HomeTech.fm

On this week's show: Google finally lets Workspace users into the Google Home party, Aqara keeps busy with new hubs, thermostats, and sensors, Samsung trims the price tag on its 2026 Frame TVs, Hisense adds a smaller CanvasTV that still wants to be art, LG shows off a mighty new MAGNIT Micro LED system, and Sony teases some serious RGB tech. There’s also a peek at the Home Assistant roadmap, project updates, and so much more!

On this week's show: Ring launches 4K video doorbells and a whole developer portal while Ubiquiti sends AI to the edge with a new series UniFi G6 cameras. Reolink shines bright with its solar floodlight cam, Nuki taps into Apple Home Key, and DEWENWILS dives into Matter with a smart pool pump timer. Matter 1.5.1 gets better camera streaming, Heatit joins Works with Home Assistant, and backup encryption gets a serious upgrade. Plus, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

On this week's show: Josh.ai takes smart homes to a whole new level of language learning, Amazon’s Alexa+ crosses the pond with a serious accent, Telus launches an all-Canadian AI butler, and Hisense decides you need ads with your HDMI inputs. The FCC bans foreign-made routers (so, almost all of them), and Brava joins the long list of smart gadgets that got cooked by their own cloud. All this, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

On this week’s show: UniFi drops Protect 7.0 with customizable dashboards, smarter event review, local AI image search, and a $4,999 Enterprise NVR Core to store all that footage—plus a $39 Relay and a whole lot of 25G. WAGO says Matter is finally electrician-friendly, while Ikea proves Matter still means “it depends.” Aqara launches the first Matter-certified camera, a new PoE doorbell with HomeKit Secure Video, and we check in on a Navimow mower integration for Home Assistant. A pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

On this week’s show: iRobot comes back from bankruptcy with a tiny Roomba Mini that won’t launch in the US, Homey adds Python support to open the app floodgates, Sonos launches a new portable Play speaker and a mic-free Era 100 SL while also admitting its Apple TV rival is dead, IKEA pushes a Dirigera update to fix Matter pairing, and Zooz gets Z-Wave Long Range sensors certified for Alarm.com. All of this, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more

On this week’s show: Sonos accidentally leaks the Play, and UniFi drops a WiFi 7 U7 Mesh with big range claims. Aqara adds Samsung Home Key as Aliro finally becomes real, Shark’s $1,300 robot hunts stains with UV, and Samsung promises to ask Texans before watching what they watch. Meta smart glasses get creepier (and detectable), BGR says hubs are dead (sure), Home Assistant spring cleaning begins, robotic mowers get their own pet-aware gate, plus a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

On this week’s show: Google Home lets you delete its pre-made routines, Sonos shows profit but not growth, IKEA’s leaked Matter light driver, Heiman joins Works with Home Assistant with Thread-based safety sensors, a pick of the week, project updates, AI updates, and so much more!

On this week’s show: Ring’s Super Bowl ad fallout keeps getting worse as Search Party, Flock, Axon, and leaked emails raise bigger surveillance questions, Fire TV gets its biggest UI update ever, Eufy promises five-year motion sensors, and Third Reality drops new Zigbee gear. Ubiquiti goes industrial with a new Cloud Gateway, Shelly leaves garage doors wide open (literally), and OpenAI picks up the founder of OpenClaw. All of this, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

On this week's show: Ring’s Super Bowl ad creeps everyone out with AI dog-finding (and maybe people-tracking) technology, TI drops $7.5 billion on Silicon Labs in a bold smart home chip move, Apple kills the old HomeKit just in time for Valentine's 2026, and SwitchBot dreams big with AI agents and RTSP cameras in a mystery lunchbox-shaped hub. Plus: a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

On this week’s show: Control4 previews shiny new touchscreens and subscriptions, Google Home finally wakes up to buttons, and Ikea’s Matter devices can’t seem to "Thread the needle." Home Assistant wants your device data (respectfully), the 8K dream is officially dead (RIP pixels), and Nice and Yubii have ecosystem updates. Plus, a new dirt-hugging soil sensor, a pick of the week, project updates, an AI bot forces Gavin to spend money, and so much more!

On this week’s show: [Gavin as a Service](https://www.youtube.com/@GavinAsAService) officially launches on YouTube and we have the exclusive! Sonos drops a new multi-zone Amp while Sony seems ready to drop the whole TV business. Amazon Sidewalk quietly infects Canada. ESPHome gets Control4 support, SwitchBot launches an AI hub with Home Assistant inside, and Zooz Z-Wave joins Apollo’s party. Seth tests drives a new AI assistant, TJ is all in again with Sonos (not really), a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

On this week's show: Josh.ai and Control4 settle but at a cost —voice control stays, but touchscreens and remotes get benched. CES 2026 brings a flurry of floor interviews straight from Vegas, and we dig into a listener letter on Homey Self-Hosted. All that, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

On this week's show: CES 2026 gave us everything from refrigerators with ads and humanoid laundry bots to pool cleaners smarter than your thermostat. Amazon and Samsung double down on AI (for better or worse), IKEA floods the market with affordable Matter gear, and Ring keeps dancing with Sidewalk and privacy. Kwikset locks in a new Matter smart lock under $200, SwitchBot wants to do your chores, and Roborock dares to climb stairs. Plus, Home Assistant gets a powerful new Music Assistant, Bose open-sources old gear instead of bricking it, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

On this week's show: Live from CES! The HomeTech team joined Justin and Kyle on the Apollo Automation monthly livestream on in Las Vegas at CES 2026. We had a great time and wanted to share the conversation on our feed as well.

On this week's show: iRobot vacuums up a bankruptcy filing and is scooped up by Picea, Apollo launches a new four-button mini-keyboard, Shelly drops a new all-in-one smart plug, WiiM continues its crusade against Sonos with a compact speaker, Homey launches a self-hosted option, and Emerald (parent company of CEDIA Expo) might be for sale. All this news, letters from the mailbag, CES Pre-Game discussions, and so much more!

The 11th annual Technology.fm Fireside Chat brings together a group of smart home podcasters for a year-end roundtable on the biggest developments of the past year. Richard Gunther and Adam Justice from the Smart Home Show join Gavin, TJ, and Seth to reflects on key products, platforms, and trends that shaped the smart home, what worked, what disappointed, and what it all means heading into the year ahead.

On this week's show: Chamberlain locks down garage integrations (again), Doma reinvents the smart door with a motor and facial recognition, Homey Pro gets a RAM boost, Firewalla goes Zero Trust Wi-Fi 7 on the go, and Home Assistant throws a party for Music Assistant 2.7. All this, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

On this week’s show: We catch up with Apollo Automation's Justin Bunton to talk about their new H-2 Annual Holiday Ornament, Kohler’s toilet cam raises privacy questions despite being rear-end-to-end encrypted, UniFi launches a 5G lineup, Honeywell has a new thermostat, and Meross drops a millimeter-wave sensor that sees you breathe. Aqara brings Siri to the wall (at least in the UK), and Wyze wants to watch the outdoors from indoors — through a window. All this, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

On this week's show: UniFi bridges the gap with new wireless gear, Alexa+ finally heads north to Canada (except for Gavin), Matter 1.5 adds long-awaited camera support, Josh.ai teams up with JVC for voice-controlled cinephilia, Sonos continues its 'transitional' phase with shrinking sales and growing losses, letters from the mailbag, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

On this week's show: Ring thinks AI can stop crime (what could go wrong?), Zigbee 4.0 goes the distance with Suzi, Shelly rolls out a giant snake of a leak sensor, Home Assistant drops a faster Zigbee/Thread toilet paper holder, Kaleidescape launches a mini server for high-bitrate binging, and Wyze gives its smart lock an upgrade, but it comes with a catch. All that, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!