Smart lighting company Nanoleaf has been acquired by OneRobotics, the parent company of SwitchBot. In an exclusive interview with The Verge, Nanoleaf CEO Gimmy Chu says the company will remain independent and that he and his cofounder and COO, Christian Yan, will continue to run it. “Nothing is changing operationally,” says Chu, adding that there […]
Thermacell has launched Liv 2.0, the next generation of its Wi-Fi-connected smart mosquito protection system. It features new hardware and can cover a larger area, and Thermacell says its formula can now deter no-see-ums. But it’s also more expensive and requires professional installation. Liv 2.0 uses the same setup as the original Liv – a […]
Google Home is rolling out a new Gemini-powered automation feature that can trigger smart home routines based on what your security cameras can see. This is one of several updates announced yesterday for Gemini for Home, including enhanced voice command support and general stability improvements, following its early access launch in October. “We are introducing […]
Companies often include background props in their product imagery that serve as set dressing, but one of Govee’s decorative choices is raising some eyebrows. An eagle-eyed Verge reader spotted that two copies of a book with “White Supremacy” plastered on the spine were included in a lifestyle image on Govee’s website, in a scene that […]
They say that Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer. I have my doubts given the less-than-balmy weather in many parts of the US this weekend, though that doesn’t mean it’s not an appropriate time to pick up some summer essentials — including a portable speaker / smart lamp like Govee’s Table Lamp 2 […]
The original Birdie debuted in 2022 with a morbid-but-fun design – an air-quality monitor with a literal canary in a coal mine. When the CO2 in your home hit a certain level, a mechanical bird mounted on your wall would appear to drop dead, then prompt you to open a window to air things out. […]
Selling the smart home has been hard. Even Amazon has lost money in the space, despite putting hundreds of millions of Echo devices in people’s homes. Google has also reportedly struggled to turn a profit from its substantial investment in Nest. But now Google is seeing dollar signs in the prospect of selling AI-driven subscriptions […]
Welcome! I’m The Verge’s smart home reviewer, and I’m hosting an exclusive subscriber AMA today at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. I test a lot of connected gadgets for my job, but the dominant device in my home – by both number and square footage covered – is the robot vacuum. At any […]
Inviting a robot vacuum-mop into your life is a big decision. An autonomous floor-cleaning machine roaming your home is equal parts glorious and intrusive. But if it does its job well, you may forgive it for eating your rug tassel, running over your Apple Watch, smearing strawberry jam across your carpet, or chattering to you […]
If Dyson’s PencilVac Fluffycones made you wish the company had built something similarly slim for scrubbing the hard floors in your home, enter the recently released Dyson PencilWash. The cordless cleaner is designed to tackle spills and stains on tile and other surfaces, and right now, it’s available for a new low price of $249.99 […]