Robot vacuums are great at keeping your floors clean, but there are a few areas they fall down on the job – stairs being one. Another is chairs and stools. You know the scenario: You have a row of stools at a kitchen table, or chairs tucked under a dining table, and the robovac just […]
One of the best things my smart home does is help me care for my pets, and security cameras are particularly useful for keeping track of my many critters. But the barrage of notifications they send often means I miss important ones. So, when Google announced its new Pet Memory feature for Gemini for Home, […]
The greatest invention in pet tech in recent years is the litter robot. A machine that scoops your kitties’ poop so you don’t have to – what else could a cat owner possibly want? How about insights into your kitty’s litter box usage that could flag health issues? Sign me up. But I have two […]
Robot lawnmowers are finally good enough to take a lot of work out of maintaining a yard, but they’re still not set-it-and-forget-it machines. If you don’t want these autonomous cutting machines to tear up your lawn or go roaming in your neighbors’ yard, you’re still going to need to keep an eye on them. But […]
Hands-free unlocking is the future of smart locks. The best smart home tech removes friction, and having your door unlock for you as you walk up is as frictionless as it gets – no passcodes to remember, no need to have a free hand to wave, press, or poke at the lock. One way to […]
The Schlage Sense Pro is a beautiful smart lock. Sleek, discreet, and simple to use, it’s Schlage’s smartest lock to date. Thanks to ultra-wideband (UWB), it unlocks as I walk up to my front door; I don’t need to enter a code or tap my phone or press my finger against it. I’ve tested several […]
Baking sourdough bread is inherently old-fashioned, relying on natural fermentation and wild yeast instead of the simple, predictable commercial stuff. So it might sound anathema to bring a gadget into the mix. The trick to the Sourdough Sidekick – backed and branded by King Arthur flour – is that it promises to automate the boring […]
Smart speakers have spent the past few years searching for a compelling second act. Beyond music, timers, and controlling your lights, they’ve struggled to justify taking up space on the kitchen counter. AI promised to change that. Amazon debuted its new hardware powered by a revamped Alexa last fall, and now it’s finally Google’s turn. […]
I can’t remember the last time I got excited about a fan. Normally, I just buy whatever Vornado or Dreo model fits my budget, but that was before I started testing the battery-powered Standing Circulator Fan from SwitchBot. As the name indicates, the SwitchBot fan is a 3D circulator – a fancy way of saying […]
I’ll admit it. I was wrong. Wildly colorful lighting is delightful for your smart home – well, outdoors, at least. Smart lighting is one of my favorite features of the smart home – it combines convenience with ambiance, letting you change the entire look of your room with just a press of a button. But, […]