Increasingly ambitious and experimental in its development of electronic accessories for Apple’s devices, Parrot used CES to preview Flower Power, a Bluetooth 4- and iOS app-based plant monitoring solution for gardeners. While Flower Power hasn’t yet been priced—and Parrot was actively soliciting “what do you think the price should be” input from attendees—the accessory and app were both substantially complete in functionality. Parrot also re-showed AR.Drone 2.0, which was released last year.
(additional reporting and photography by Kevin Purdy)
Powered by a single AAA battery for six months, the Flower Power accessory measures moisture and soil conditions, reporting back to your iOS device using Bluetooth 4’s impressively power-conserving low energy mode.
Multiple Flower Power units can be used together to track conditions for different types of plants and soil, even in different locations. The application is beautifully designed, with a database of thousands of plants; you select your plant type, and the app provides plant- and soil-specific guidance on how to maintain the plant over time.
Parrot claims that you’ll never accidentally starve a plant again, thanks to the Flower Power sensor’s information, combined with the app’s instructional content. The current water is shown here, along with the app’s ability to provide warnings at certain levels, and “please water your plant” advisories.
The Parrot Zik wireless headphones ($400) feature a touchpad-style surface on the right ear: slide up and down to adjust volume, tap to play or pause or take calls, and more.
