The Ember must be in pair mode to pair to the App initially. PAIR: Displayed when the Ember is in pair mode. GOOD BYE: Displayed while the Ember is powering OFF. To confirm powering OFF the Ember, tap the touch logo while 'OFF?' to confirm powering OFF the mug. OFF?: Displayed when a user presses or holds the touch logo for 3-4 seconds, awaiting confirmation to power OFF. This notification may also show if liquid is not present or the temperature rapidly decreases (caused by adding cold creamer).ĬOLD: Liquid in the mug is cold. To power on the Ember, press and hold the Ember Logo for 2-3 seconds until HELLO is displayed.ĮMPTY: Displayed when the thermal sensors are not recognizing a change in temperature present in the inner vessel.

HELLO: Displayed when the Ember Mug is powering ON. Tap the Ember Logo 3x to see the Ember's current battery levelĮMBER: Displayed as the default name seen when double tapping the touch logo (a custom name can be set through the Ember App).This can be customized in the settings section of the Ember App Tap the Ember Logo 2x to see mug's name.If no liquid is present, the Ember will display EMPTY or COLD Tap the Ember Logo 1x to see the current temperature of the liquid in the Ember.Below are the various displays that may be seen during normal use of the mug. The Ember is the sort of item that once upon a time you might have found at Brookstone or The Sharper Image: a clever gadget that no one really needs but that everyone can nevertheless appreciate.The Ember Travel mug display is an LED-lit display that will let you know what your Ember is doing. Most things are risky in one way or another-but most things will not also hold your coffee at the perfect drinking temperature. As with all smart objects, you are running certain security risks by using the Ember, but, you know, you also run a risk by drinking scalding hot coffee in the first place, or by leaving your house in the morning, or by not living inside a clean room. It serves a specific and useful purpose, improves on existing technology without rendering said technology obsolete, and does not make the world a worse place simply by virtue of its own existence. The Ember is a fine example of an effective, nonintrusive smart device. Should this thing be smart? This thing should be smart. Is the Ember Ceramic Mug more likely to be used to solve or commit a crime? This mug is more likely to be used to commit the crime of assaulting another person with a mug of coffee that has been warmed to precisely 145 degrees Fahrenheit. I didn’t make it very far without a mug to connect, but the first question was ‘Allow “Ember” to access your location while you are using the app?’ Fortunately, an Ember customer can opt out of location tracking, but it does seem a little creepy that your coffee can pitch products and services to you based on your location.” I downloaded the Ember app (even though I don’t have the mug) to try and see what accesses it was requesting. (Winterton is a Future Tense fellow ASU is a partner with Slate and New America in Future Tense.) “Apps are notorious for being intrusive-for wanting access to your contacts, your microphone, or your location. “The fact that the app is required, not just recommended, leaves me with some concerns,” Jamie Winterton, director of strategy for Arizona State University’s Global Security Initiative, told me recently over email. If you think hackers have better things to do than make your coffee so hot that it burns your mouth, then you clearly don’t know very much about hackers. Security risk factor: If the Ember app lets you remotely adjust and monitor your beverage’s temperature, then presumably it might also let someone else-an unscrupulous hacker, perhaps?-monitor and adjust its temperature. There is lots of room for changing colors and yelling with the Ember Ceramic Mug. “MY MUG’S LED IS SUNNY, LIKE MY MOOD,” you can announce. If you are in a bad mood for some reason, you can make the LED turn blood red, perhaps while loudly grumbling “MY MUG’S LED IS BLOOD RED, LIKE MY MOOD.” If a few sips of your precisely heated coffee cheers you up, you can set it to, say, a sunny yellow. The mug even features an LED near the base that changes colors to indicate the status of the mug and its contents you can use the Ember app to adjust those colors as a means of making the mug your own.

Bring it to a coffee shop and feel smug as you look at all of those Luddites who can’t control the temperature of their beverages. Are you the sort of person who takes an hour to drink your coffee, savoring every sip like someone in a Folgers commercial? Do you enjoy lounging in an overstuffed chair with your drink, perhaps while pondering the state of the union? If so, then you will derive great benefit from the Ember.

Ember travel mug