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

New Sonos Speakers Revealed With WiFi 6

What could be the rumored Sonos Optimo line of speakers has passed through US and Canadian regulatory bodies. The Sonos “S39” (SBV RM039) popped on the FCC late Friday and was discovered to have materials dating back to September leading me to an earlier November filing in Canada… which makes me wonder if this product … Read more

An AI-Powered TiVo Retrospective

This post was computer-generated, with very minor human editing, by OpenAI’s newly public Chatbot technology, seeded by my directive to: Write an article describing how TiVo pioneered the television industry with a time-shifting DVR. Include a discussion of ads, both how TiVo empowers us to skip but also runs its own pre-roll advertising. TiVo is … Read more

Alexa Gets The Smart Button She Deserves

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

Stream Peacock TV Premium For Just 99 Cents

Taking a page from Hulu’s Black Friday playbook, NBC is offering up Peacock TV Premium for just 99 cents a month. Simply hit this page and use code SAVEBIG to partake. Unfortunately, this isn’t the ad-free Peacock tier that recently added local affiliate streaming. However, beyond the television and movie content catalog, select live sports … Read more

Roku Releases Half Baked Sports Hub

Roku has expanded its growing list of sidebar offerings with a new sports hub… that is surprisingly devoid of value. There are no scores, no highlights, no way to favorite teams or trigger corresponding alerts. Sporting event streaming providers are not disclosed until clicking through (where, presumably, Roku hopes you’ll pick up services you don’t … Read more

Wyze Cam v3 vs v3 Pro

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