HomeTech.fm

On this week's show: Apollo has a busy week with Community Day, a new H-3 holiday ornament, and a CAST PRO-1 for whole-home audio tinkerers; Ring is shipping a flying indoor camera while Amazon gives Astro a new life as a rolling patrol bot; plus UniFi cloud storage, Unraid updates, a serious Firewalla box, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

• HomeTech Headlines
  • Open Home Foundation Community Day 2026 Recap
  • Apollo H-3: The Smart Holiday Ornament for St. Jude
  • Ring says its flying indoor security camera is finally shipping
  • Amazon turned its Alexa robot into a Ring security patrol bot
  • CAST PRO-1 Audio In/Out Casting
  • Firewalla Gold Pro: (10 Gbps) Security Gateway | Next-Generation Firewall (Ships Worldwide)
  • Introducing: UniFi Cloud Storage
• Unraid OS 7.4.0 | Docker Networks, Mover Progress & Task Tray
• Flic now works with Home Assistant
• 2026.11: A lot in store!
• Naming things in Home Assistant, shaped by your feedback

On this week's show: Sonos tries the careful rollout thing with a new voice assistant, Amazon turns one hardware event into five Echo announcements, Netflix wants AI to end your endless scrolling, ADT is getting acquired by private equity, and Home Assistant’s 2026.11 beta brings Matter cameras, two-way talk, and HACS baked right in. We’ve also got listener feedback, project updates from the yard to the dashboard, and so much more!

• HomeTech Headlines
  • Sonos' new voice assistant is launching in early access on November 6 - Engadget
  • Netflix thinks AI might save you from scrolling aimlessly for something to watch - Engadget
  • Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Holdings is acquiring ADT for $7.6 billion
  • Inside Amazon’s Echo hardware event
    • Amazon’s first digital picture frame lets you add voice notes to photos
    • Amazon’s Echo Show 16 finally lets you decide what your smart display is for
    • Spending time with the Echo Time — a smart clock that senses you sleeping
    • Amazon’s new Echo Studio speaker has a camera
• “What the Heck?!” 2026: Everyone at home gets a say
• Matter cameras and two-way talk officially arrive in Home Assistant 2026.11
• 2026.11 Beta: A lot in store!

On this week's show: Sony may be done with standalone UHD Blu-ray players, HACS gets folded into Home Assistant as the Marketplace, SMLIGHT tries Zigbee over Ethernet, and Ubiquiti keeps expanding the UniFi empire with long-range PoE and Thread-ready Wi-Fi 7 access points. We also hit CEDIA award winners, Everything Smart Home joining Works with Home Assistant, a few smart-home community notes, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

• Home Assistant Community Day: November 7, 2026
  • Columbus, Ohio Meetup · Luma
  • Open Home Foundation Community Day · Events Calendar
• HomeTech Headlines
  • Sony reportedly exits UHD Blu-ray player market
  • HACS is now built into Home Assistant
  • ZREL — Zigbee over Ethernet
  • Introducing UniFi Long-Range PoE Switching
  • Ubiquiti is putting Thread inside UniFi Wi-Fi 7 access points — turning them into smart home infrastructure
• Everything Smart Home joins Works with Home Assistant
• From the ifttt community on Reddit
• RoomSync for Home Assistant

On this week's show: The iPhone Duo shipments arrive this week, TP-Link tries to assemble routers in the US while also collecting lawsuits, hackers turn old D-Link and Ubiquiti gear into bandwidth side hustles, Josh.ai adds more integrations, Shelly brings a privacy-friendly mmWave presence sensor to North America, and Withings puts app syncing behind a subscription. We also hit Home Assistant’s latest Matter server update, a clever photo-frame dashboard hack, listener feedback on UPS options, project updates, a pick of the week, and so much more!

• iPhone Duo
• HomeTech Headlines
  • TP-Link moves to assemble routers in the US following an import ban - Engadget
  • TP-Link Falls Under Fire for Its Routers Again as 5 States Sue Over Privacy Concerns
  • Hackers hijack D-Link, Ubiquiti devices to resell your stolen bandwidth
  • Josh.ai Announces New Partnerships and Integrations - Residential Systems
  • Shelly’s Presence Gen4 Sensor Offers a More Private Option for Occupancy Automation
  • Withings now charges $100 per year to sync your data to other apps
• APC 3000VA Lithium Ion UPS, SMTL3000RM2UC, Pure Sine Wave Rackmount UPS, 120V Uninterruptible Power Supply
• Reverse Engineering Projects
  • GitHub - wesbos/photo-frame-dashboard: Getting ADB, root, backups and custom apps onto locked-down Android photo frames (Skylight Calendar, BIUFRAME)
  • Airdrop reverse engineered
  • rea · Plugin Catalog | Hermes Agent
• Home Assistant’s Matter server adds Matter 1.6.1, camera talkback, and IKEA hardware support
• Deal: RISION Magic Thermal Camera, 320x240 QuadIR, Hot/Cold Spot Track, Live Temp | for USB-C iOS, Android & Win w/-4°F~1112°F , ±3.6℉ Accuracy 25Hz Thermal Imaging Camera for HVAC/Electrical Inspection

On this week's show: Apple finally throws a real “Welcome Home” punch with HomeView, a new Apple TV 4K, and even ADT on install duty, Ring ditches the backup key for a hand-crank smart lock, Amazon rolls out a new Alexa tablet lineup, Aqara is now selling in Canadian Tire, Zooz joins Jasco, plus a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

• Anthropic Says Theoretical 'AI Botnets' Could One Day Target the Smart Home
• HomeTech Headlines
  • Aqara Makes Canadian Retail Debut with Canadian Tire
  • Ring Unveils Hand-Rechargeable Smart Lock and New 4K Cameras
  • Amazon is phasing out Fire Tablets because they weren’t ‘giving customers what they were asking for’
  • Amazon announces new lineup of Alexa Tablets
  • Introducing UniFi Network 11 | Our Most Impactful Release Yet
  • Tesla’s Automations Feature Is Ready for Launch, Hidden Behind a Flag - Not a Tesla App
  • A New Chapter for Zooz!
  • Jasco Acquires Zooz to Accelerate Growth of Smart Home Division
  • Everything Apple launched at its ‘Welcome Home’ event
  • Apple Unveils HomeView Smart Display With Siri AI, Starting at $429 in Canada | iPhone in Canada
  • Apple’s Fabled Smart Home Collection is Here, Here’s What Integrators Need to Know
  • Apple HomeView
  • LG Video Doorbell Wired – Essence Graphite
  • ADT to Offer In-Home Installation of Apple's New HomeView and More
  • The new Apple TV 4K has built-in microphones so you can talk to Siri AI
• DeFlock - Flock Camera Tracking
• LEDVANCE joins Works with Home Assistant
• From the unRAID community on Reddit: Unraid OS 7.3.3 Stable is now available
• 2026 Self-Host User Survey: Open for Submissions

On this week's show: Apple’s smart home plans keep leaking from every direction, with LG-branded locks, doorbells, thermostats, and cameras rumored alongside Apple selling Aqara’s new thermostat; Google Home gets better at hearing you over the chaos; Amazon quietly takes away Alexa aux voice control; UniFi Protect 7.3 squeezes more history out of your storage; Inovelli’s roadmap starts moving again; Home Assistant renames Cloud to Link because, well, “cloud” has baggage; a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

• Apple and LG team up on new smart home gear, starting with a lock, doorbell, and thermostat
• Apple’s Smart Home Push Could Include Doorbell, Thermostat and Cameras | iPhone in Canada
• Apple now sells Aqara’s new Adaptive Temperature thermostat and more accessories
• HomeTech Headlines
  • Google Home speakers can now hear you better
  • Alexa can’t control the aux input on Amazon Echo speakers anymore
  • Introducing Protect 7.3
  • Inovelli 2026: Q3 Update!
  • Z-Wave 800 Series Button Controller + Dimmer Switch | Project Walt
  • Home Assistant renames Home Assistant Cloud to Link
  • Big Tech ruined the cloud, so we’re renaming ours
  • A Code of Conduct for AI in the Home
• Emporia Vue 3 Home Energy Monitor
• RoomSync for Home Assistant App - App Store

On this week's show: Schneider Electric wants Shelly, Apple’s smart home hub may finally be real, Amazon refreshes the Fire TV Stick 4K, Disney raises streaming prices because apparently doubling profits wasn’t enough, ULTRALOQ rolls out new Matter and Aliro-ready locks, Home Assistant’s latest beta overhauls maps, and the local-control crowd keeps cooking with June oven and Roborock cloud-escape projects. We also hit some custom-install gear from Crestron and NextLevel, a weird little Pro-Ject streaming amp, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

• Shelly Group Has Entered Into an Investment Agreement With Schneider Electric on the intended Voluntary Public Takeover supported by the founders | Shelly Group
• Report: Anthropic Lost $42 Billion in 2025, Will Spend $518 Billion in Coming Years
• HomeTech Headlines
  • Apple's smart home hub could arrive next month - Engadget
  • Amazon unveils a thinner and faster Fire TV Stick 4K, plus a new remote - Engadget
  • Disney+ and Hulu raise prices by up to 13 percent after doubling profits
  • ULTRALOQ Launches New Smart Lock Collection Including ULTRALOQ Bolt Mission, Bolt Pro and Latch 5 Pro
  • Wireless Box E – Pro-Ject Audio Systems
  • NextLevel Acoustics Mantelbar Integrates Fireplace Audio
  • Crestron Home OS 4.12 Adds Multiview for Multiple Video Sources
  • Anker's new eufy S4 video doorbell sees everything with 360-degree AI tracking
  • The June oven could live on
  • From the selfhosted community on Reddit: Self-host your own Roborock cloud without rooting or hardware modification
  • Technical Writeup - Roborock Local Server
• Home Assistant 2026.10 Beta: You are here 📍
• Tesla, Home Assistant, ESPHome and Smarter Automation with Gavin Campbell – HGG690
• Droplet: Smart Home Water Sensor

On this week's show: your smart TV is probably spying on you, so we talk through what to turn off and why “just don’t connect it” keeps sounding smarter; Matter 1.6.1 finally locks in Groupcast to help grouped devices act like a group; a local Sofabaton integration gives Home Assistant users more remote-control fun; Crestron and Hubitat get a pro-friendly upgrade; D-Tools says the CI market is growing and also very much not growing, depending on who you ask; plus a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

• LinkedIn CringeBot 3000
• Free LinkedIn Post Generator (AI-Powered) | Postiv AI
• HomeTech Headlines
  • There are ways to protect yourself from your spying TV
  • Sofabaton X: local Home Assistant integration for the X1, X1S and X2
  • Crestron-Hubitat Integration Driver Gets a Major v2 Upgrade
  • D-Tools 2026 Midyear Report Finds Widening Performance Gap in CI Channel
  • Matter 1.6.1 finalizes Groupcast and adds chime sound controls
• Home Gadget Geeks  - The Average Guy Network
• GitHub - loryanstrant/HA-CustomComponentMonitor: Reports on whether you are using your Home Assistant custom components

On this week's show: CEDIA says the crowds showed up, Apple unveiled a foldable iPhone, LG is pushing back on smart TV spying claims, Google wants outside AI agents in your home, Aqara and IKEA both have new Matter-friendly hardware, SimpliSafe would like a human guard at your doorbell, plus a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

• HomeTech Headlines
  • CEDIA Expo 2026 By the Numbers - Residential Systems
  • Heard at CEDIA Expo 2026: The Future Is Experiences, Not Products - Residential Systems
  • LG strongly denies TV spying claims, says tracking and snooping concerns 'not true' - online investigation claims 216,000,000 TVs spy and record audio
  • Apple event 2026 recap: iPhone Duo, iPhone 18 Pro, and more
  • reddit.com/r/iphone/comments/1whl55w/the_biggest_disappointment_with_the_duo
  • Aqara Announces the Availability of The Spatial Multi-Sensor FP400, Offering Advanced Spatial Intelligence for Smart Homes
  • IKEA DUBBELKISEL Brings Matter Over Thread to Cabinet Lighting
  • Apple wants $60 a month to unlock AI summaries on five cameras
  • Google Home is unlocking the agentic smart home — which is great, right?
  • This doorbell camera lets a human security guard watch your front door
• CAST-1 Audio Casting
• Deco Gear 49" Curved 5K Display | DQHD 120Hz Ultrawide Monitor
• Yoolax Motorized Blinds with Remote, Smart Blinds for Windows, Custom Size
• How long until local AI pays for itself? — Sunk Cost
  • My Results: You’re underwater for 19.7 years. — Sunk Cost

On this week's show: TiVo decides skipping commercials should cost something, LG TVs face some very ugly privacy claims, Home Assistant 2026.9 brings a big Modbus cleanup, UniFi tries a friendlier whole-home Wi-Fi pitch, and Sonos rolls out Beam Ultra, Ace Ultra, and a whole new Sonos 27 software story. We also hit new gear from both CEDIA and IFA, a full mailbag of feedback for Gavin, project updates, and so much more!

• HomeTech Headlines
  • Apple announces September iPhone launch event
  • TiVo Plans to End Free Automatic Commercial Skipping in November, Tests Paid Premium Replacement Service | Cord Cutters News
  • LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices
  • Homey expands beyond the app with the Portal touchscreen and rotary controller
  • JBL takes on Sonos with new multi-room Cove speakers
  • Shelly launches first smart camera at a budget price without any subscriptions
  • Sonos Launches Beam Ultra and Ace Ultra Pre-Orders in Canada | iPhone in Canada
  • How Sonos rebooted itself
  • Sonos 27: Why Your System Keeps Getting Better
  • Introducing UniFi Travel Router Long-Range
  • Introducing Whole-Home WiFi by UniFi
  • ProStudio by Josh.ai Raises the Bar for Custom Home Control, Integration, & Installation at CEDIA Expo 2026
  • AVA OS 3.0 Adds Over 100 New Features to Systems
  • Audio Pad Series | Architectural Audio Integrated into Faceplates | Magna Audio
  • CEDIA Announces Winners of 2026 Smart Home Awards Americas
  • Govee expands its smart lighting lineup at IFA 2026 with dual-zone outdoor lights, a simulated skylight, and new COB strips
  • Aqara expands its global smart lighting range with Thread and Zigbee support at IFA 2026
  • These new robot lawn mowers trim your edges
  • Roborock expands beyond the living room with automated pool cleaners and LiDAR mowers at IFA 2026
  • iRobot unveils the Roomba Duo
• Feedback
  • ICO – The Smart Pool Monitor
  • Smart Pool Water Analyzer | Make Pool Care Effortless - iopool
  • Droplet: Smart Home Water Sensor
  • Tailwind iQ3 Smart Automatic Garage Door Controller
  • ESPHome Tesla BLE
• “How Many Gavins” Calculator
• 2026.9: There's room on this bus
• E-Wand™ Single Unit – Current Luxury