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
The full-size 4th generation Amazon Echo is on sale for $50 — at 50% off, this is an all-time low. The full Echo features way bigger sound than the Echo Dot. In fact, I previously bought a couple to use as speakers with Fire TV. Originally I had a pair, uh, paired to a Fire … Read more
For several years now, ecobee’s been trying real hard to expand beyond the smart thermostat with a video camera, contact sensors, and wall switches. And, as you can see above, a doorbell is up next. As to why one might choose an ecobee video doorbell, over any of the numerous existing offerings, we’ll likely have … Read more
Last week, Roku boldly entered the Smart Home space with an initial product offering “developed in partnership with Wyze.” And, boy, do the business considerations and implications fascinate me. We’ll never have a full accounting of the relationship (although I’m quite looking forward to Roku’s quarterly securities call), so I’ll just go ahead and assume both … Read more
By way of Reddit, Walmart, a pair of shipping manifests (1, 2), and some noodling around we learn that Roku is imminently expanding beyond streaming media and into the smart home… with more than a half dozen white-labeled Wyze products, a seemingly confirmed ‘Roku Smart Home’ Channel, and likely a new dedicated mobile app. Thus … Read more