But, I need the "find my toothbrush" function all the time.
Smart toothbrushes can capture brushing data through built-in smart sensors in the toothbrush head. These sensors analyze brush head pressure on the teeth, coverage, brushing duration and other inputs in real-time. They send that data to a connected device where it is analyzed. Smart toothbrushes can provide real-time feedback, track your brushing habits, and create personalized brushing routines tailored to your unique oral health needs.
A consequence of the move to the 'internet of things'.
We just remodeled our kitchen, which included a new dishwasher and refrigerator. Both are made by Bosch and both have an option to access the controls using an iPhone app. We've not yet downloaded the frig app, but we have for the dishwasher. It seems that the built-in controls for the dishwasher are pretty basic and if you want to do stuff like delay the start of a cycle or schedule it to start at a certain time, then the app is the only way to do that. Our old dishwasher, which was also a Bosch, allowed you to delay the start by one or more hours, selected from an option on the front panel. Now you have to log-on to the app to do something like that.
Also our youngest son, and his new wife, came from Michigan before Christmas and won't be leaving for another week or so. Anyway, during his time here, since he's a bit of computer nerd, he's been helping to 'upgrade' out house. He has one of his rich 'private' clients in town (one of the reasons for the visit) who he's done some upgrades for and we're the beneficiary. His client insisted on getting herself a new printer and to replace their WiFi transmitters and router. Now this stuff was only a couple of years old and in perfect working order, just that it was 'old' and technically no longer 'state-of-the-art', so she had our son replace it all (the advantage of being rich). Anyway, we 'inherited' the old gear, an almost new printer (complete with a new set of installed ink cartilages and as well as an extra full set), which my wife will now have in her office as she never was happy with having to share the printer in my office. Also we got the 'old' WiFi system and router plus a couple of remote 'transmitters', so we're really 'cooking' now around the house. But he didn't stop there.
He decided that we needed to replace some old 'canned lights' in one of our hallways. Now I had replaced the incandescent flood light bulbs with LED's years ago, but they did look like a bit like an afterthought, so he got some new flush-mounted LED units, similar to the new ones that were installed in our kitchen during the recent remodel. Now these new lights (not the ones in the kitchen), they're also WiFi enabled, allowing you to control the intensity, color, color temperature, etc, again, all from an iPhone app.
And then he decided that we needed security cameras around the outside of the house, so he had me order a system which uses remote wireless cameras (the battery charge is good for up to six months). We got a four-camera system, which covers all the entrances and approaches to the house, and includes it's own 'server' so we don't need to pay a monthly fee for cloud storage, yet we can still log in any time, from our iPhone apps, and play back any recent videos, which are motion-triggered (and apparently enhanced using AI, like you can set it to only turn-on if it detects a 'human'). Now he loaded the app on his iPhone as well so that when he gets back home, he'll be able to monitor our house as well. He has a similar system installed at his house back in Michigan and he's given us access to that remote feed so we can see what's happening around their house, which is out in the woods, on 20 acres of land (he uses a SkyLink system since he has no other access to the net as both he and he wife work virtually 100% from home, or for the last two months, from our home).
Anyway, he feels that he's 'dragged' us a bit further into the 21st century. He's our youngest and is a complete computer nerd working at the moment for a company that does recovery and protection from hacks and ransomware (business has been very brisk). His wife, while she doesn't have the same level of technical skills that he does, also works for the same company, but she's an account manager whose biggest job is remotely managing onsite teams that have to go into the field to upgrade systems and replace hardware and such (occasionally our son has to do that as well, but for the most part, the stuff he's responsible for, he can do remotely).
There is a story that expert programmers have no connected items in their house and the only electronic thing is a copier to duplicate hand-written notes. Next to the copier is a gun, in case the copier makes a noise the programmer doesn't recognize.
Since most smartphone apps require the ability to 'use your phone data'..., I've decided to park most of the apps on an older phone that gets used for nothing. $25/yr on a prepaid card ought to cover all the junk calls and text. Its like an all-in-one remote.
