The Yale lock company dates back to 1868, but that doesn’t mean it’s only about that heavy padlock grandpa had on his shed. These days, it even makes smart locks for your smart home system. The Yale Smart Cabinet Lock, for example, integrates with HomeKit to protect your indoor valuables.
This home automation post is brought to you by SwitchBot.
These days, people control more and more aspects of their lives remotely through apps. And it’s no longer just “smart” devices like wired doorbells, thermostats and lights. Even your not-so-smart devices can join the party.
Now, with SwitchBot products, you can control many of your ordinary, old-fashioned appliances and use them with home-automation systems like Siri, Amazon Alexa and Google Home.
And even better, right now you can try SwitchBot for just a buck by joining the One Dollar Club.
SwitchBot makes about a dozen products. Today we’ll focus on two, the SwitchBot Bot smart switch and the SwitchBot Hub Mini smart remote. They can be used separately or together.
Google just added the ability to locate lost iPhones using the Google Assistant. It’s a super-handy feature for those who own a Google smart speaker or display, and it’s very easy to set up. We’ll show you how.
Sonos, the smart speaker company that (usually) plays nice with pretty much every other tech company, is fighting back against Google and Amazon for allegedly stealing some of its secret sauce.
Two lawsuits were filed by Sonos this week against Google that accuses the search engine giant of infringing on five of its patents. Sonos claims Amazon is guilty of the same thing but the company decided to only sue Google because it can’t take on two tech giants at once.
HomePod owners are becoming increasingly frustrated with the latest AirPods ad. The full version of the “Bounce” commercial keeps triggering “Hey Siri” on Apple’s pricey smart speaker.
Some say they end up hearing the “crappiest” music, while others say their HomePod randomly calls out “I’m here.”
There’s a new challenger to the smart speaker throne — and, no, it’s not Apple’s HomePod.
According to the latest data from IDC, in Europe Google has overtaken Amazon as the market leader in smart speakers. Google Home devices accounted for 45.1% of shipped smart speakers in the region in Q1. That beats Amazon’s 41.8%. Apple’s HomePod doesn’t even even get a mention.
China has overtaken the U.S. as the world’s biggest smart speaker market. According to new figures from Canalys, the Chinese market grew nearly 500% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2019.
Approximately 10.6 million units shipped in China over the quarter, compared to 5 million in the U.S. This means that China is now 51% of the global global smart speaker market. The U.S., on the other hand, comes in second place at just 24%.
Amazon employs a team made up of thousands of people to listen to recordings made by Echo devices, a new report claims.
These recordings are transcribed, annotated, and ultimately used to “help improve” the quality of Amazon’s smart speakers.
It seems that rumors about Apple Music making its way onto Google Home may have been premature. After Apple Music showed up as a listening option in the Google Home app, Google has issued a statement to correct the record.
Updated: Google says this was the result of a bug, and it has “nothing to announce regarding updates to Google Home.”
Apple Music is on its way to Google Home devices. In the Google Home app for iOS devices, Apple Music is listed as a listening option. However, as of now, it can’t be linked with a Google Home device.
Apple’s streaming music service previously arrived on Amazon Echo devices in December. Between them, Google and Amazon make up the overwhelming majority of smart speakers.
