Episode 243: Nanoleaf Canvas review and a talk with Tuya

We kick off this week’s podcast with Kevin’s struggles to get his Google Home to talk to Wink. Then we unpack some of the standards news out from the ZigBee Alliance and the Open Connectivity Foundation, which is introducing OCF-over-Thread.  From there we do a quick update on Ring, talk about a new smart grill from Weber, a new way for Alexa to control your TV, and updates to Eero’s Wi-Fi. We then talk about my experience with the Nanoleaf Canvas lights. One of us had a better experience than the other. We end with an answer for a listener who bought low-cost Wi-Fi bulbs and wants a remote to control them.

The new Weber SmokeFire pellet grill has smarts provided by June. Image courtesy of Weber.

Our guest this week is Alex Yang, the COO and co-founder of Tuya. Tuya is an IoT platform that provides everything from connectivity to help building out sales channels for end products. Brands such as Energizer, Walmart’s Merkury Innovation, and more use Tuya’s platform to connect their devices. Yang talks about Tuya’s founding, its multi-country headquarters, and its privacy policies. He also shares details behind the recent appointment of former GE CEO Jeff Immelt to the Tuya board and some details about its new deal with SmartThings. Enjoy the show.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Alex Yang, the COO and co-founder of Tuya
Sponsors:  Legrand and Afero

  • Wink’s malaise strikes its Google integration … again!
  • Why we might want OFC-over-Thread
  • A fun lighting product that doubles as art
  • Tuya is one of the largest IoT platforms you’ve never heard of
  • Can we trust a Chinese startup with our home data?

 

 

 

Published by

Stacey Higginbotham

I am a journalist who has covered technology for over a decade at publications such as Fortune, PCMag, Gigaom, The Deal and BusinessWeek.

2 thoughts on “Episode 243: Nanoleaf Canvas review and a talk with Tuya”

  1. Couple of fact checks

    Hubitat can control wifi devices, like the nano leaf canvas, yeelights, various bridges (hue, lutron), sonos speakers and AV receivers.

    The other controllers you forgot were Homeseer (they have only been around for 20 years), Universal Devices, and Vera.

    All of which can function without an active internet connection or manufacturer cloud system (though they do lose easy remote access and voice assistant integration).

  2. I love it when you include pictures in the weekly emails.
    I was hoping to see the Nanoleaf as well.
    I enjoy your podcasts immensely.
    I felt a bit of relief when hearing of others having lights or other Iot devices suddenly stop working. Several years ago I bought the Wemo bulbs. They did exactly what I wanted, and worked flawlessly until one day when they just stopped. I spent several days trying to revive them with no success. GRRrrrrrrr the frustration.
    Tom Sargeant
    Enid, OK

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