Smart Home

TCL has launched new TVs for 2020, which are divided into 3 series: V8, C8 and P9, which also have their own additional marketing monikers and specific enhancements or use-cases. They are quantum-dot panels, some of which also have "Hi-Fi" audio or hands-free controls.

The latest headphone and earphone market research projects that this compound device category will "generate revenues of over US$45 Billion" between now and 2025. This growth is thought to be driven by several factors, which include the rise of the TWS earbud, the demand for "smart" features, as well as noise isolation, in this category.

Facebook will soon send invitations to some users of its Viewpoints marketing research app. The invites will allow users to record a phrase and the names of some of their friends in exchange for $5. Facebook claims these recordings will only be used to improve speech recognition in Facebook products like their Portal smart hub.

In a conversation with a prospective Galaxy Home Mini buyer, a Samsung rep stated that the company has no plans to sell the Galaxy Home Mini on a standalone basis. This makes a Galaxy S20 pre-order the only way to get hold of the smart speaker.

Welcome your new trash can overlords. These hi-tech bins house Nvidia Jetson TX2 AI SoCs and cameras to instantly identify the item you're holding and tell you how it should be properly disposed of.

Samsung has announced that the business-grade versions of its bezel-free and ultra-thin Wall TV series now go up to 583 inches diagonally. This latest word in large-scale displays - which also has an 8K resolution - has been launched at the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2020 conference.

Thermostats are just another household items that have been made smart over the last number of years. They have developed to the point that they can implement automatic usage plans, including those remotely set or sent by an energy company, in order to save money. A new study shows that more US households are interested in these functions.

Samsung has been linked to an upcoming budget smart speaker since 2018. More recent reports appear to confirm that this device will be called the Galaxy Home Mini and that it would launch on February 12, 2020. An even newer leak asserts that this date has in fact been pushed up a bit.

A Realme executive has revealed that this brand is working on its own smart TV, and that more details will be available at the next Mobile World Congress (MWC). To date, no specs or features for this upcoming product are known for sure. However, based on this announcement, its first launch may be in India.

Smart speakers are increasingly popular household items. Their market is now thought to be capable of growing until it is worth US$19.91 billion in 4 years. This success may be driven by the rise of 5G, urbanization, consumer interest in smart homes and interest in the devices themselves.

Inclusive Technology has debuted the Skyle, a housing for the larger iPad Pro 2018 variant that allows this tablet to be operated using eye-movements alone. It can allow certain users to access the App Store independently for the first time, while also integrating with other personal or household devices that have infra-red (IR) receivers.

Smart TVs are already popular purchases, and may become more so in the future due to their role as smart-home hubs. The latest analysis of their market has found that their shipments may number about 266 million over the next 5 years. This is driven by 4K content and its increasing availability.

Apple has reportedly certified 2 new PCs with the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC). They both run Catalina (the latest version of macOS). One may be the next 13-inch MacBook Pro, whereas the other could be the Mac Pro rackable SKU. Some previously-released Apple TV devices also appear to have been approved alongside them.

Amazfit has launched a series of products in a category new to this brand: personal work-out equipment. It consists of the SMART GYM HUB, a 43-inch vertical screen with AI and a ToF sensor that can deliver fitness classes right in the home. This device can also integrate with the new Home Studio or AirRun treadmills.

A new study of those who use voice-activated searches have found that 64% of this group set the assistant in question off by mistake during December 2019. An accidental press of a hardware button was found to be the culprit in 49% of these cases. In others, an AI "mishearing" a user's speech resulted in these mishaps.

Have you ever met an artificial? You will soon be able to, thanks to STAR Lab's project NEON. Despite the marketing claims of intelligent, artificial life, NEON looks more akin to a deepfake video tethered to an Internet-connected chatbot. More details will come next week at CES 2020.

The Wearbuds are well known as the first true-wireless (TWS) earbuds that come with an innovative wrist-band into which they can slot and use to charge, rather than a case that has to be carried around. Now, their maker Aipower has unveiled an updated version of the same at CES 2020.

NEC's latest All-in-One, the Lavie Home AIO, is targeted directly at families. The AIO sports a Core i7 Comet Lake-U CPU and a 27-inch FHD display. The Home AIO pumps sound through screen-mounted speakers thanks to LG's Crystal Sound Display technology. Users can turn the PC on with their voice and call out to Alexa or Cortana to launch apps.

The latest research on smart-home tech uptake has shown that 29% of all broadband-using households in the US polled owned at least 1 such device. This is a change of 20% compared to 2018. However, concerns about personal data remain a major barrier to this category doing even better.

LG's upcoming line of soundbars will be unveiled at CES 2020. However, the OEM has offered some details on these new products ahead of this event. They have been developed with Meridian Audio, while also supporting Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and an AI Room Calibration feature to optimize sound based on their surroundings.

DISH, a source of paid TV that also integrates apps such as Netflix, has announced that some Google Nest products can now co-ordinate with its "Hopper" or "Wally" receivers. As a result, users of both products will gain the abilty to see video from their Nest doorbells on their big screen. This update should be available from now.

YouTube has developed a panel of controls that come into effect when it is being used on a smart TV or Chromecast-enabled device. Now, it may have also added voice commands and new remote-style buttons in this menu. They have been reported as existing in a server-side update thus far.

Aipower is a start-up that had great success in its crowdfunding endeavors for its Wearbuds product. This is a type of fitness band that also houses a pair of truly wireless (or TWS) earbuds. They will be on show at CES 2020, along with some new products, a smartwatch included.

Multiple families have reported their Ring cameras have been accessed by unknown third parties. The bad actors were able to access the video feeds and speakers of the cameras to frighten members of the affected households, including children. Ring has stated that the malicious parties probably accessed the cameras by using the victims' usernames and passwords, which were likely leaked in an unrelated data breach and recycled for the Ring cameras.

Google unveiled an updated Assistant with new features at its I/O event this year. It has only been available to the US market since then; now, however, it is being applied to others such as Ireland and Canada. Then again, it remains restricted to Pixel devices in these regions.

Gimdow claims that its new smart lock is one that doesn't require the user to replace the existing one (or even parts of it). This may be ideal for those who want this kind of Bluetooth-enabled security, but can't risk damage to fittings while installing it. The new product has just launched as part of a crowdfunding campaign.

The panel-maker Vizio has reported that it "exceeded expectations" over the Black Friday/Cyber Monday period just gone, having sold 500,000 or more units of its smart TVs between these days in 2019. For example, it sold 87% more premium 4K UHD big-screens year-on-year (YoY) compared to the same event in 2018.

Nokia's first-ever smart TV will be released in India on December 10th. The TV features a 55-inch 4K panel and runs Android 9.0. It will be available on Flipkart for ₹41,999($590).

YI is a home security brand with some Black Friday deals that have already been added to its own online store. However, it has announced that its weather-proof outdoor variant will be up to 40% through the chain Home Depot on the day itself. The camera comes with a 6-month subscription to a cloud service for video through this retailer.

Google introduced Ambient Mode for the Assistant at I/O 2019. It is a kind of alternative interface for Android devices that makes them take on the functions of a smart display. This can involve a revolving series of screens showing calendar information, photos or other content.

According to multiple outlets, some games on Google's Stadia streaming service are not rendered natively at 4K, like Google advertised them to be. Rather, some titles are rendered at lower resolutions and then upscaled to 4K once the data is sent to a gamer's Chromecast Ultra. This and a myriad of other complaints have left black marks on Stadia's first impression.

The information guide for Huawei’s Sound X smart speaker has leaked online ahead of the device’s expected launch. The Sound X offers an interesting collection of hardware specifications that includes two 60 W subwoofers and a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor. But will consumers be willing to place a hefty listening device from a controversial manufacturer in their homes?

Lenovo has launched the Smart Display 7, which, like its predecessors, is a smart speaker with an in-built touchscreen. This new version has its display above its speakers this time, although they are still 10-watt (W) drivers. It also has Google Assistant, Wi-Fi 802.11ac and an ambient color sensor.

John Carmack, the creator of Doom and a pioneer of virtual reality, is stepping down as the CTO of Oculus to focus on artificial general intelligence, which can be considered a super-powered version of artificial intelligence. Carmack will work from his home to develop machine intelligences that learn like humans do rather than through algorithms.

As 5G networks go live in more and more markets with each month, some questions regarding the health hazards that might come with this new technology remain unanswered. However, most 5G dangers that some websites have been warning us about for years are nothing more than myths that can be easily debunked.

Google's Stadia game streaming service is coming November 19. The service will initially launch with 12 games (listed below) and will eventually gain 14 more before the end of the year. Only those that purchased a Stadia Founder's Edition bundle will be able to access the service on November 19.

Home theaters brought in a total of US$7.7 billion last year. However, this market value is thought to be capable of growing by up to $5.7 billion more over the next 6 years. The sound bar sector may grow at the greatest rate over this period.

Qualcomm has announced the results for its fiscal year, which ended on September 29, 2019. Its revenues came in at US$24.3 billion, or 7% more year-on-year (YoY). The company also made a total of $4.8 billion in the last quarter of this year (4Q2019), although this is a 50% reduction compared to 3Q2019.

Samsung's Developer Conference (SDC) 2019 contained numerous interesting announcements, not the least that Tizen OS for TVs can be ported to third-party devices. In addition, there are now additional developer-friendly facilities for this part of the OEM's ecosystem. They include more granular user opt-outs for ads.

Google provides hardware that runs its own OS with automatic updates for a fixed period of time after their release. This software policy applies to a range of devices, from Chromebooks to Chromebits, the end-of-life (EOL) of which is known as Auto Update Expiration (or AUE). 140 of these products have had their AUEs amended by 6 months to a year each.

Xiaomi also promised details on a fifth generation of its smart TVs during the Mi CC9 Pro debut. The OEM made good on this - less expectedly, it introduced 2 new variants of the same during the event. The Mi TV 5 Pro is the one that gets the leaked 4K QLED panel, as well as some other impressive specs.

Google and SiriusXM have partnered in order to enable streaming of the latter on smart speakers from the former. In addition, the content provider's subscribers will be able to activate and control their channels by asking the Assistant on their phones to do so. This update will start rolling out shortly in the US and Canada.

Not a fan of ColorOS but like the Realme X? Well, Realme has been actively encouraging community developers to build custom kernels and ROMs for the device. The project has borne fruit after just a month, with there now being many Realme X custom ROMs and an AOSP-compatible kernel.

A recent publication has reported that 52% of all US households with high-speed internet would rather not buy into the smart-home concept. 25% of this group nominated worries about data security and privacy as their reasons to remain out of this market. This research also found that 71% of households who did the opposite worry about cybersecurity.

The new NVIDIA SHIELD TV and TV Pro have been released, and they come with an interestingly-shaped new remote. The manufacturer has partnered with Netflix to include a button that summons this app directly on it. However, Reddit users have found that it can also be turned to other uses.

Sony has joined the ranks of Samsung in offering the Apple TV app on its smart TVs. Users who own some of the newer models have noted that the latest firmware update introduces the Apple TV app to the collection of preinstalled apps.

Do not install iOS 13.2. If you have a HomePod and have installed iOS 13.2, DO NOT RESET YOUR HOMEPOD. Multiple users are reporting that iOS 13.2, released yesterday, bricked their HomePod smart speakers. Apple has since pulled the update.

NVIDIA now stocks the new Pro and non-Pro variants of the SHIELD TV on its official site. As projected, the latter is a 4K streaming stick with HDR 10. Both new Android 9.0 devices support Dolby Audio, can access GeForce NOW and have Google Assistant built in.