Amazon is developing a new Echo device with a large touchscreen that attaches to the wall and serves as a smart home control panel, video chat device and media player, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the plans. From a report: The company’s Lab126 hardware division is designing the device to be a digital command center, showing users upcoming calendar events,…
Tag: smart home
Google Kills Android Things, a Smart Home OS That Never Took Off
Google plans to shut down Android Things, a stripped-down version of Android designed for smart home devices. The OS never really got off the ground, so this isn’t all that much of a loss, but it is yet another entry in Google’s expansive graveyard of shut-down projects. The Verge reports: The smart home project got its start in 2015 under the…
Amazon Recalls 350,000 ‘Ring’ Video Doorbells After Some Caught on Fire
“Several hundred thousand Ring doorbells have been recalled,” reports People, “following reports of the devices catching fire.”
According to a notice posted on Tuesday by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), about 350,000 2nd generation Ring doorbells — 8,700 of which were sold in Canada — have been recalled over fire and burn concerns. Ring, an Amazon smart home brand, has…
Amazon Brings Eero Mesh Wi-Fi To ISPs
Amazon’s Eero mesh networking company is introducing Eero for Service Providers. “This is an all-new hardware and software offering designed to help internet service providers (ISPs) meet customers’ increasing demands for exceptional home Wi-Fi,” writes Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols via ZDNet. “This is not just a bundling of a selection of Eero Wi-Fi mesh routers with your existing internet service. It also…
Apple, Amazon, Google, and Zigbee Alliance Standard For Smart Home Tech On Track For 2021 Release
An anonymous reader quotes a report from MacRumors: Last year, Apple, Amazon, Google, and the Zigbee Alliance, which includes Ikea, Samsung, and Philips, announced a new working group known as “Project Connected Home over IP” that set about developing an IP-based open-source connectivity standard for smart home products, with a focus on increased compatibility, security, and simplified development for manufacturers. The…
Ripple20 Vulnerabilities Will Haunt the IoT Landscape For Years To Come
Cyber-security experts have revealed today 19 vulnerabilities in a small library designed in the 90s that has been widely used and integrated into countless of enterprise and consumer-grade products over the last 20+ years. From a report: Affected products include smart home devices, power grid equipment, healthcare systems, industrial gear, transportation systems, printers, routers, mobile/satellite communications equipment, data center devices, commercial…
GE Is Saying Goodbye To Its 129-Year-Old Light Bulb Business
schwit1 shares a report from CNN: General Electric is saying goodbye to the light bulb. The conglomerate is shedding a struggling business founded by Thomas Edison more than a century ago. After years of failing to find a buyer, GE announced Wednesday it will sell its 129-year-old lighting division to smart home company Savant Systems. The deal marks the latest step…
Wink Smart Home Users Have One Week To Subscribe Or Be Shut Off
Stephenmg writes: The smart home hub Wink, which was purchased by Will.i.am in 2017, is giving users until May 13th to opt into a subscription for $4.99 per month. If users do not opt-in, the hub becomes a brick. “Long term costs and recent economic events” prompted the move, according to Wink, and the company didn’t want to sell user data…
Amazon and Google Now Require Continuous Data From Other Smarthome Devices
An anonymous reader quotes CNET:
For years, smart speakers from Amazon, Google and Apple have traded data back and forth with other devices in the home. This is how their voice assistants turn on the smart lights. But in early 2019, something changed: Amazon and Google began requiring continuous status-change updates from devices — requiring, for instance, partnered smart bulbs to send…
Target Quietly Opens Concept Store For the Future of Gaming
Target quietly soft-launched a new concept store in downtown San Francisco a few days ago: The Game Room lets people try out Magic Leap and Oculus Quest headsets, gaming PCs and mobile gaming rigs. It’s an obvious play to make Target look hip to San Francisco’s tech-savvy clientele, but it’s also indicative of bigger industry changes. From a report: Missing from…