The cuckoo clock -- the kind where something cute or amusing comes out to mark a new hour -- has largely fallen out of fashion. Analog clocks in the home are, in general, something you don't see too often, but that didn't stop Amazon from launching a hybrid smart analog clock...and now it is testing a cuckoo clock concept.
Ring is adding a new Geofence feature to its video doorbells and security cameras, promising to cut down on unnecessary alerts as well as make more intelligent use of home/away mode. Rolling out from today, Ring Geofence sets up a virtual boundary around your home, and then uses that as a barrier to adjust which notifications and more you get from the system.
Smart home company Wyze is back with a new connected light bulb, one that can -- unlike its previous bulb -- change colors. Called Wyze Bulb Color, the new lighting option enables users to change the color of their home's lighting to suit their mood, as well as utilizing different colors to serve as visual notifications and reminders.
Although it is still mired in privacy controversy, Amazon's Ring video doorbells remain one of the most popular brands in that specific market. It's so popular that there are almost a dozen models just for the video doorbell alone. Of course, there's always room for one more and Best Buy accidentally revealed one that's coming in over a month, bringing a much-needed upgrade to the Ring Video Doorbell Pro with features that seem to be opportune for today's health situation.
Weber is baking smart grilling tech into its gas grill models, expanding the Weber Connect system which allows cooks to remotely monitor and control how their meal is progressing. The new models - which see the connectivity added to Weber's popular Genesis and Spirit lines - tap the June smart oven technology which the companies first collaborated on, and which Weber subsequently brought in-house this year when it acquired June.
Amazon is reportedly building a new, wall-mounted Echo, a touchscreen smart display which would act as a hub for family organization, smart home tech, media, and more. Alexa has already found its way into several generations of smart display, though so far they've been designed to sit on kitchen counters, desks, and nightstands.
OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, who left the fan-favorite smartphone maker to start his own "Nothing" company, is working on wireless headphones and more with Alphabet's backing, he's confirmed. Pei left OnePlus in late in 2020, having helped drive it from a budget Android smartphone with limited availability, to a relatively well known brand with several ranges and space on US carrier store shelves.
The Internet has definitely made the world a smaller place and the Internet of Things has made our houses even smaller. Of course, there are risks involved in putting all or even most of your smart home eggs in one basket, be it an Internet basket or some smart home platform, especially when that basket suddenly breaks. That's the reality that some smart homeowners are now finding themselves in when Google Assistant suddenly turned their smart appliances a tad hard of hearing.
If you own Wyze smart home devices and have a habit of staying up late at night, you may notice the devices becoming unavailable when you try to use them. This disruption will be caused by maintenance Wyze has planned, something that will impact user logins, the ability to sign up for new accounts, and the mobile app. As well, the company says its website will go into maintenance mode and some device functions will change.
Smart doorbells are convenient not just because they connect to the Internet but because they can also take photos and videos of who's at the door. Many of these rely on motion sensors to trigger their cameras which, in turn, can often have a wider and farther view than just what's immediately in front of your door. That has made these smart video doorbells interesting for law enforcers and almost 2,000 of these are now enlisted as partners that can request a copy of what the Amazon Ring may or may not have seen.
Ring has launched a new video doorbell, and rather than temperamental batteries the Ring Video Doorbell Wired focuses on two things: size, and price. The company's smallest doorbell so far, it also has the smallest price of a Ring model, coming in at $59.99.
It seems that UWB, short for ultra-wideband, will be the new buzzword for this year, with more and more tech companies and device manufacturers adopting the short-range wireless technology in products ranging from phones to smart home appliances to even cars. That said, Apple already laid the groundwork for that quite some time ago with its U1 chip but it is only now that it's turning on that functionality for the HomePod mini that it promised would be ready before 2020 ended.
