Cree Smart Switches & Outlet On The Way

While Hue continues to be my primary smart lighting solution, given its local control and rock-solid reliability, Cree Connected Max lightbulbs are what I’ve begun using to economically outfit the rest of my home. For example, I run a Cree filament in our upstairs hallway fixture and just picked up a $13 1600 lumen tunable … Read more

DISH Network Has New Set-Tops In The Hopper

While legacy television services continue to contract, I remain a subscriber (for now) and keep on eye on Dish as one of the most technically progressive service providers (and having personally been acquired, way back when). Now cable and satellite companies don’t iterate at the speed of retail-facing co’s, and generally with less fanfare when … Read more

Nice ‘Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max’ Discount

The new Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max sees its first discount ahead of Black Friday. As the second most powerful Fire TV device Amazon’s ever released, the Max was already competitively priced at a $55 MSRP. But now it’s quite the bargain, more than a third off, at $35. The original 4K Stick was … Read more

New Wyze Products On The Way

Freshly infused with cash, the Amazon Basics of IoT and Health gadgetry is back with a variety of new and refreshed products (and the end of free shipping). I’ll start by saying Wyze appears to have a whole lotta stuff in the pipeline. Much of it seems relatively minor, but here’s a taste of some … Read more

GE Cync Smart Thermostat En Route

As foreshadowed at CES, GE Lighting is preparing a smart thermostat under its newly minted ‘Cync’ shingle. And, by way of Lowe’s and the Cync app, additional details (via pretty pictures) reveal themselves as we close in on launch. Box art indicates the Cync Smart Thermostat will be voice controllable via both Alexa and Google. … Read more

TiVo Signs 90 Georgia Tech Football Players

By way of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, we learn additional details of TiVo’s return to football sponsorship via Georgia Tech: TiVo offered an endorsement deal to every member of the team. The 90 who accepted the offer cross the range from starters to walk-ons. The players received a $404 prepaid debit card and a TiVo Stream … Read more

LG Ads Preps New Smart Television OS; With TiVo In Tow?

TiVo clearly has their sights set on Smart TV, yet at the same time partnered with LG Ads… a company that’s just unveiled a new smart television platform. And “River OS” seems to share a lot of similarities with TiVo’s approach: River OS delivers seamless and highly personalized search, discovery, recommendations and viewing across live linear … Read more

TiVo Returns To Best Buy (without a DVR)

From Xperi’s quarterly call, we learn of TiVo’s triumphant return to Best Buy… in the form of the TiVo Stream 4K, as the DVR pioneer continues its retail transformation — moving away from its legacy hardware technologies as it refreshes its branding. But, while the company has pivoted its hardware approach, TiVo remains committed to … Read more