The smart home was once a far-flung pipe dream, but it is now a reality. Wherever you live, your home is ground zero for some of the most interesting tech available right now, and tech that’s yet to come. Best of all, it doesn’t have to cost a fortune to get your home up and running with smart hardware and services. Home security and monitoring solutions can alert you to a burglary, smoke, fire, or just simple motion activity. There are plenty of options with a range of capabilities, from smart doorbells and smart locks to indoor and outdoor cameras that can see in the dark. Smart speakers, like the Google Home, Amazon Echo, and Apple HomePod each play a big role in helping you out, too. In the kitchen, they can read out recipes, or if you’re cleaning, you can call out to them to change the song on the fly. If you buy smart light bulbs, for instance, you can turn them on and off by using your voice.
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A mini power plant that turns a standard power outlet into a solar power inlet.
The new $150 Aqara U50 works over Zigbee and Bluetooth and is Matter-compatible (with an Aqara bridge). Handily, it can be re-keyed so you can keep using your existing keys.
Unlike its more expensive big brother the U100, there’s no fingerprint reader. In its place you get a smart button that can trigger an automation when you leave. Neat.
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Floor-sweeping robots are only getting better, with new mopping skills, better navigation chops, and more automation, so less work for you. We picked nine of the best bots you can buy right now.
Android Police spotted that as of the April 30th Hue Android app update, you can change what all the lights in a zone or room do after they regain power by tapping the three dots menu for that room or zone, then Edit Room > select all > Edit.
You can also just tap “Move to” and move them somewhere else. The iOS app works the same way.
This feature was available before Sonos sued Google but didn’t return when Google restored most software features following its victory last October.
But with Android 15 Beta 2, Pixel users will once again be able to control the volume of grouped speakers with the phone’s buttons from outside the app that’s casting.
The GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker delivers on its promise of bringing smoking indoors, but sadly its smarts didn’t make me a better pitmaster.
Google’s energy-shifting program for its Nest thermostats is officially under new ownership.
Announced last year, Renew Home launched today with the goal of funneling the energy you save by using smart devices into virtual power plants that help offset peak demand. It also announced integrations with LG, Honeywell, Rheem, SunPower, and Sense.
VPPs are still a nascent idea but the potential is growing fast.
The latest gadget from the smart home company is a multi-protocol Matter powerhouse, packing Thread, Zigbee, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and IR control.
The $130 M3 hub was announced at CES and launches today. It’s one of the first Matter controllers from a company not called Amazon, Apple, Google, or Samsung.
I’ve been testing it for the last week and have a review coming soon.
The smart home company has laid off its workforce and is looking for a buyer, but its CEO says devices will continue to operate as expected through this “transition.”
I swear, I did not dress my daughter in Mario duds just so she could do real-life Mario Kart! It’s too perfect, I know, but she picked them out herself hours before she ever saw the toy.
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