HomeTech.fm Podcast

1 hour 30 minutes

Episode 584 - First, They Came for the Robot Vacuums

On this week's show: the FCC’s robot ban turns out to include future robot vacuums and mowers, which may make the next robovac harder to buy without making it much safer; Roku decides budget streamers are a premium experience now; Apple’s smart home hub and Siri refresh are reportedly getting closer; Sonos is teasing some kind of AI move for September; UniFi adds a Thread border router and beefs up Protect; plus new gear from Zooz, Aqara, Xiaomi, Homey, SmartThings, and Home Assistant, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

7 August 2026, 12:00 pm

1 hour 21 minutes

Episode 583 - OpenAI Wants In, Nice Wants Out

On this week's show: OpenAI may be building a screen-free AI home companion, Nice is skipping CEDIA 2026 and insisting everything is fine, the 2026 TV Shootout crowns both Samsung and Sony, Philips Hue might stick a camera on your TV, and a TP-Link Kasa camera vulnerability report is a rough reminder to patch your gear. We also chat about a touchscreen Zigbee switch from Zemismart, an open-source robot vacuum project, Matter Server 9.1.0, the Only Fan Controller update, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

25 July 2026, 3:00 am

1 hour 24 minutes

Episode 582 - Which Switch is Which?

On this week's show: Apple wants smarter Home cameras, but only if you spring for the 2TB iCloud plan, IKEA quietly makes Matter less annoying, and Matter cameras from Tapo, Aqara, EZVIZ, and friends are finally becoming a real category. We also get into Josh.ai adding DMX and DALI for the fancy-lighting crowd, Sonos trimming some of the people you’d think it should keep, a coax-powered floodlight for those Wi-Fi dead zones, Ecowitt’s Kickstarter water tester, new Home Assistant-friendly gear from IoTorero and Third Reality, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

17 July 2026, 12:00 pm

Episode 581 - YOLO Updates

On this week's show: Apple makes Apple Home hubs a lot pricier, Samsung puts a $5 toll booth in front of the SmartThings API, and Matter itself keeps inching toward “maybe this really will work.” We also hit a THIRDREALITY timer clock, an interesting universal remote hub, Level’s rough week, Netflix’s new profile email rule, project updates, a pick of the week, and so much more!

10 July 2026, 12:00 pm

1 hour 16 minutes

Episode 580 - Gemini in the House

On this week's show: Hue brings wired wall modules to Europe and keeps pushing Matter, Schlage’s UWB smart lock finally gets a date and a price, Amazon rolls Alexa+ into Brazil, Google launches a new Gemini-powered speaker while retiring a couple of old Nest favorites, Sonos keeps trying to fix the app it broke, Matter 1.6 tries to make Matter less Matter-y, and a report says your smart TV apps may be doing more networking than streaming. Plus a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

26 June 2026, 12:00 pm

1 hour 3 minutes

Episode 579 - Roku is FOX'd

On this week's show: Alexa+ finally opens up across Canada in English and French, Prime Day deals are already leaking out of Amazon’s cart, Fox wants to buy Roku in a massive streaming-and-ads play, and ADI layoffs have Control4 watchers a little nervous. We’ve also got project updates featuring cameras, deck drama, Starlink, a new show notes server, a pick of the week, and so much more!

20 June 2026, 2:08 am

1 hour 21 minutes

Episode 578 - Furry Friend Detection

On this week's show: Apple Home gets Thread 1.4, 4K video, and energy tracking, Amazon gives the Echo Hub a makeover with smarter Ring features, and Google teaches Nest cams to recognize your pets. We also check out Eufy’s biometric locks, UniFi’s campus-level security gear, WiiM’s first soundbar, a Donut Lab battery scandal that’s gone flat, and Music Assistant’s sonic smarts. All that, project updates, and so much more!

12 June 2026, 4:19 am

Episode 577 - eero Phone Home

On this week’s show: SwitchBot flips the switch on Nanoleaf, eero dials back to the landline era with a new Telephone Adapter, Home Assistant welcomes Sensereo’s smoke and CO alarms, and the latest Home Assistant beta brings new toys for dashboards, automations, and IR nerds alike. A pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

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5 June 2026, 4:51 pm

Episode 576 - Scream. Trip. Run.

On this week's show: We talk TV (shows), Govee is shelf shocked, Linkind launches a fiery new Matter bulb, Bell wants your internet unstoppable with mobile and UPS backups, Ubiquiti patches some serious UniFi holes, Google hints at new Gemini-powered speakers, and Open Home Foundation brings e-paper displays to the smart home world. All that, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

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Show Notes

29 May 2026, 5:21 am

Episode 575 - Gunk Tank

On this week's show: Google I/O 2026 is all about agentic AI and Search that answers before you ask, Homey hikes hardware prices and Plex triples its Lifetime Pass price, Hubitat hooks up with Ring, UniFi announces a new 5G backup, Birdie Pro faints at bad air, and iGarden’s robot goes for an Olympic clean. A pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

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Show Notes

23 May 2026, 3:10 am

Episode 574 - Backdoors, Bots, and Baby Monitors

On this week’s show: Ubiquiti doubles down with a new UniFi NVR and a major Protect 7.1 update, Unraid ditches the USB stick (finally) with internal boot, and smart vacuums are getting weirder, Blink goes 2K on a budget, Yarbo promises to close its mower’s backdoor, the FBI is resetting routers, and over a million cameras were alarmingly open to hackers. All of this, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

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

Show Notes

15 May 2026, 12:31 pm