How To Live A More Sustainable Lifestyle

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On July 13, 2018

In From The Nixplay Team

Making the switch to a more eco-friendly lifestyle isn’t easy. It requires an intense passion for the environment, as it’s incredibly easy to forego sustainability for convenience.

It’s not just individual consumers who should be doing their part to save Mother Earth. Corporations should, more importantly, make sustainability a top priority. Nixplay recognizes the need to shift to more responsible practices, and is now taking the necessary measures to reach Zero Plastic Packaging status in the near future. The company is also exploring ways to incorporate post-consumer recycled resin into its product range, reducing the plastic waste that may end up in the ocean or in a landfill.

“Ultimately, our sustainability objective should be around how to make our products durable beyond the assumed product cycles as the plastics we make will most certainly outlive you and me,” says Lawrence Chu, Nixplay’s Principal Designer. “The best way to prevent plastic waste is not recyclability, but to ensure that we don’t produce products that aren’t useful and end up being discarded.”

In line with this goal, Nixplay invited on July 10 Fanny Moritz, the founder and CEO of eco-friendly lifestyle concept store NO!W No Waste, to share some easy things we can do in order to live a more sustainable life. Here are some things we learned from her:

1. Refuse things that can result in waste.

“You need to refuse the plastic bags that they give you in the grocery stores,” says Fanny. “Just bring in your own reusable bags, because I’m sure you already have some reusable bags at home.”

Same goes for plastic bottles. “Even if you really want to drink, just drink out of your own water bottle. Even if it’s a plastic bottle, it’s okay! Just refill it and don’t throw it away.”

You can also decrease clutter by unsubscribing from junk mail and by turning down freebies you really won’t use, like pens and fans.

Fanny Moritz discusses sustainability initiatives with the Nixplay family.

Fanny Moritz discusses sustainability initiatives with the Nixplay family.

2. Reduce the things you buy.

Fanny swears by Marie Kondo’s bestselling book, The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying Up. Kondo believes that everything you have at home needs to be loved by you, and this simple creed can drastically change your life.

“I’ve stopped buying new clothes. If I have to buy, I try to look for a secondhand option,” she shares.

Another way to reduce your carbon footprint is by assembling your own dining kit, consisting of metal cutlery, a cloth napkin, and reusable straws made of either metal or bamboo. This way, you don’t have to use disposable plastic utensils when you dine out.

3. Reuse the things you already have.

Fanny reuses glass jars and uses them as storage containers for her food, which she buys in bulk. “What is good about buying your food in bulk is that you don’t buy the packaging and the branding,” she shares.

Cotton balls and disposable feminine hygiene products might also be necessities for a lot of people, but they create a lot of waste and end up polluting the environment. In lieu of these, you can use reusable cleansing wipes and menstrual cups instead. Sure, you have to exert a little effort in order to sanitize them properly, but it’s a small price to pay in order to keep Mother Nature safe, right?

Some items you can use to live a more sustainable lifestyle: reusable straws, bamboo toothbrushes, and cleansing bars

Some items you can use to live a more sustainable lifestyle: reusable straws, bamboo toothbrushes, and cleansing bars.

4. Recycle as much of your trash as you can.

Segregate your garbage and bring items like aluminum cans, glass bottles, and plastic containers to your neighborhood recycling center, where you can get some money out of them. You can also look for stores that invite customers to bring in their old items to use their sustainability initiatives.

“Nike does a very good job on this,” Fanny shares. “You can bring your own used shoes, and they’re going to use them to create a surface for a competition, for example.”

5. Rot (or compost) what you have in your kitchen.

A yard is usually a requirement for a compost pit—something a lot of people don’t have in the age of apartment living. If you don’t have the space needed for a compost pit, you can get an electronic composter, which can transform your food scraps into fertilizer. Living a zero-waste lifestyle has never been easier.

Want to start your own zero-waste journey? Visit NO!W No Waste to discover more plastic-free initiatives you can start on your way to living a truly sustainable life.

Young girls at the beach, celebrating the fourth of July - by holding an American flag and fire torches up high

5 Festive Ways To Celebrate the Fourth of July

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On July 3, 2018

In Holidays

Light up some fireworks, bring out the flags, and decorate everything in red, white, and blue: The Fourth of July is almost upon us, and it’s definitely one of the most wonderful times of the year! We’re sure you have some ideas on how to celebrate this holiday, but on the off chance that you’re still stumped, well, we’re here to the rescue! Read on to learn how you can make this Independence Day one you’ll remember for a long time.

1. Throw an outdoor party.

Take advantage of the fine weather and have some fun outside this Fourth of July! Have a pool party (don’t forget the giant floats!), or throw a backyard barbecue complete with on-theme food and cocktails. Invite the whole street, or just your closest friends and family. The possibilities of having fun are endless!

2. Get crafty.

Spend the afternoon making some fun red, white, and blue-themed projects the whole family can do. Create a Fourth of July banner to get the party started, and make an American flag backdrop for your Independence Day photo booth. Don’t forget your dining table: Create a patriotic centerpiece using recycled bottles, and put a vase filled with red and blue lollipops somewhere the little ones can easily reach.

3. Go shopping!

The week of July 4th is awash with fantastic deals from all your favorite stores. Whether you’re eyeing a new pair of shoes or thinking of upgrading your laptop, now’s a great time to do so. And if you’re thinking of getting a new Nixplay frame, you’re in luck: You can get 20% off a Nixplay Iris or 15% off a NIX Lux from July 4 to 13! Just enter the code FREEDOM20 for the Iris, and FREEDOM15 for the Lux. Don’t just add a frame to your cart–check it out now!

4. Let the kids do the planning.

It can be tiring to wrack your brain for a fun activity the whole family will enjoy. Take away the stress by getting the little ones to list the things they want to do on the Fourth of July, and tick them off one by one. Not only will this foster their creativity, but giving them a say in what you will do for the day will also make them feel like their voice really matters. This way, you’ll give the kids an Independence Day they’ll remember and treasure for a long time to come.

5. Visit an all-American attraction.

Mount Rushmore. The Statue of Liberty. The Grand Canyon. Walt Disney World. What do these locations all have in common? They’re all distinctly American landmarks, seen as symbols of everything our country and its people stand for. And there’s no better time to pay these places a visit than on the Fourth of July, where you can celebrate America alongside your fellow countrymen. If that doesn’t inspire you, just think of all the beautiful fireworks you’re guaranteed to see there!

Amazon Echo with Nixplay Frame

The Future Is Bright And Voice-Controlled: The Story Of Nixplay and Amazon Alexa

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On June 26, 2018

In From The Nixplay Team

If you’ve watched The Jetsons, you’ve probably marveled at the family’s space-age lifestyle. You couldn’t wait for the day when you’ll be able to drive around in George Jetson’s flying saucer car, and you wished for a robot maid like Rosie to help you with the household chores.

Fast forward to 2018, three decades after the show’s last episode: Companies are developing prototypes of flying cars, and space colonization is a far-off dream no more. While sentient robot assistants like Rosie are still far from mainstream, voice-controlled virtual assistants, like Amazon Alexa, are helping more and more people manage their schedules, households, and even Nixplay frames.

“I strongly believe voice user assistants along with the experiences that surround them are here to stay, and the interactions are only going to become more and more natural,” says Nixplay’s Head of Software John Marsden, who oversaw Amazon Alexa’s integration into Nixplay’s software.
According to John, Nixplay chose Alexa as its entry point into voice integration mainly for two reasons:
Alexa has the largest user base among the voice assistants on the market, and Nixplay already has an existing relationship with Amazon.
On a more personal note, John, who had recently transformed his house into a smart home, shares: “I am a massive advocate for smart home integrations and I use Alexa to control much of my home. I wanted my Nixplay frames to become part of my smart home family.”

Alexa and Nixplay

Integrating Alexa into the Nixplay platform seemed easy on paper: John and his team only had to create a “skill,” which in the Alexa universe, is “a term used to describe all the ways a user can interact with their frame through speech.” But this simple task posed several challenges.

John Marsden

John Marsden

“By far the hardest challenge–and one we are regularly improving on–is dealing with uncategorized voice input from the user in terms of playlist and frame names,” John shares. Most voice AI assistants work by learning a category for each input a user might give the system. If the voice assistant is asking the user to give it a location for a travel skill, it expects the user to give it the name of a city, country or area of some type in order to perform properly. It wasn’t that simple for Nixplay.

“The challenge we had is that a playlist name can be totally random–one person may have a playlist called ‘My Family,’ another might be ‘Summer Holiday 2016.’ As such, it’s very hard to categorize the information,” says John.

“The complexity lay more in trying to model all the ways different users might try to perform the same action, and the fact that we have to deal with a lot of random data with regards to playlist names and frame names,” he elaborated. “To handle this, we had to implement a lot more intelligence outside of what is provided by Alexa.”

In the end, John and his team came up with some core initial features. Alexa can be asked to display any of your playlists on any of your frames, and it can also assign a specific playlist to any Nixplay frame, wherever that frame might be located.

“We wanted to start simple and solve some of the large initial challenges without having to make major platform changes,” says John. “The playlist display functionality focuses on displaying the user’s content, which is what we are all about.”

You can also ask Alexa to tell you the connectivity status of your frame—”a supporting feature to allow a lot of our users to check on the status of a frame they are helping to manage remotely.”

Stepping into the future

There might only be a few Nixplay skills at the moment, but John assures us that his team has a lot of surprises up their sleeves.

“I can’t go into too much detail here for fear being hunted down by our product managers, but we are putting a lot of support into voice and have some big plans,” he reveals. “Our current focus is on making the content experience more dynamic, thereby making it easier for a user to see the photos that they wish to see without having to manually manage their content. We are also looking at ways of improving the multi-frame experience.”

Wherever Nixplay and Alexa’s partnership will take them, one thing’s for sure: it will always be grounded on Nixplay’s vision of a world where people can share their fondest memories with each other easily.

“I am sure a lot of what we do will be heavily influenced by our users, and they will have a big

say in where we take some of our voice features,” says John. “We are moving fast with regards to voice experience, so watch this space for other voice assistant announcements in the coming months!”

We’re not yet firmly in the future, but we’re most certainly on the way there.

man woman jumping into the water summer 2018 summer solstice nixplay seed promo

5 Things You Can Do To Have The Best Summer Ever

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On June 20, 2018

In Holidays

Can you believe that summer is already here? With time flying by so fast, there’s really no time like the present to start making and preserving memories with your family and friends. Below, we listed five of the best summer activities you can do with your loved ones this season. Don’t forget to bring your camera or a phone so you can capture all the fun you’ll have!

1. Head to the beach

Summer wouldn’t be complete without a trip to somewhere warm and sunny! Head to the coast for a few days of sun, sand, and surf. Build sandcastles with the little tots, go kayaking with your significant other, and watch the sunset on the boardwalk while having ice cream with your family. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can even sign up for diving or surfing lessons!

2. Visit an amusement park

Summer is the best time to visit an amusement park. Since there are no pesky rain showers to literally put a damper on your fun, you can go try out all the rides at the park. Take over the bumper cars, hop on the carousel with the kids, and ride the biggest, scariest roller coaster you can find. You can also try all the fair games—if you’re lucky, you might even get to bring home an adorable stuffed toy. Don’t forget to take lots of pictures, and make sure you have the Nixplay app on your phone so you can quickly upload the photos to your frame back home.

3. Go camping

Set aside one weekend this summer for a camping trip! You don’t have to go far—you can just have it in your backyard, so as long as it’s outdoors. If the kids in your family have never gone camping before, they’re bound to have a blast helping pitch the tent and gathering branches and leaves to build a bonfire. You can also go fishing and try to survive in the “wild” without electricity or gadgets. And in the evening, you can sit around a bonfire and make s’mores, before going to sleep under the twinkling of the stars.

4. Explore the outdoors

Take advantage of the pleasant weather and spend as much time as you can under the sun! Check out a new hiking trail with your loved ones, bust out your bikes and explore your town, or visit a nearby farm and pick your own fruits or flowers. Whichever activity you do, they’re all great ways to stay fit while having fun. Take lots of photos and upload them on your Nixplay frame so you can reminisce about all the fun you’ve had the moment you get back home.

5. Have a picnic

Fill up a basket or a cooler with easy-to-eat food like sandwiches, cookies, and chips, pack it in your car along with a blanket or a mat, and drive off to a park or the beach. If you can have your picnic somewhere with a grill so you can barbecue food on the spot, that’ll be better! Bring a frisbee and frisbee games so the young ones (and the young at heart) can entertain themselves, and snack on fruits like watermelon and pineapple to stay hydrated under the summer sun.

Nixplay Summer Solstice Sale

The final ingredient for a picture-perfect summer? A new Nixplay frame that will keep all your memories in one place. Take advantage of Nixplay’s Summer Solstice sale and get 20 percent off the Nixplay Seed 8-Inch Frame from June 21 to 26. Pick a frame in your favorite color, and get set to have a summer you’ll always remember!

kids surprising dad with father's day gift

12 Great Father’s Day Gifts For Last-Minute Shoppers

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On June 12, 2018

In Gifting Guides

Do you have a Father’s Day gift already? If you’re still panicking about your present, these 12 options should help you out:

 

  1. Give dad a Nixplay frame so he can always see all his fondest memories of his loved ones.

 

  1. Get your dad to trade his basic old razor for this nifty tool.

 

  1. Your dad will appreciate this smart upgrade to your home.

 

  1. Is your dad into golf? This new club should take his game to the next level.

 

  1. Now THIS is a Father’s Day gift the whole family will love.

 

  1. This good-looking, rugged chronograph is as hardy as dad is.

 

  1. Add this bestselling thriller to dad’s bookshelf.

 

  1. Give your dad’s workwear wardrobe a hip update with these comfortable dress shoes.

 

  1. A luxurious polo shirt is a classic Father’s Day gift.

 

  1. Does dad always complain about not being able to sleep well? A memory foam mattress might just be the solution to his bedtime woes.

 

  1. This coffee maker lets him brew just a single cup for hectic weekdays–no waste!

 

  1. Remember when dad taught you how to ride a bike? Return the favor by giving him this sleek new ride.

 

Still haven’t found a present that will tickle dad’s fancy? Check our Amazon Spark wishlist for more great Father’s Day gift ideas! You’re bound to find something he’ll love there.

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