're still in the very early part of this transition."</p> <p class="tagline">Get the latest Cisco stock price<a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stock/csco-Quote"> here.</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marie-kondo-on-organizing-your-home-2016-1">Japanese lifestyle guru Marie Kondo explains how to organize your home once and never again</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins tells us how he led the $200 billion company to growth when everybody expected it to get crushed in the cloud wars

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>SmartThings</span></p><p class="caption">The SmartThings kit has all the basics you need to get started connecting your home.</p></div><p></p></div></div>My apartment gets almost no natural light. </p>
<p>That's one of the problems with living in New York. I spend about a zillion dollars per month in rent, and still have a teeny tiny apartment that faces the back of a bunch of taller buildings that block the sun. My bedroom window faces some other guy's bedroom window across a narrow, dark alley.</p>
<p>So no matter what time of day it is, I always have the lights on in my apartment.</p>
<p>For the last several weeks, my apartment has been programmed to light itself up. Whenever I enter my building, my apartment knows I'm home and switches on the lamp in my living room so I don't have to fumble around in the dark. When I leave the room, the light shuts itself off. </p>
<p>That's because I've been testing something called SmartThings. SmartThings isn't just one gadget, but a Web-connected system of everyday objects that can control everything in your home from your lights to your coffee maker. I tested one of the SmartThings starter kits, <a href="https://shop.smartthings.com/#/kits">which sell for $199 or $299</a>.</p>
<h2>How It Works</h2>
<p>SmartThings starts with the hub, a small white plastic box that looks sort of like a WiFi router. The hub plugs into your router and talks to the rest of the connected objects in your home. Since the hub is connected to the Internet, you can control everything from a computer or the <a href="http://www.smartthings.com/app/">SmartThings app</a>, even if you're out of the house.</p>
<p>From there, you set up the objects you want connected. My starter kit came with two motion sensors, two multi sensors that can tell you when a door or window is open, two presence sensors that you clip to your keychain so the hub knows when you're home (the app can also double as a presence sensor using your phone's GPS), a smart outlet for controlling lamps or appliances, and a moisture sensor that goes under the sink to alert you in case of a leak.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The app is where the real magic happens. Once all your devices are set up around your house, you use the app to program them all to talk to each other, getting as detailed as you'd like. </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">For example, I have a motion sensor in my living room and bedroom. If the motion sensor detects me in the living room, my lamp turns on. When I leave the living room and enter my bedroom, the lamp turns off. I put the moisture sensor under my sink and programmed SmartThings to send me a text alert if it gets wet. (Luckily, that never happened, but I was able to test it by sprinkling a little water on the device.)</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">You can get clever with location too, meaning you can tell SmartThings to do stuff like crank up the thermostat when you're within a mile of your house.</span><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>SmartThings</span></p><p class="caption">The SmartThings hub talks to all your connected devices.</p></div><p></p></div><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">And if the starter kit isn't enough for you, </span><a href="https://shop.smartthings.com/#/products">there are tons of other devices you can purchase</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> to add into the system from door locks to garage door openers to Sonos speakers. If you wanted to, you could replace just about any appliance or switch in your house with a SmartThings-connected gizmo.</span></p>
<h2>Using It</h2>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">What I described above probably sounds like the Jetsons or something out of one of those pie-in-the-sky magazine articles from the mid-twentieth century describing "the home of tomorrow." </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">And it sort of is. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>Screenshot</span></p><p class="caption">The SmartThings app lets you program everything in your home.</p></div><p></p></div>Before the Internet and modern-day smartphones, having a connected home was nearly impossible. But now that we carry the Web in our pocket and connect our homes with broadband, there's the potential to make <em>everything</em> smart, not just phones, tablets, and computers.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">One of the buzzy terms in tech these days is "The Internet of Things," meaning connecting everyday objects like light switches to the Internet for a deeper level of control. The idea is everything in your home will one day do what you want without having to flip a switch or press a button. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Tech investors love the trend too, and they're pumping money into companies working on the Internet of Things. SmartThings <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/smartthings-raises-12-million-2013-11">recently raised $12.5 million</a>. Nest, a company that makes smart thermostats and smoke detectors, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-buying-nest-for-35-billion-2014-1">recently sold to Google for a whopping $3.2 billion</a>.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">For me, SmartThings was a convenience, not a necessity. My lights would still work if they weren't connected to the Internet. But that promise of all the stuff in my home just working the way I want them to feels almost magical. Imagine never having to fumble with thermostats, door keys, and light switches ever again. Your home would just know what to do. We're not quite there yet, but SmartThings will get you pretty darn close. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">I'm already dreaming up ways I can add other stuff to SmartThings. In the summer, I'll program it to switch on my air conditioner when I get off the subway a few blocks away. I'm also looking at a few SmartThings-powered locks that can unlock themselves when they detect me approaching my door. Maybe I'll program my coffee maker to switch on when I get out of bed in the morning.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">We're in the very early days of this trend, and SmartThings is a great start for anyone interested in automating their home. The beginner's kits may start you off small, but the most brilliant part of SmartThings is that you can build into the system as you go, adding more switches, motion sensors, appliances, etc. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Unfortunately, it's not cheap. You can get a kit for as little as $199, but it only comes with a few devices. It'd likely cost a few grand to completely trick out your home. But if you're remodeling or building a new place, it's something to consider. And even if you're just curious and want to give it a try, $199 isn't a lot to ask.</span></p>

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