Running a “smart” home is often fraught with peril. For example, during an Internet outage you might actually have to get off the couch to manually adjust a light or thermostat. The horror! Adding insult to injury, there are also times you may have to actually break into your own home to overcome its “smarts” … Read more
Hot on the heels of the uniquely-styled Wyze Cam Pan v3, another Wyze Cam nears release. In fact, at least one Home Depot has jumped the gun (again) with a full-on $30 Wyze Cam OG display. The Wyze team did previously indicate 2023 would be camera-centric. And here we are. In fact, I can also … Read more
Back when my baby (no longer a baby) was gestating, I had grand “Mommy Blogger” gadget plans for this site. Alas, parenting can be exhausting. Plus, as with all my solutions, her technology is constantly in flux. e.g. we’ve gone from a Bose speaker for lullabies (with IR remote that conflicted with her Fisher Price … Read more
A new SimpliSafe “smart alarm wireless indoor camera” (CM006) has just passed through the FCC … and I belive I’ve discovered corresponding visual evidence within the SimpliSafe Android app. As the above, unknown device certainly appears to feature a camera lens. Given the physical dimensions, one might also assume this camera houses a battery — … Read more
I’m pleased to report that our long national nightmare is over… as Alexa finally has proper smart button accessories. Unlike Apple HomeKit, it’s been pretty barren on the physical toggle front within Alexa’s ecosystem. In my household, under duress, we’ve repurposed the discontinued Amazon Echo Buttons to trigger various routines. But they’re massive and oh-so-bright, … Read more
Wyze just upped the ante by taking the highly capable Wyze Cam v3 to new levels with a Pro model. While these two smart cameras have much in common, there are some notable differences. And here are the ones I find significant when making purchasing decisions. Wyze Cam v3 Wyze Cam v3 Pro Cost $36 … Read more
The Philips Hue Bridge (046677458478) is now Matter-certified… and presumably most downstream Hue accessories, like bulbs and motion detectors, will benefit. As to when we consumers gain these capabilities, that remains unknown. Although filing paperwork indicates the bridge requires firmware version 65536 or higher (and that number doesn’t map in an obvious way to the … Read more
In conjunction with Roku launching their line of white-labeled Wyze smart home paraphernalia, the streaming pioneer also released the requisite corresponding set-top “channel” — while it’s not the more holistic approach we were anticipating, the Roku Smart Home Cameras app is certainly good enough as an initial attempt moving in the direction of Apple TV … Read more