Episode 524 - Gavin Reviews the Sonos Ace

On this week's show: Gavin takes a pair of Sonos Ace Headphones for a test drive, TJ get's his fun fixed, a pick of the week, project updates, a HomeTech headline, and so much more!

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Show Notes

• 'This is so hard': The Chinese small businesses brought to a standstill by Trump's tariffs
• A strong solar storm heads to Earth. Here's what to know about northern lights
• HomeTech Headline
  • More Change at Sonos, This Time on the Board as Hugo Barra Replaces Mike Volpi - Strata-gee.com
• Pick of the Week: Someone hacked Silicon Valley crosswalks to spoof Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk
• Projects
• Apollo Automation Featured in State of the Open Home 2025
• PoE Z-Wave 800 Controller & ZigBee 3.0 Network Unit( With Clear Case) | eBay
• Announcing State of the Open Home 2025

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Episode 523 - Risky Clickin'

On this week's show: Tariffs are a causing havoc on smart home device pricing, and then may not? Who knows. The rich want “dumb” homes more than smart homes, Aqara adds the Matter for 50 device types, SmartThings gets Matter 1.4, Eufy has some interesting spring announcements, Samsung releases a BB-8 style robot, Sonos drops prices on a few products, Z-wave isn’t dead for real this time, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

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Show Notes

• Smart home device manufacturers are bracing for chaos — again
• How Much Could Tariffs Increase iPhone Prices? We Do the Math
• Why the Ultrarich Are Unplugging From “Smart Homes”
• HomeTech Headlines
  • Aqara adds support for 50 new Matter device types | The Verge
  • Reddit: Aqara Event and Announcements
  • SmartThings gets Matter 1.4 support for water heaters, heat pumps, and more | The Verge
  • Eufy Spring Lineup Announced
  • Samsung is finally releasing Ballie, its rolling home robot | The Verge
  • Apple Considers Delaying Smart Home Hub Until 2026 [Gurman] - iClarified
  • Sonos permanently drops the price of its Era 100 speaker and Ray soundbar | The Verge
  • Z-Wave is remaking itself to find a new place in your smart home | The Verge
  • About the command retry feature - 📰 News and Updates / Announcements - Hubitat
• Pick of the Week
  • Apollo’s First Industrial Sensor Installation at LOTTE Aluminium USA i – Apollo Automation
• Home Assistant 2025.4 Released
• Network UPS Tools - Welcome
• Noctua Fans
• Dell PowerEdge R510 Silent Mod - feat. Mini Noctua Fans

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Episode 522 - I *was* Renting a Water Heater

On this week's show: Aqara updates the G5 Pro based on customer feedback, Logitech starts to stop supporting some Harmony remotes, Alexa+ is out but only for a select few, Yale releases an ugly lock, Samsung wants to text you on your vacuum cleaner, Gavin tests out HomeyPro, a pick of the week, letters from the mailbag, and so much more!

Fan of the show? Want to support our efforts? Please consider becoming a Patron!

Show Notes

• Logitech Stops Support of Gen1 Hardware
• Aqara Listens to its Users
• HomeTech Headlines
  • Motionblinds joins Works with Home Assistant
  • Wyze’s new camera filter claims to cut down on nuisance alerts
  • Alexa Plus just launched in early access, but it’s missing some features
  • Amazon tests renaming Echo smart displays to Alexa
  • Alfred Debuts Seriously Smart DB1 Pro Lock at ISC West
  • Yale’s new smart lock can match your Google Nest doorbell
  • Roborock ramps up for Matter support
  • Ikea Matter-over-Thread smart switch incoming
  • Samsung’s new smart fridges boast AI and smaller screens
  • Samsung’s latest stick vac can alert you to calls and text messages
• Pick of the Week: An electrical panel that works so hard it needs a smoke break
• Noctua
• Dell PowerEdge R510 Silent Mod - feat. Mini Noctua Fans
• GL-AXT1800 / Slate AX
• Homey Pro - the world’s most advanced smart home hub.
• OKBRAND 8 ft. x 50 in. Handy Panel Max 50 10-Line Cattle Feedlot Fence Panel

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Episode 521 - Gavin's Stolen Car

One this weeks show: Rachio releases a smart outdoor lighting transformer that Matters, UniFi launches more products, Switchbot announces integrations with Home Assistant, Wiim has a new 100W amp, Plex raises prices, SAVI Controls and Oliver IQ merge, Netflix offering HDR10+, a pick of the week, project updates, and Gavin's tale of how his technology stacked up against car thieves. All this and more on this week's HomeTech!

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Show Notes

AI generated recreation of the theft in progress.

• HomeTech Headlines
  • Rachio Low Voltage Lighting Transformer
  • UniFi - Introducing: Protect G6
  • SwitchBot adds robot vacuums, smart shades, and its new Hub 3 to Home Assistant
  • Wiim’s Vibelink Amp Delivers 100W of Power to a Variety of Sound Systems
  • Plex ups pricing and restructures subscription fees
  • The Free Software Media System | Jellyfin
  • Emby
  • SAVI Controls & OliverIQ Merge to Form SAVI iQ - CEPRO
  • Netflix will stream shows and movies in HDR10+ on supported devices
• Pick of the Week
  • Does anyone know where I can find a 3 gang plate with the plug on the right side not the left??
• IPC3628SR-ADF28(40)KM-WP - Uniview - Leader of AIoT Solution
• The Club (automotive) - Wikipedia

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Episode 520 - Reversible Socks with AI

On this week's show: Two weeks of news from all around the industry including updates from Amazon, Google, Sonos, iRobot, Josh.ai, IKEA, Home Assistant, and more! We also take a few moments to answer questions from the mailbag, review a few open projects, and turn our socks right-side out. All this and so much more on this week's HomeTech!

Fan of the show? Want to support our efforts? Please consider becoming a Patron!

Show Notes

• Sony BRAVIA 8 65” class OLED 4K HDR Google TV (2024) | K-65XR80
• 65 inch LG OLED evo AI C4 4K Smart TV 2024 - OLED65C4PUA | LG USA
• SANUS VLT7
• DMF Lighting
• Florence Y'all Water Tower - Wikipedia
• All-new Alexa Show 15 | A stunning HD 15.6" smart kitchen TV for home organization
• Made for Amazon Under-Cabinet Mount, for Echo Show 15 (Gen 1, 2021 & Gen 2, 2024 Releases)
• Echo Show 5 3rd Gen Under Cabinet Kitchen Mount Bracket for Amazon Alexa Devices | Compatible with 3rd Gen 2023 Model | All Hardware Included (Black)
• Sylvox Under Counter TV
• HomeTech Headlines
  • YouTube - 2025 Josh.AI Winter Launch Event
  • “Awful”: Roku tests autoplaying ads loading before the home screen - Ars Technica
  • Amazon Announces Premium Alexa Devices Under ‘Signature’ Line • iPhone in Canada Blog
  • Amazon is taking away the option of not sending voice recordings to the cloud | The Verge
  • Undocumented commands found in Bluetooth chip used by a billion devices
  • ESP32 Undocumented Bluetooth Commands: Clearing the Air
  • Sonos has canceled its streaming video player | The Verge
  • iRobot tells investors its future is in doubt | The Verge
  • iRobot launches eight new Roombas and finally adds lidar mapping
  • Will iRobot’s reinvention of the Roomba be at the expense of its history of innovation? | The Verge
  • After nine years, Google is officially ditching Assistant for Gemini
  • Google warns folks with dead Chromecasts not to reset them • The Register
  • Ikea registered a Matter-over-Thread temperature sensor with the FCC | The Verge
  • Ubiquiti - Introducing Pro XG Lineup
  • Sony Unveils Next-Gen RGB LED Display Technology - CEPRO
  • Home Assistant officially Matters - Home Assistant
• Exporting Clips & Cloud Archiving with UniFi Protect
• Gavin Campbell with Electrical Upgrades, AI Automation and a new Robot Lawn Mower is on the way - HGG640
• Netstor Technology

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