Browsing Tag
Smart Home
5 posts
Smart home technology, connected-home devices, automation platforms, and IoT standards.
Apple HomeView Costs $299, but Its Best Features Need More Apple Hardware
Apple’s $299 HomeView ships November 13 with Siri AI, Face ID-style personalization and nine-camera viewing. Here’s what requires an iPhone, iCloud+ or extra hardware.
Samsung’s SmartThings API Fees Put Smart Home Integrations on Notice
Samsung plans to introduce paid SmartThings API tiers in October 2026, including a $4.99 monthly personal plan for non-commercial developers. The change will not affect ordinary SmartThings app users, but Home Assistant and advanced smart-home integrations now have a deadline to review their cloud dependencies.
Google Home Cameras Start Using Clothing and Sounds to Explain What Happened
Google's June 23 Google Home update lets Gemini camera features use additional cues such as clothing when a face is not visible and add sounds like alarms, footsteps, glass breaking, and barking to event descriptions. The change makes Nest camera alerts more useful, but it also makes privacy and subscription settings more important.
Google Home Speaker Makes Gemini a Smart Home Product
Google’s $99.99 Home Speaker is available for preorder and ships June 25, bringing Gemini for Home, Matter and Thread support, Google TV Streamer pairing, and subscription-gated Gemini Live features into the smart home.
Matter 1.6 Tries to Fix the Smart Home’s Setup Problem
Matter 1.6 adds NFC-based setup, Joint Fabric for shared multi-platform control, smarter thermostat suggestions, and better device status reporting. The update could make smart homes less fragmented, but only after device makers and platform owners actually ship support.