If you’re looking to set your property apart from the crowd, high-end kitchens and bathrooms are an excellent place to start. Hands-free fixtures and appliances are quickly becoming standard features in fine rentals. New options permit these luxuries at multiple price points. For builds and renovations with leaner budgets, the GE Profile Series is a great introduction to hands-free appliances. The Energy Star certified fridge and freezer combos off hands-free auto-fill dispensers. Users simply insert their vessel of choice, press of a button, and move on to other tasks while the vessel is filled. Once full, the water dispenser automatically shuts off. Kenmore Elite 51773 includes a Measured Fill auto-fill dispenser with a few additional bells and whistles. The ice and water systems have Favorite Fill configurable settings, so that your residents get the perfect quantity every time.  When preparing for guests or an exceptionally steamy day, users can activate Accela Ice, which boosts ice production for 24 hours and then automatically shuts off. For kitchens and bathrooms, Delta Touch2O.xt Technology offers a range of operations. With the back of the hand, wrist, forearm or elbow, users can tap anywhere on the faucet to start or stop water flow. Some styles are equipped with true touch-free operation. Simply bring your hands within four inches of the sensor to activate water flow. To promote efficiency and resource conservation, the water shuts off within seconds of moving your hands out of the four-inch range. Safety features include an automatic shut off after one minute of uninterrupted water flow, as well as a blue indicator light to alert users that water is flowing or dripping. A step up leads to the Grohe LadyLux 3 Café and K7, two faucet styles that are activated via foot controls. The...

Property managers are busy people. It seems like there is always more to do! Paperwork and desktop data entry can really slow you down, especially when you need to be onsite. No one can be in two places at once. Fortunately, today’s technology is making it easier to work more effectively from anywhere. Mobile tools empower property managers with a streamlined, convenient, and modern way to do business. Mobile leasing, mobile payments, and mobile maintenance are three innovative solutions currently available to small to mid-size residential property managers using Yardi Genesis2 that will help you get more done in less time. Mobile Leasing Mobile leasing is a must in today’s marketplace. In fact, the recent NMHC/Kingsley 2015 Renter Preferences Study that polled nearly 120,000 residents revealed that 85% of renters prefer to apply online. Not only is it more convenient for them, it also saves you time and increases your opportunity to convert more leads into leases. When a potential renter is ready to begin the leasing process, your mobile-friendly website should be ready to turn prospects into residents with step-by-step online leasing. Mobile leasing solutions let website visitors view real-time pricing, see unit availability, and complete online applications right on your property websites from any device. Applicants can fill out and submit all required forms online day or night to complete the leasing process. This means you can now fill your vacancies around the clock without being limited by your office hours. With mobile leasing capabilities, you never have to worry about the time-consuming process of scheduling appointments and manually processing applications. Applicants just check out your site, apply online, and move on to the next, more exciting step of being a renter. Mobile Payments Paying rent online is a convenience that many...

Asus might have stolen the spotlight at Computex 2016 when it presented the ZenBook 3, a new laptop that combines ultra-thin design with powerful specifications. Yes, it is envisaged as a direct rival to Apple’s latest MacBook and we must say, on paper it looks great! The ZenBook is great portability-wise, weighing just 2 pounds and measuring just .46 inches at its thickest point. And this is pretty impressive, as what it hides under the hood is not easy to huddle into such heaped space. The aluminum device comes in three extremely shiny colors: Quartz Grey, Royal Blue and Rose Gold, making a bold statement in this sea of more mute-colored notebooks. Moreover, the ZenBook brings back the spun metal finish, in case you missed it. The ZenBook’s display features a 12.5-inch screen coated in Gorilla Glass 4 with ‘only’ Full HD resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels at 176ppi—slightly larger than the 12-inch screen of the MacBook, but less sharp than Apple’s 226ppi device. However, it looks like Asus was able to slim down the bezel with the screen now covering 82 percent of the laptop’s front. The slender frame though, hides some serious hardware. The device comes with several configurations on offer, with the entry-level model equipped with a low-voltage Intel Core i5 CPU, 4GB of memory and 256GB of on-board storage available at $999; the high-end version comes with Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD and sells for $1,999; what more could you want? Perhaps more ports besides that one Thunderbolt USB Type C port? Asus claims that the ZenBook 3 offers nine hours of battery life and has this ability to recharge to 50 percent capacity in under one hour. The battery is rated at...

Your organization manages sensitive information every day. You rely on cybersecurity specialists to protect your data from misuse. The demand for security specialists is skyrocketing, yet a shortage in candidates leaves the industry—and your organization—vulnerable. Symantec reports that the global demand for the cybersecurity workforce is expected to rise to 6 million by 2019, with a projected shortfall of 1.5 million. The profession is slated to grow by 36.5 percent through 2022. While that is a notable improvement, it is still woefully short. Reports by the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggest that the demand for information security specialists is expected to grow by 53 percent as soon as 2018. Currently, 209, 000 cybersecurity jobs in the U.S. remain unfulfilled. The result is a lack of 24×7 monitoring by nearly 75 percent of security enterprises. There simply aren’t enough specialists to supervise your data around the clock. The shortage of talent causes many security teams to fall short of their goals. A report by 451 Research compiled responses from more than 1,000 IT professionals. The outcomes revealed that 34.5 percent of security managers couldn’t implement desired security projects due to a lack of staff expertise. More than 26 percent fall short of objectives due to inadequate staffing. To fill the void, many organizations opt to cross-train existing IT staff. Chris Cochran, Threat Intelligence Leader at IronNet Cybersecurity expounds: “The great thing about cross-training is that IT technicians already have a background in a cyber craft. This shortens the time it would take to make someone operational in a given task or field. The downside is that, more often than not, you find cyber experts stretched for time and expertise. They are being spread too thin across the landscape. We need resident experts. We need people...

One common pain point for renters is noise control. Sharing walls entails a lack of privacy and the potential tension amongst residents. Innovations in building materials are now making units quieter, giving prospects yet another reason to love renting. Road noise (or the horrid violin practice of the kid next door) are no longer deal breakers for your prospective renters. Pennsylvania-based manufacturer CertainTeed has developed SilentFX QuickCut noise-reducing gypsum board. It is emerging as a fast and effective method of noise control within multifamily installations. The product is much easier to install than resilient channel or double layer wallboard. Installation techs can learn the process quickly, a winning feature for any new product. A traditional drywall knife and nails are all that techs need to install the boards. The product can be installed over steel or wood framing, making it a versatile product for residential and mixed used applications. Unlike boards with channels, SilentFX QuickCut will not decouple or short circuit. The integrity remains intact during and after installation. The leads to fewer call backs and complaints to your front office. The ease of installation and durability are attributed to the boards’ composition: two dense gypsum boards are filled with a viscoelastic polymer. The outer layers are covered with a recycled paper product that resists mold and mildew, ultimately contributing to indoor air quality. Fire resistant boards are also available. The gypsum board is designed for construction projects that require a sound transmission class rating of 50 and higher. SilentFX QuickCut smothers a wide range of frequencies, including airborne and impact sounds. For your renters, this mean optimal noise control. Finally, a product that can drown out the squawking of children’s toys, blenders, and the thud of an unsuccessful yoga practice. That alone is...

With over 7 million downloads and counting, Pokémon Go fever has gripped the nation, but what does this latest fad tells us about life in the modern age? It’s solving crimes, causing accidents and ruining relationships. It’s pushing couch potatoes onto city streets and careening across highways. Installed on 10% of all Android phones (15% internationally) and downloaded on more than 15 million iPhones and iPads, Pokémon Go now resides on more homescreens than Candy Crush, LinkedIn and Tinder. There’s no denying the popularity and reach of Pokémon Go. Within 13 hours of launching, the app grabbed the No. 1 spot in iPhone app store. Even more astounding, Pokémon Go has already generated $14 million in revenue within its first week of existence, pushing Nintendo’s stock up 24%. There’s no doubt Pokémon Go is a phenomenon. All that’s left is a deal with McDonalds (done), a cover on Rolling Stone and a skit on Saturday Night Live. But what exactly is Pokémon GO, and how does the mania reflect the increasing influence of mobile technology and the millennial bottleneck on modern society? Snapshot of Trend Pokémon Go plays upon the legacy of Nintendo’s original Pokémon franchise, which debuted in the late 1990s as a game designed for the Nintendo Gameboy. The basic premise involves collecting various Pokémon creatures and pitting them against each other in battle. Pokémon eventually evolved into a several spin-off games, movies and even a television show. While the original Pokémon restricted play to the gaming console, Pokémon Go users must now leave their house in order to play. The app uses an augmented reality via a gadget’s camera to combine gameplay with the real world, tracking user locations to reveal designated Pokéstops, Poké Balls and Pokémons ready for capture. Once...

With a friendly little beep and a versatile design, the TUG robot provides reliable, cost-effective task automation for hospitals and healthcare providers. It’s a challenge faced by many working in the healthcare industry: tedious tasks stealing time better spent interacting with patients. Thankfully, that’s all beginning to change thanks to whole host of new software platforms and interactive devices specifically designed for the healthcare industry. The latest addition to the fray, TUG, promises to transform internal logistics and free staff from drudgery. Friendly and Helpful White, boxy and mobile, the TUG robot is designed to shoulder some of the essential but time-consuming labor hospitals depend upon to run smoothly and efficiently. With a gentle beep, beep, beep, the TUG announces its presence as it glides down hallways and waits for elevators. Voice-enabled, the TUG can interact with patients and hospitals staff through mobile devices, call boxes and touch screens. A lot of work went into the TUG’s pleasant persona. As Wired’s Matt Simon explains, “The affection is no accident. Aethon, Tug’s manufacturer, designed it to be comforting. It may have an adult voice, but Tug has a childlike air, even though in this hospital you’re supposed to treat it like a wheelchair-bound old lady. It’s just so innocent, so earnest, and at times, a bit helpless.” No More Drudgery TUG proficiently performs its various jobs without complaint, but unlike other industries casting a wary eye on automation, healthcare workers don’t need to fear a robot uprising. While some hospitals admit to holding off on extra hiring thanks to TUG, the robot primarily functions to release caregivers from petty chores. Free from time-consuming but inessential duties, caregivers can spend more time focused on patient care. Ultimately, TUGs work well as a supplement to a hospital’s...

Note: the following piece by Richard Gerritsen, Regional Director for Yardi European sales, was originally published in Property Week of Great Britain in June 2016. Reprinted with permission. It seems that almost anything is available to us now at the click of a mouse – or more often a tap on the screen of our phone. What is the population of Botswana? How do I get to my next meeting? Does the restaurant that I want to go to take bookings? Does it have good reviews? And where is best for a drink afterwards? It has become commonplace now to have all these questions answered almost instantly via mobile technology to the extent we now take it for granted. I may be showing my age, but I can remember a time when I used a physical map to find my way around; my daughter has never used one and wouldn’t know what to do with it. That makes me feel very old, but we must remember that this generation – which has grown up in a world that is contantly connected, where everything, it sometimes seems, has an app – is the one that is about to take over. Is the business world in general – and the property sector in particular – ready for this sea change? I’m not sure it is. Yes, there is innovation and a burgeoning proptech sector, but overwhelmingly the world of property remains firmly rooted in the old ways of doing things. If I want to buy a book or tickets to the theatre, all the information I need is just a few clicks away. Paper chase But if I’m an investor and I want to buy a £100m building, it is hard to get the information I...

Where does real estate technology go from here? The answer lies in the development pipelines of innovative companies like Yardi, but the journey so far has been inspiring. A thought leadership video presented at the recent Realcomm/IBcon Conference includes clips from tech pioneers like Steve Jobs (Apple), Larry Ellison (Oracle) and Larry Page (Google), as well as real estate leaders like Andrew Florance (CoStar) and Lew Horne (CBRE). Bridging the two industries is none other than Anant Yardi, CEO and Founder of Yardi Systems, who offers perspective on the app-based economy that has become the modern norm. “Let me suggest two things that have really taken all of us by surprise: Uber and Airbnb,” Yardi says. “Both of them are interesting because of the technology and what they bring to all of us is quite unique. But the transactions and the functions that they perform are commonplace – a way to get from A to B and a way to rent a room. The question that we puzzle over is this: Does this apply to the real estate industry? And, what message should we be taking away from these companies?” Watch the video here – and prepare to be inspired about technology and real...

Institutions and regular citizens are transitioning from a fossil-fueled past to a cleaner energy future. The cost of installation for such systems has dropped considerably in recent years, making them more affordable for general use. Currently, one of the biggest wrinkles in this still young industry is storage. A study by EuPD Research shows that just 34 percent of photovoltaic installers in the U.S. offer storage solutions to customers. The company’s latest PV Installer Survey revealed that current pricing of batteries impedes demand, meaning margins are too low for installers and the “technological maturity” of the systems on the market is not currently convincing. But things are gradually changing—26 percent of survey participants say they are working on adding storage products sometime this year. However, across all sectors there is a growing trend for more storage globally—IHS forecasts as much as 900 MW of storage projects will come online in 2016, meaning a doubling of the current cumulative installed storage capacity globally. GTM found that in the U.S., the storage market more than tripled in 2015, growing 241 percent for the year, spurred by pro-storage policies in many solar states, as well as incremental price decreases for leading battery technologies like lithium-ion. The leader in the field is  Tesla’s Powerwall; the product scored top marks for “unaided brand awareness” in the EuPD Research survey, as installers discovered they had very little marketing to do to consumers. Another very popular battery brand is Trojan (solar & storage installations), but we want to talk about the new Orison home battery, the product of a San Diego-based startup. Launched on Kickstarter this year, Orison is going up against the biggest names in energy storage, an emerging area of technology of great importance. Orison’s stylish new product has...

If you are still conducting live training courses, you are missing out on the opportunity to save time, save money, and customize the learning experience for your employees. Why eLearning?  The 2014 State of the Industry report states that the real estate industry experienced a reduction in classroom training at 51%, down from 55 percent in 2013, and an increase in eLearning to 19%, up from 16 percent in 2009. This industry-wide shift away from costly classroom education in favor of eLearning is partially due to the perceived and calculated costs of live training courses. With Yardi eLearning, organizations can save on learning and development costs in four key areas: * Personnel This category includes the cost of all people involved in producing the training such as content designers, IT professionals, reviewers and approvers. eLearning software significantly reduces administrative costs through the introduction of technology. The software also allows users to eliminate travel and lodging expenses. * Technology The cost of the eLearning solutions, computers, web conference system, and any other technology involved in conducting the training are included in this category. These costs are the primary reason many companies choose to invest in eLearning. * Content This category includes the cost of content production and the cost of acquiring content from a vendor. By recording an instructor once and delivering the recorded course online, organizations can maximize the use of content and decrease costs associated with instructors. * Administrative Such factors are some of the most time-consuming and overlooked features of live training programs. Significant time is spent recording training activities, setting up training opportunities, and communicating with trainees and instructors before and after the event. Decreasing administrative costs offers benefits throughout the organization. In two recent polls conducted at Yardi’s bi-annual Training...

While the benefits of introducing computers and other digital devices to seniors seems clear, it can be difficult for senior living facilities to convince residents to take that leap. Could computers be the next fountain of youth? Studies have shown seniors exposed to modern technology demonstrate less cognitive decline overall compared to their less computer-savvy counterparts. Thankfully, there’s a whole slew of apps and programs designed to make it easier than ever for even the most gadget-phobic user to navigate the online world like a pro. In Like Flynn Data collected on intelligence quotients over the last 80 years indicate a clear upswing. Called the Flynn effect, this sustained upsurge of IQ scores can mostly be traced to improvements in education, nutrition and healthcare, but a recent study from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis reveals another surprising possibility: smart phones and tablets Published in the journal Intelligence, the study – lead by Valeria Bordone – tested two different groups of seniors over 50: one group in 2006 and the second group in 2012. When comparing the results, Bordone’s team saw a marked improvement in cognitive function. The second group performed better on a series of tests, demonstrating superior abilities in verbal fluency and recall. While not definitive, Bordone and her team attribute this result to increased access to mobile devices and other technologies. “We show for the first time that although compositional changes of the older population in terms of education partly explain the Flynn effect, the increasing use of modern technology (i.e., computers and mobile phones) in the first decade of the 2000s also contributes to its explanation,” concludes the report. Diving Into Digital A 2015 report clearly shows a rise in technological knowledge amongst adults over 50. For example, in...

The latest Google I/O Developer Conference introduced Google Home, a compact Wi-Fi-connected speaker that’ll allow you to talk to your house and the internet. Virtual assistants powered by artificial intelligence are no longer a new thing, in fact, the niche has become the new battleground for consumer technology. Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana and Amazon’s Echo Alexa voice agent are Google Home’s direct competitors. It seems Google wants to make up for the earlier misses on instant messaging and social media and came up with this. And since Google’s conversational assistant is similar to Cortana and Siri, it will be implemented in phones and wearables too. Google Home is a small, cylinder-shaped gadget with far-field microphones and speakers, that’s always listening for your questions and commands. The speaker bows out a bit and overall has a cute appearance. Its modular case is customizable, allowing to choose different base shells to match the environment. It also flaunts some LED lights that seem to dance a bit to show that it’s working. Behind it is executive Mario Quieroz, VP of product management and the man who launched Google’s Chromecast. The Google Home is his next act. The new member of the Google family is not portable, but that turns out good for the speaker-feature as Quieroz claims that it “really fills the room,” having “strong bass and clear highs”; this feature sounds reassuring because one of the main cases Google is foreseeing for it is listening to music. Furthermore, Home is designed with multiple rooms and speakers in mind from the very beginning, meaning that it supports multi room playback. Due to the fact that it uses the basic Cast standard, it uses the same technique as Google Cast Audio—you can talk to any speaker and tell...

A laptop doesn’t have to be bulky to be powerful. It doesn’t have to be ugly for that matter, either. Slowly more attention is invested in the appearance of the devices in our life. Apple’s inclination towards attractive designs has proved to be a win and an example to follow. So things are changing. HP prepared a stunning surprise launching its latest ultra-portable laptop, Spectre. It has an aluminum, carbon fiber and copper body that’s only 0.41 inches thin with a 13.3-inch, edge-to-edge display covered by Corning Gorilla Glass 4 and Bang & Olufsen audio with lace-like speakers. The laptop comes in a smoky gray color with gold accents—the entire hinge is a bright, jeweled gold which was moved in from the rear edge, inset by a bit. HP packed a beautiful surprise under the hood: instead of powering Spectre with Intel’s lower-power Core M line of processors—like the 12-inch MacBook and Samsung Galaxy TabPro S did—they’ve used the current-generation mainstream Intel Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs combined with 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. This amount of power needs cooling—the fans are much smaller (and quite silent) and pull the air in and through the laptop, rather than exclusively pushing hot air out. It’s a version of a cooling scheme from Intel which they call hyperbaric cooling. To better power the laptop, HP found inspiration in Apple and used a set of four differently sized internal battery packs flattened down into multiple separate thin cells, to fit across most of the bottom footprint. The company claims the battery life goes up to 9 hours and 45 minutes. The HP used a standard island-style keyboard that’s backlit. They feel a bit shallow with a shorter key travel due to the base’s thin...

Power banks are no longer an innovation, but a Latvia-based firm designed a new device it hopes will differentiate itself from the rest. Draugiem Grupa came up with CoalBit, a 23-gram, 2×1.4-inch coal-shaped portable power bank which features a 560mAh battery, enough to juice your smartphone with three hours of talk-time, two hours of surfing the Internet, or listening to 10 hours of music. And this is not all. CoalBit includes a flashlight, in case you need one handy. But the novelty that makes the Latvian device differentiate itself from the rest comes from the inclusion of a Bluetooth locator which enables it to sync with any smartphone. By syncing it with the phone you can keep track of both your phone and whatever you attach to your CoalBit. Due to its small size, misplacing it is easy (as is your smartphone). The developers thought about it and found a solution: you can enable a distance alert that will buzz your phone when you get a little too far away from the tiny power bank. In the event you’ve lost it somewhere and haven’t enabled the feature, the firm built an app, available on iOS and Android platforms, which will inform you of the CoalBit’s last known location. Furthermore, in case of emergency you can send an SOS signal to your friends and family. Pretty cool feature, no? Like what you’re reading? Draugiem launched a Kickstarter campaign that you can back, aiming to reach an $84,000 funding goal that will enable them to finish development and begin production. The firm offers two versions of the product—the basic one, CoalBit Lite which removes the Bluetooth locator, and the regular one, CoalBit Standard, with all the features described above. In addition, CoalBit comes with either an...

Socrates famously declared, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Sony appears to have taken the old philosopher’s adage to heart. With the company’s trio of Xperia products – the Eye, the Projector and the Agent – consumers may soon be able to track, record, store all the minutia of their daily lives. All three products debuted as concept devices at the 2016 Mobile World Congress (MCW) in Barcelona earlier this year. The MWC, which typically takes place in February, is a prime time for major manufacturers to reveal new products and projects. Probably the simplest and least intrusive of Sony’s Xperia trio, the Eye takes the form of a wearable camera. The Eye resembles a small mp3 player, and wearers need only don the device before blissfully going about their day. Though it’s currently just a “conceptual vision” with no release date, Sony’s prototype updates the typical lifelogging camera with its voice and facial recognition capabilities and it’s “intelligent shutter technology” which allows the camera to pick and choose which moments to photograph. In a video for the products, a father passively watches his family open a gift box; his hands are unencumbered as the Eye quietly captures the scene for prosperity. The Xperia Projector is less surveillance minded than the Eye, but its intuitive interface also depends on what it can glean from its environment. Loaded up with data on appointments, locations, contacts and other facts and figures, the Projector transforms all that information into an interactive UI projected onto any surface, including walls and tabletops. Altering the projections is as simple as moving your fingertip across the images. In the future, this modest digital hub will be able to provide a personalized and customized experience for the whole family. Rounding out...

In December of 2014, MIT Technology Review declared 2015 the “Year of the Hospital Hack.” Unfortunately, their prediction came to pass. By the end of 2015, Websense researchers reported a 600% surge in cyber-attacks on hospitals – and that number is only expected to climb. Both the Ponemon Institute and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse have identified health care data particularly susceptible to cyber-attacks. A Top Target As we reported last month, the threat of ransomware continues to grow, and hospitals, in particular, are in the crosshairs. With assaults escalating every day, healthcare facilities face a tricky balancing act as they weigh the benefits of technology against the need for security. While 2015 saw a significant uptick in cyber-attacks at hospitals and other healthcare facilities, 2016 is shaping up to be even worse. During the first few months of the year, four major hospitals – Canada’s Ottawa Hospital, Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, Medstar Washington, and Kentucky’s Methodist Hospital – were on the receiving end of a ransomware aggression. In each case, hackers held the facility captive by demanding bitcoin payments to release their computer systems. Unfortunately, experts warn the healthcare industry will continue to experience these types of scenarios. Even worse, these attacks could result in a whole host of dire consequences, including some with life-threatening implications. “One can imagine how detrimental it would be if someone was in the middle of a major operation and suddenly all of their health records became unavailable,” says Malwarebytes security researcher Jérôme Segura. Data Rich Targets Carl Leonard, principal security analyst for Websense believes hospital hacks are alluring because of the type information stored by medical facilities. Medical records, which often contain social security numbers, dates of birth and other sensitive information, can provide enough material to “build...