In something of a pivot for Amazon’s Blink brand, the company has just introduced an indoor video camera that requires AC power. Unlike the prior rev, the new Blink Mini comes in a more palatable white finish and is aggressively priced at $35. Like Wyze, the camera plugs in via a small USB nugget. However, … Read more
Originally posted to, then deleted from, Reddit and now disclosed by Wyze: With everybody working from home while practicing social distancing, webcams are in huge demand. The good ones are mostly out of stock. Our engineers took on the challenge of creating a firmware version that would turn Wyze Cam into a webcam so that you … Read more
Before the new Ring Video Doorbell 3 has even hit store shelves, details of yet another upcoming smart home product has surfaced. Meet the mysterious new Ring Doorbox. While “doorbox” often refers to intercom systems, Ring’s device can be remotely locked and unlocked… leading me to believe it’d be a great way to secure a … Read more
The Movies Anywhere digital movie locker consortium has just launched Screen Pass, a beta feature that allows folks to share their purchased movies with others… as Vudu once did. However, there are a number of gotchas that Movies Anywhere spells out. Beyond the obvious limited catalog of supported movies, due to licensing issues that persist … Read more
While March Madness may have been cancelled, TiVo is running a nice “Bracket Buster” sale for cord cutters. An “all-in” TiVo Bolt OTA for Antenna will run you all of $250. This includes a lifetime of service, powering four tuners and 150 hours of recording capacity – not to mention a very nice voice control … Read more
As first revealed by the FCC, a number of retailers have leaked the incoming Ring Video Doorbell 3 … and a 3 Plus! The Ring 3 looks to be a direct replacement of the Ring 2 — a logical assumption bolstered by Home Depot’s link redirect. And the Ring 2 has been my recommendation the … Read more
As we know, ecobee is prepping an Alexa-endowed “smart” camera … but, beyond Amazon voice control, the FCC has confirmed Apple HomeKit support. Of course, one would reasonably expect traditional connected camera capabilities such as motion detection and notifications, but the Alexa mics take ecobee to another level as a dual purpose device. And now, … Read more
What’s old is new again and the Slingbox Tuner, circa 2006, lives on in the form of AirTV 2. The ownership timeline is somewhat convoluted at this point — Echostar buys my former employer Sling Media and later transfers the assets to DISH who launch AirTV LLC as a hardware accessory/gateway for their Sling TV … Read more