Amazon’s Blink Ups The Ante with 4th Gen Cameras

Blink is poised to refresh their camera line with 4th gen models that will likely replace 3rd gen. Of course Blink is an Amazon subsidiary, sitting alongside Ring in providing a number of monitoring solutions, that built their brand on affordability and a pair of AAs. As such, I don’t expect much change in relation … Read more

IKEA To Introduce New Smart Home Sensors

By way of June FCC filings, we learn that IKEA plans to introduce at least two new smart home sensors. In a first, the Scandinavian retailer will be offering a contact sensor. The IKEA Parasoll Open/Close Sensor is likely a two part affair — the larger main unit shown below, to include wireless capabilities, and … Read more

New Arlo Essential 2 Cameras On The Way

Seems like I’ve stumbled upon the reason much of Arlo’s line of cameras and doorbells are 40-60% off right now… as the smart home video pioneer has a number of new products in the hopper. And, two of several unreleased products I’ve identified are displayed above: The Arlo Essential 2 Video Doorbell and Arlo Essential … Read more

Wyze Home Copilot is an AI Smarthome Chatbot

By way of the US Patent and Trademark office, we learn that Wyze has been preparing a smarthome AI chatbot. And the Wyze “Home Copilot” trademark filing accounts for both app and cloud implementations, as detailed below. Downloadable software; Recorded software; Downloadable software for the artificial production of human speech and text; Downloadable software for … Read more

When Your Smart Lock Fails… Climb Through The Window

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

The $30 Wyze Cam OG Breaks Cover

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

Smart Home For The Little Ones

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

Next Gen SimpliSafe Indoor Camera Will Be Battery-Powered

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