Fortune Brands Home & Security, Inc. (FBHS: Quote) Wednesday reported third-quarter net loss of $21.1 million, compared to net income of $64.2 million in the year-ago period. Earnings per share from continuing operations were $0.54, up from $0.37 per share in the year-ago period.

Earnings before charges/gains for the quarter, or adjusted earnings, were $0.55 per share compared to $0.46 per share in the year-ago period. On average, 13 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.56 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net sales for the quarter grew 5 percent to $1.10 billion from $1.05 billion in the year-ago period. Analysts expected revenues of $1.17 billion for the quarter.

Looking ahead to the fiscal 2014, the company now projects adjusted earnings in a range of $1.84 to $1.86 per share, down from the prior range of $1.88 to $1.96 per share. This compares to adjusted earnings of $1.50 per share in the prior year.

The company noted that the 2014 annual earnings outlook is based on a slower U.S. home products market growth assumption of 4 to 5 percent for the fourth quarter.

The company forecasts net sales for the year to increase approximately 8 percent, down from the prior range for net sales growth of 9 to 11 percent.

Analysts currently expect full-year earnings of $1.89 per share for the year on 6.5 percent growth in revenues to $4.43 billion.

by RTT Staff Writer

For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com

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Fortune Brands Home & Security Q3 Adj. Profit Misses View; Lowers 2014 Outlook

Rico. MindHelix

Rico is a cute, colorful dog-shaped device packed with motion, temperature, smoke, carbon monoxide and humidity sensors. The companion Android and iOS apps let you view sensor-related stats at-a-glance and receive alerts based on security, safety and environmental triggers.

There's more behind Rico's adorable facade than built-in sensors, though.

You can also stick an old smartphone inside this plastic puppy-hub to tack on HD camera, microphone, loudspeaker, 3G and Wi-Fi capabilities. Startup MindHelix says these features should work even if your phone has a broken screen.

Live streaming on the Rico app. MindHelix

Starting at $99 (at the current exchange rate, that's 60 in the UK and AU$110 in Australia), Rico is compatible with Android 2.2 and higher and iOS 6 and higher. And, supposedly, it's large enough to accommodate a max screen size of 5.7 inches. That's just enough space for the larger Note 3 and iPhone 6 Plus.

This blend of sensors and smartphone functionality takes Rico from a sensor kit to a more complete, Piper-like all-in-one home security system. But MindHelix isn't the first company to think up a smartphone-repurposing plan; we've seen a handful of other companies reuse Android and iOS devices for clever smart home applications.

The Manything app is one example. This free iOS app takes an old iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch and converts it to a security camera in minutes, complete with "night vision" (thanks to your phone's flashlight), alerts with motion detection zones and an IFTTT channel -- features I wouldn't have expected to find in a free app.

The free Presence iOS app is pretty similar to Manything. It doesn't have its own IFTTT channel, but it does provide details on energy usage to help you save money on your monthly bill.

There's also Wise Labs' Bemo. If you have an old Android or iOS device collecting dust at home and happen to be in the market for a new thermostat, you can remove your current model and replace it with Bemo's wire port panel. Then you can mount your smart device over the panel to act as your new, touchscreen thermostat display.

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Turn your old smartphone into a new security system with Rico

Fortune Brands Home & Security Inc. ( FBHS ) is scheduled to report its third-quarter fiscal 2014 results after the market closes on Oct 29. Last quarter, this home and security products providing company posted in-line earnings. Let's see how things are shaping up for this announcement.

Factors Affecting the Upcoming Quarter

The U.S. home products market's growth for 2014 is now estimated at 6%-8%, hence the company has trimmed its forecast for the full year in spite of delivering in-line results for the second quarter. Moreover, based on this assumption and despite expected benefits from the Sentry Safe acquisition, the company trimmed its sales and earnings forecast for fiscal 2014.

The company now projects sales growth of nearly 9%-11% and earnings per share of $1.88-$1.96, respectively, as against 10%-12% and $1.90-$1.99 per share projected earlier. Based on the decline in the U.S. home products market projected for the rest of 2014, we expect the company to post soft results in the upcoming quarter.

Earnings Whispers?

Our proven model does not conclusively project Fortune Brands as likely to beat earnings this quarter. A stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1, 2 or 3 to surpass earnings estimates. However, this is not the case here due to the following factors:

Zacks ESP: ESP for Fortune Brands is 0.00% since the Most Accurate estimate stands at 56 cents per share, which is in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Zacks Rank #4 (Sell): Fortune Brands' Zacks Rank #4 when combined with a zero ESP makes surprise prediction unlikely. We caution against stocks with a Zacks Ranks #4 and #5 (Sell-rated stocks) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.

Stocks That Warrant a Look

Here are some other companies you may want to consider as our model shows they have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat:

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Will Fortune Brands (FBHS) Disappoint This Earnings Season? - Analyst Blog

Nate Swanner

The do-it-yourself home security race is pretty well-heeled, with companies like iSmartAlarm or Skylinkstaking claim with their respective hardware. Then theres the smart home market, which typically offers no security, or at least very little of it. Home cameras are also involved, but they, too, fail to tie the connected home together, by and large (Nest/Dropcam are making inroads, there). The aforementioned iSmartAlarm is bringing two new devices to market that aim to tie your home up in a nice, neat little package.

The Smart Switch does what others like it (Belkins offering comes to mind) do, letting you have better control over your outlet and what may be plugged into it. The iSmartAlarm Smart Switch will work with their app, though, giving you a tighter all-in-one approach to controlling your home, even remotely.

As cameras go, lets be honest iSmartAlarms initial one was lacking. Their newest doesnt seem to be, though, rolling in jsut about everything youd want in a home security camera. The iCamera KEEP sits handsomely on a shelf, or mounted to a ceiling, but it also articulates 350 degrees side-to-side or 40 degrees vertically, letting you track the action in your home if need be (theres even night vision!).

All you need is access to a plug, and youre set! iSmartAlarm is also promising cloud and local storage in the future, and you can link up to four on your network. Of course, it also works with their existing home security hardware, too.

Both items are coming in December, but if youre sold on the iCamera KEEP, its best to head over to their Indiegogo campaign. Already fully funded, youre essentially buying an iCamera KEEP at a discount (as little as $129). You better hurry though; there are only about 62 hours left aswe publish this!

Source: iSmartAlarm

Originally posted here:
iSmartAlarms new camera, smart outlet bring full home automation

Hey, guys. I'm Megan Wollerton for CNet Appliances here with a review of Ion Camera's Ion the Home Camera. Now this brand has up until now been making action cameras. That's the kind of thing you strap to yourself when you're biking or doing some other extreme activity, to catch point of view footage. But now they've decided to move into the home and this is their first ever home security camera. At first it has really good specs. It's 130 bucks, it has 720p, it has night vision, two-way talk, a free cloud storage option, all of these things that make it a really solid entry level. Option. So at first, its specs seemed really solid and even better than its competition, like the $130 Belkin NetCam HD Plus that I reviewed. But in practice, I ran into some problems that make this camera really difficult to recommend. The biggest problem is that this camera doesn't currently support push alerts or email notifications. That means that if you want an on the go security camera that you can check on your phone or on a web app, you're gonna be completely stuck. You would have to literally watch this live feed 24/7 to catch any suspicious activity at all. And if you did want to use this camera just for live monitoring not worry about alerts at all, you're also gonna run into problems. When I rotated the camera to a horizontal orientation, the live feed was all scrunched up and really, really difficult to see. Which is a problem because I use a horizontal orientation a lot on the apps to see things up close and more detailed. So it kinda has me wondering why Ion even bothered. Good with the app at all. If you can't receive push alerts you can't check your email on the go and find out that something is going on what is the point? The company claims that it is adding this functionality in the future but for now I really can't recommend this product. Thanks for watching this video of ION's ION the home security camera. Be sure to check out my full review on. CNet.com as well as all of my other security camera coverage. I'm Megan Wolverton for CNet Appliance. [MUSIC]

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Can Ion the Home really keep an eye on your home?

Police have obtained footage from a home security camera that captured a shooting in Queen Village early Saturday morning and are searching for suspects in an attack that may been retaliation for car break-ins in the neighborhood.

The 36-year-old victim told police he was walking on the 100 block of Carpenter Street around 2:40 a.m. when a woman with a baseball bat and a man with a handgun approached him.

"You know what you did, you son of a [expletive]," the victim said one of the assailants yelled at him.

The woman then struck him with the bat, the victim said.

When he ran, the man with the gun opened fire, the victim told police, striking him once in a leg.

Footage taken from a home security system on the street supported the victim's version of events, a police source said Sunday.

The victim, whose name was not released, does not live in the neighborhood, according to a police report. He was treated at Jefferson University Hospital.

Police have described the shooter as white, bald, about 45 to 50 years old, stocky and, wearing a blue waist-length jacket.

Link:
Police check security video in Queen Village attack

Rico: Your smart home security companion
Rico is the world #39;s first home security device that uses your spare smartphone as it #39;s brain and eyes. It gives a new lease of life to discarded smartphones, helping to cut down on toxic e-waste...

By: WowMakers Digital Media Studio

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Rico: Your smart home security companion - Video

The author has posted comments on this articlePTI | Oct 25, 2014, 09.32PM IST

Mindhelix'sRico is a sensor-equipped hardware that works by itself or with a spare smartphone to detect and alert users about changes inside a home.

Mindhelix's Rico is a sensor-equipped hardware that works by itself or with a spare smartphone to detect and alert users about changes inside a home, for example, in temperature, humidity, noise levels or movement, and the presence of smoke, Carbon Monoxide or cooking gas.

It allows users to watch live video feeds of the rooms and can also be used to control home appliances remotely.

Kallidil Kalidasan, the company's CEO, says Rico is a cheaper and smarter replacement for a multitude of heavy and expensive home security hardware currently in use. Its added advantage is that it allows people to reuse their old or discarded smartphones, he claims.

"Rico uses your old smartphone as its brain and eyes. And it is very easy to use; all you need to do is install an app in your old smartphone, insert it into Rico and turn it on to activate your smarthome security companion," said Kalidasan.

"Our Kickstarter campaign has been well received globally and we hope to hit our target in a couple of days," he added.

Startup Village Chairman Sanjay Vijayakumar said the aim is to create awareness that young innovators are being backed internationally. "We need to give them support at home from early adopters who can help the campaign reach target by raising $11,000 more in four days".

Rico uses the existing hardware of smartphones such as HD cameras, microphones, 3G and WiFi connectivity and processor--to offer functions over and above its own sensor capabilities. Smartphones with Android 2.2 & above and Apple devices with iOS 6 & above can be plugged into Rico. It supports devices with screen size of 5.7 inch or below.

Kalidasan said the company has put in extra effort with the design of the product. Unlike the usual boxy electronic devices, Rico has a quirky, fun design and comes in bright appealing colours, he added.

Link:
Startup raises $89,000 for home security innovation

The author has posted comments on this articlePTI | Oct 25, 2014, 09.32PM IST

Mindhelix'sRico is a sensor-equipped hardware that works by itself or with a spare smartphone to detect and alert users about changes inside a home.

Mindhelix's Rico is a sensor-equipped hardware that works by itself or with a spare smartphone to detect and alert users about changes inside a home, for example, in temperature, humidity, noise levels or movement, and the presence of smoke, Carbon Monoxide or cooking gas.

It allows users to watch live video feeds of the rooms and can also be used to control home appliances remotely.

Kallidil Kalidasan, the company's CEO, says Rico is a cheaper and smarter replacement for a multitude of heavy and expensive home security hardware currently in use. Its added advantage is that it allows people to reuse their old or discarded smartphones, he claims.

"Rico uses your old smartphone as its brain and eyes. And it is very easy to use; all you need to do is install an app in your old smartphone, insert it into Rico and turn it on to activate your smarthome security companion," said Kalidasan.

"Our Kickstarter campaign has been well received globally and we hope to hit our target in a couple of days," he added.

Startup Village Chairman Sanjay Vijayakumar said the aim is to create awareness that young innovators are being backed internationally. "We need to give them support at home from early adopters who can help the campaign reach target by raising US$ 11,000 more in four days".

Rico uses the existing hardware of smartphones -- such as HD cameras, microphones, 3G and WiFi connectivity and processor--to offer functions over and above its own sensor capabilities. Smartphones with Android 2.2 & above and Apple devices with iOS 6 & above can be plugged into Rico. It supports devices with screen size of 5.7 inch or below.

Kalidasan said the company has put in extra effort with the design of the product. Unlike the usual boxy electronic devices, Rico has a quirky, fun design and comes in bright appealing colours, he added.

Excerpt from:
Startup raises US$ 89,000 for home security innovation

HOUSEHOLDERS are being urged not to be left in the dark when it comes to home security.

The Darker Nights campaign is being launched by Lancashire Police to coincide with the clocks going back an hour on Sunday and the nights getting longer.

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The effort is part of Operation Julius, the countywide burglary crackdown focused on preventing crime, targeting criminals and detecting burglaries.

Officers said there was traditionally a rise in burglaries in the winter period, especially in the run-up to Christmas when people are buying festive gifts and burglars are aware that there are more valuables in the home.

Unlocked windows and doors are still a common factor, with around one in three burglaries taking place as a result of property that has been left open or not secured properly.

Superintendent Damian Darcy, who is leading the campaign, said: With the dark nights upon us, now is an ideal time to double check security and lighting and make sure that your home is adequately protected.

The polices tips include making sure windows and doors are locked, putting house and car keys away where they cannot be seen and having a light timer to make it look like someone is home when you go out.

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Lancashire householders urged to join fight on crime