Tag: Aeotec

Episode 300: Get excited for our annual Q&A episode

It’s time for the end-of-year question and answer episode where Kevin and I tinker, search Google, and ask companies for help answering your questions about the smart home. We start with a broad category of questions related to your needs outside that mostly require some kind of low power wide area network to work. Then we focus on Wi-Fi by answering a question about what to look for in a mesh Wi-Fi router and automating your home using your phone attaching to the in-home Wi-Fi as opposed to using GPS.

Arlo makes a high-end and high-quality outdoor camera that can go the distance. Image courtesy of Arlo.

For the second half of the show, we touch twice on my favorite topic — lighting! We answer a question for help finding a few smart bulb options that are super bright. Then we talk about smart bulbs that you could take on the road, because why not make your hotel room or Airbnb smart? We get tactical with specific sensors to address a request for a hidden open/close sensor for a door and steer y’all away from a product that seemed too good to be true. Finally, we talk about why you might see declining stocks of SmartThings hubs. It’s not because SmartThings is going away, it’s just that Samsung, which owns the company, isn’t focusing on building its own hardware anymore. Enjoy the show, and we’ll be back next week with our traditional format!

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel

  • I need a smart driveway, shed, or garden soil sensor outside of Wi-Fi range
  • Help me find a camera for the great outdoors
  • What features matter in a Wi-Fi router?
  • Can you find a smart bulb that’s more than 1,000 lumens?
  • I need a hidden door sensor
  • Why can’t I find SmartThings hubs in stock?

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Episode 298: SmartThings works with Google Nest again!

This week’s podcast starts with good news. Samsung’s SmartThings platform will once again work with Google devices starting in January. We discuss SmartThings a bit more to cover how sensor company Aeotec is launching a new smart home hub that will work with SmartThings before we move on to Logitech’s new HomeKit-enabled video doorbell. Wyze has launched a home security monitoring service, and ISP equipment provider Calix has teamed up with Arlo. Google reminded us that its Fuschia OS exists, even if we still don’t know what it’s for, and software-based programmable logic controllers are about to hit the industrial IoT. In smaller news bits we cover Google’s Look to Speak, LoRa adding support for QR code provisioning, Apple Music landing on Nest speakers, and Amazon’s new ML service for business metrics. We conclude the show by answering a question about Nest doorbells and LIFX bulbs.

The Logitech Circle View Doorbell will cost $199.99. Image courtesy of Logitech.

Our guest this week is Sudhir Arni, senior vice president of business outcomes at Sight Machine. We start by talking about the ability to use data to help optimize for additional metrics such as sustainability. We then discuss how the ability to prioritize different metrics and more flexible production lines means that manufacturers are now able to create custom product runs designed for highly targeted audiences. We then discuss how such flexibility and customization will change the roles of manufacturing workers.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Sudhir Arni, senior vice president of business outcomes at Sight Machine
Sponsor: Calix

  • SmartThings works with Google’s Nest devices at long last
  • The first video doorbell with HomeKit Secure Video is from Logitech
  • The ACRN hypervisor makes its industrial debut
  • Manufacturers can use the IoT to optimize for more than yields or profitability
  • More data might mean factory operations staff can go remote

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