This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on the fragile state of your connected devices, follow Jennifer Pattison Tuohy. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes on Sunday at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started A decade ago, a […]
A few years back, I was at a beachside Easter egg hunt, watching my kids dash through sand dunes searching for sweet treats. My phone buzzed in my pocket; I ignored it. A moment later, it buzzed again. I pulled it out, glanced down, and saw a “motion detected” notification from my security camera. “Just […]
Eight Sleep announced the next version of its “intelligent sleep system” designed to regulate the temperature of your bed in response to tracked health and sleep metrics like breathing and heart rate. The company calls its new Pod 6 system its “most significant hardware launch to date,” and it’s centered around a redesigned cooling hub […]
Google is opening up its smart home to AI agents, letting tools like Claude and Open Claw access and control your connected devices and analyze your home’s data using the standardized Model Context Protocol. Google Home MCP is a new integration that lets third-party AI agents control and monitor your smart home and act on […]
DIY home security company SimpliSafe is bringing its AI-powered proactive security feature to the front door. The new SimpliSafe Video Doorbell Series 2 launches today for $199.99 and works with the company’s Active Guard Outdoor Protection (starting at $49.99 a month). This combines AI analysis with live agents to detect potential threats and respond proactively. […]
With the public release of iOS 27 and tvOS 27, Apple Home is getting an injection of Apple Intelligence – but you’ll have to pay more for it. Apple Intelligence for Home brings AI-powered video summaries to HomeKit Secure Video, so you can get short text descriptions of who and what compatible security cameras saw, […]
John Ternus didn’t mention Apple Home once during his first keynote as Apple CEO. But he did open by describing an “intelligent personal hub” that prioritizes local processing, protects your privacy, and integrates with all your other devices, apps, and services. While Ternus was talking about the iPhone – not a new smart home device […]
The original robot vacuum company showed off a concept robot at the IFA tech show in Berlin today. The Roomba Duo combines a heavy-duty floor-washing machine with a smaller, slimmer Roomba. The two floor cleaners can move around your home together, with the main unit mopping and sweeping larger floor areas and the smaller unit […]
Ugreen, known for its phone power banks, chargers, and NAS storage solutions, is moving into the smart home – in a big way. This week at the IFA tech show, the company launched its HomeAgent smart home platform that combines security camera storage, on-device AI, and smart home control in one system, managed by a […]
After showing off several smart home firsts at CES, Aqara has returned to IFA with a major lineup of smart lighting compatible with both Zigbee and Thread. One of these new devices is the Floor Lamp T1, which trades the look of a typical lamp for an LED-equipped pole attached to a base. The lamp […]