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Facebook’s confusion about its Portal camera is concerning
Facebook couldn't have picked a worse time to introduce Portal, a camera-equipped smart display designed to make video chatting in your home easier. And, if the rumors are true, the company is reportedly also preparing to launch a video chat camera for your TV, based on the same system as Portal. Not only does news of this hardware come at a time when when Facebook is under major scrutiny after suffering a massive data breach in September, which exposed private information of 29 million users, including usernames, birth date, gender, location, religion and the devices used to browse the site. But the most concerning part about Portal, is that Facebook's own executives don't seem to have a basic understanding of what types of data the company will be collecting or what it will be using it for.
SimpliSafe monitors the outdoors with its first video doorbell
There is already no shortage of options for smart doorbells, and now you can add SimpliSafe's Video Doorbell Pro to the list. The device marks the security firm's first venture into home security outside of the house.
Google's smart home ecosystem has arrived
The building blocks of the "smart home" -- connected lights, plugs and other gadgets -- have been around for years. But they were strung together by a variety of confusing protocols. It wasn't until Amazon's Echo and its accompanying Alexa virtual assistant came along that the smart home started to make sense. We didn't need just smart devices; we also needed voice controls and seamless interoperability between devices. Basically, we needed a proper smart home ecosystem.
Google's revamped Home app puts all of your devices in one place
Google not only offered the Home Hub to connected households at its Pixel 3 event but also had a new version of the Home app for your phone. The revamped Android and iOS software promises both a much more organized approach to smart home control and more flexibility for where you take control. Similar to the Home Hub's new Home View dashboard, you now have a clear view of your various Home-friendly devices in one place rather than having to jump from app to app. It also organizes devices by room, so you won't have to remember which speaker is in the living room.
The first Made-for-Google lightbulbs don't require a hub
To date, using Google Assistant to control your lighting away from your phone has typically meant shopping for both a smart speaker and bulbs with a hub serving as a go-between, such as Philips' Hue line. You won't have to spend quite so much cash going forward, because GE has unveiled the first Made-for-Google lightbulbs, and they don't require a hub at all. It's updating its C by GE lineup to automatically pair with any Google Home speaker through Bluetooth and show up in the Home app, making Assistant control almost as simple as screwing in the lights.
The AmazonBasics Microwave is powered by Alexa
Amazon is continuing its quest to make as many of its own Alexa devices as possible, launching a slew of new gadgets and features at its event in Seattle today. One of the more unusual announcements is the new AmazonBasics microwave, which, predictably, you can control with Alexa.
Amazon's smart plugs put Alexa in every power socket
As if having access to Alexa on your phone and in your speakers or even car weren't enough, Amazon now has a way to put its digital assistant in literally every room of your house. At its press conference in Seattle on Thursday, Amazon unveiled its latest connected home product, Smart Plugs. These devices don't technically have Alexa on-board, but you can control them with Alexa through Echo speakers or your smartphone.
You can now buy Brilliant's light switch smart home hubs
Brilliant debuted its smart home control system at CES back in January, and now it's finally available to buy. Unlike other smart home products, Brilliant's works by plugging directly into your home's existing light switch ports, and from there controls a range of devices, including lights, music, Alexa, thermostats and video entry systems. Just connect your gear over WiFi, and use the device's touch screen or voice commands to do your thing. It also comes with Android and iOS apps for remote control, so you can manage your home when you're not in it.
Samsung found a new smart home evangelist in 'Family Guy'
Samsung gives me smart home fatigue. Enough about Smart Things, enough about how a thousands-of-dollars TV can connect to a new thousand-dollar fridge or washing machine. Enough beautiful families showcasing features in beautiful houses that I can only dream of living in. Samsung's leaning on augmented reality and some Family Guy branding to show the kind of tasks that can be accomplished with connected home assistance -- and make it a little more, well, friendly. With Samsung Galaxy Note 9 in hand, I pointed the camera at an AR doormat to calibrate to the empty room, transforming it into the Griffin household you know and love/tolerate.
Bose's new smart speaker and soundbars offer Alexa control
Voice assistants don't seem to be going anywhere. If anything, they're becoming more and more ubiquitous. Case in point: Bose's new line of soundbars and speakers with Alexa and other smarts built in. Out of the box, the Home Speaker 500, Soundbar 500 and Soundbar 700 will react when you start shouting commands at Amazon's digital assistant this October. Bose promises that other voice assistants will follow at some ambiguous point, and early next year there will be an update that adds AirPlay 2 streaming.
The latest Philips Hue lighting kits bring color to your walls
Signify's Philips Hue lights can certainly be used to illuminate your walls, but they're not usually meant for it. Even LightStrips are intended more as accents than room-defining centerpieces. That's where the company's latest kits might come to the rescue. The Hue Play (below) and Hue Signe (above) are expressly designed to bounce colored light off your walls and provide floor-to-ceiling ambiance. The Play is a compact, upward-facing bar that can give your TV viewing sessions a glow without the glare of a bulb souring the experience, while the Signe is a vertical fixture that's built to blend in with your furnishings without taking up a massive footprint.
How to better secure your smart home
With the advent of gadgets like doorbell cameras, smart kitchen appliances and data-logging sensors that track your sleep, the smart home now extends to even the most intimate areas of the household. It's great for general convenience, like knowing whether you left the heater on or locked the door behind you, but these connected devices also bring with them a host of security concerns.
Google Assistant's visual smart home controls are on the way
You don't have to pick up a smart display to use touch-savvy controls in Google Assistant. Users at Droid Life and elsewhere have noticed that Google is rolling out visual smart home controls (teased back at I/O in May) to mobile devices. When you issue certain smart home commands, you'll get a handful of basic controls to fine-tune the results if they're not quite what you were looking for. You can raise the temperature on your air conditioner, or turn off a light instead of turning it down.
Ecobee smart thermostats now save you money during peak hours
Ecobee now has an answer to Nest's peak-usage energy savings. It's launching a Peak Relief pilot program that automatically cuts down on heating and cooling when electricity rates are at their highest. It uses your comfort preferences, home energy efficiency and the weather forecast to ramp up the heat or AC right before peak times so that you can reap the benefits of your smart thermostat without paying quite so dearly for the privilege. Ecobee reckons that you'll save an additional 10 percent on your bills on top of the 23 percent you're normally supposed to save.
Amazon will prevent command confusion on all Alexa devices
Amazon's Echo lineup, like some smart speakers, uses proximity detection to decide which device is best-suited to responding to your voice commands. It's a clever way to prevent multiple devices from waking up at the same time. There's just one problem: support in non-Amazon devices has been inconsistent at best, creating a mess if you have third-party gear that doesn't use the feature. Thankfully, that shouldn't be an issue from here on out. Amazon has moved its Echo Spatial Perception technology to the cloud, ensuring that all devices can use it.
For victims of smart home abuse, there's no easy out
The New York Times recently published a report that revealed a disturbing trend of harassment and domestic abuse via internet-connected devices. In addition to using them to stalk and monitor their victims, abusers are also doing things like changing door-lock codes, turning lights on and off and boosting the thermostat to unbearable heat. In short, making their victims miserable.
Corsair buys Elgato's gaming business to get into livestreaming
Live game streaming is a big business, and Corsair wants in. The PC peripheral maker has reached a deal to acquire Elgato Gaming, the team behind Elgato's capture cards, Stream Deck and green screen -- three of the most helpful tools for broadcasters on services like Twitch, Mixer and YouTube. Elgato's smart home business will carry on by itself under the Eve Systems badge.
Domestic abusers are exploiting smart home devices
Smart home devices are supposed to make life easier, but it's now apparent that their convenience carries unintended consequences for domestic abuse survivors. The New York Times has conducted interviews showing that abusers are exploiting smart speakers, security cameras, doorbells and other connected devices to control, harass and stalk their targets. The perpetrators will not only spy on their partners, but cause havoc with bursts of music, sudden changes in lighting or temperature and other attempts at intimidation.
TP-Link squeezed a smart home hub into its new mesh WiFi router
Mesh WiFi routers are no longer all that special, so how do you stand out? If you're TP-Link, you roll in a smart home hub. It just introduced a Deco M9 Plus router that builds on last year's model with a hub for ZigBee- and Bluetooth-based devices like light bulbs and thermostats. If you're not fond of connecting dedicated hubs and bridges but still want good whole-home networking coverage, this might scratch your itch. TP-Link is promising compatibility with Alexa and IFTTT commands when steering your household gadgets.
Sonos Beam is a smart soundbar with HDMI and AirPlay 2
The wait for Sonos fans is over. That rumored new speaker codenamed "S14" has just been unveiled in San Francisco today, and it's just as we expected (and more). The Sonos Beam (as it's officially called) is indeed aimed at home theatre and comes with smart home/voice control credentials and the much-coveted HDMI ARC connectivity (along with ethernet). While we had a good idea of more or less what the new hardware from Sonos might offer, we didn't know what it would look like (a much smaller, cooler Playbar, basically), or how it fits in the broader Sonos ecosystem.
