Episode 414 - Massive Home Assistant Fail

This week on HomeTech: We share Black Friday and Cyber Monday purchases, Hubitat gets official with Homekit, Josh.ai teams up with AVA, Eufy has some security issues but Brinks has even bigger problems, a pick of the week, and project updates from Gavin's crashing Home Assistant install to Seth's robot mower.

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• Black Friday Hauls
  • TJ: Turkey
  • Gavin: Belkin Desk Charger
  • Anker Wireless Charging Stand
  • Seth: Fire 10
• HomeTech Headlines
  • Hubitat getting Official Homekit Compatibility
  • Josh.ai and AVA Unite to Transform Universal Remote Control
  • Anker's Eufy Cameras Caught Uploading Content to the Cloud Without User Consent
  • Edmonton man could see private data of other Brinks customers through his home security system — for months
• Pick of the Week
  • TJ's Wire Stretcher
  • PAW International Pull Buddy Wire & Cable Pulling 6 Piece Set

Episode 413 - HomeTech.Social

On this week's HomeTech: Happy Thanksgiving and Black Friday! We're happy to announce a new effort to save everyone for dealing with the collapse of Twitter: HomeTech.Social – a new Mastodon instance dedicated for home automation enthusiasts. In the news, we look at another Amazon hit piece and talk about the rumors surrounding 4 new products from Sonos. All that, the pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

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Show Notes

• Some Black Friday Deals
  • Airthings 2930 Wave Plus for $150
  • Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Plus (White) bundle with Echo Show 5 (2nd Gen) for $149
  • eufy Security, Wi-Fi Video Doorbell fir $70
  • iRobot Roomba 692 Robot Vacuum-Wi-Fi Connectivity for $175
  • First Alert Z-Wave Smoke Detector & Carbon Monoxide Alarm for $27.00
  • Samsung 70" Smart 4K Crystal HDR UHD TV TU7000 Series - Titan Gray
• HomeTech.Social - HomeTech's Mastodon instance for home automation enthusiasts
• HomeTech Headlines
  • Amazon Alexa is a “colossal failure,” on pace to lose $10 billion this year | Ars Technica
  • Sonos plans to enter four new product categories — and the first is coming next year
• Pick of the Week
  • Getting Title at 12:14
• Industry-Leading Low Voltage Estimating Software | D-Tools
• Tempest Weather System | WeatherFlow Tempest Inc.
• Live Flight Tracker - Real-Time Flight Tracker Map | Flightradar24
• BirdNET-Pi – BirdNET in Raspberry Pis

Episode 412 - Hub or Bridge?

On this week's HomeTech: Hoobs announces a new hub (or bridge). Aqara makes a new pet feeder with voice announcements. Wyze introduces a new 6E router, because "Wyze not?" Amazon is losing $5 billion a year on Alexa and Meta kills off everyones favorite gift for the holiday: the beloved Facebook Portal. All this, a tiny Pick of the Week, and Gavin talks about his big switch to Home Assistant.

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Show Notes

• HomeTech Headlines
  • Hoobs Pro
  • Nanoleaf Lines Squared add a fresh angle to the modular smart lights
  • Aqara’s new smart feeder can give your pet control of its bowl
  • Wyze is getting into the mesh router business
  • Matter Casting wants to fix messy video streaming experience
  • Amazon eyes devices group as it undertakes broad cost cutting
  • Meta kills off Portal smart displays after announcing mass layoffs
• Pick of the Week
  • TinyTV 2 is a $49 video player with a 1 inch display and a retro design (crowdfunding) - Liliputing
• VIDEO: State of the Open Home 2022

Episode 411 - Getting Dirty in the Code

This week on HomeTech: Matter is here and already taking on criticism in the media that once thought it would save us all, a double screen pick of the week, and Gavin starts testing his YAML skills with Home Assistant.

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Show Notes

• The best Black Friday deals you can already get at Target
• HomeTech Headlines
  • What’s the Matter with Thread? Amazon says it’s not quite ready for prime time
  • Matter, The Great Universal Smart Home Standard, Is Already Fragmented
  • Aqara releases information about its first Matter compatible devices and upcoming Thread enabled products
  • Lowered Expectations
• Pick of the Week
  • First $800,000 Samsung The Wall Residential microLED Installed
  • Keebmonkey Display Bar
• ClodPi Pre Order

Episode 410 - Looking at Your Package

On this week's HomeTech: Matter officially launches (finally) with over 190 certified devices, Orro shuts down operations, Blusound has a new speaker, AppleTV+ costs more, Level's new lock is easy to unlock, TJ reviews the install of a G4 Doorbell Pro, and a fun pick of the week.

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Show Notes

• Home Assistant 2022.11: A heck of a release!
• Matter Launch
  • Matter 1.0 launches today: 190 certified devices, +20 new members, twice-yearly specification updates, many phased rollouts into 2023
  • Amazon Announces Matter Support for Alexa Devices • iPhone in Canada Blog
  • Philips Hue Is Now Matter Certified
  • Eve Systems Products offer Matter Compatibility
  • Aqara’s Matter transition begins in December with free hub update
• HomeTech Headlines
  • Orro Suspends Manufacturing and Business Operations
  • Bluesound’s new wireless speaker is like a supercharged Sonos One
  • Apple TV Price Increases
  • Level’s new Home Key smart lock can be unlocked by anyone ‘in seconds’ with ‘low-skill attacks'
  • Level responds to iPhone smart lock-picking controversy, says only 4% of break-ins use that method anyway
• Pick of the Week
  • New Ring Windowbell spotted in the wild: combine with a smart window latch to automate your assignations.
• Unifi G4 Doorbell Pro
• Blockbuster (TV Series 2022– ) - IMDb