Episode 556 - Too Sucky to Fail

On this week's show: Live from CES! The HomeTech team joined Justin and Kyle on the Apollo Automation monthly livestream on in Las Vegas at CES 2026. We had a great time and wanted to share the conversation on our feed as well.

On this week's show: iRobot vacuums up a bankruptcy filing and is scooped up by Picea, Apollo launches a new four-button mini-keyboard, Shelly drops a new all-in-one smart plug, WiiM continues its crusade against Sonos with a compact speaker, Homey launches a self-hosted option, and Emerald (parent company of CEDIA Expo) might be for sale. All this news, letters from the mailbag, CES Pre-Game discussions, and so much more!

The 11th annual Technology.fm Fireside Chat brings together a group of smart home podcasters for a year-end roundtable on the biggest developments of the past year. Richard Gunther and Adam Justice from the Smart Home Show join Gavin, TJ, and Seth to reflects on key products, platforms, and trends that shaped the smart home, what worked, what disappointed, and what it all means heading into the year ahead.

On this week's show: Chamberlain locks down garage integrations (again), Doma reinvents the smart door with a motor and facial recognition, Homey Pro gets a RAM boost, Firewalla goes Zero Trust Wi-Fi 7 on the go, and Home Assistant throws a party for Music Assistant 2.7. All this, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

On this week’s show: We catch up with Apollo Automation's Justin Bunton to talk about their new H-2 Annual Holiday Ornament, Kohler’s toilet cam raises privacy questions despite being rear-end-to-end encrypted, UniFi launches a 5G lineup, Honeywell has a new thermostat, and Meross drops a millimeter-wave sensor that sees you breathe. Aqara brings Siri to the wall (at least in the UK), and Wyze wants to watch the outdoors from indoors — through a window. All this, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

On this week's show: UniFi bridges the gap with new wireless gear, Alexa+ finally heads north to Canada (except for Gavin), Matter 1.5 adds long-awaited camera support, Josh.ai teams up with JVC for voice-controlled cinephilia, Sonos continues its 'transitional' phase with shrinking sales and growing losses, letters from the mailbag, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

On this week's show: Ring thinks AI can stop crime (what could go wrong?), Zigbee 4.0 goes the distance with Suzi, Shelly rolls out a giant snake of a leak sensor, Home Assistant drops a faster Zigbee/Thread toilet paper holder, Kaleidescape launches a mini server for high-bitrate binging, and Wyze gives its smart lock an upgrade, but it comes with a catch. All that, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

On this week’s show: The Louvre proves bad passwords can be priceless, Ring tries to silence your doorbell’s chatter with a smarter alert, Ikea goes all-in on Matter over Thread, and Third Reality gives your blinds a Zigbee upgrade. Homey MCP lets AI take over your smart home (what could go wrong?), Kohler brings toilet tech to new heights (or lows?), Google says Gemini is going just fine (nothing to see here move along), and hackers resurrect Nest thermostats. Plus, trouble brews at iRobot, SwitchBot has a $1,000 AI powered photo frame, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more!

On this week’s show: TP-Link might be banned, is 4K even worth buying? SwitchBot drops smart candles, Wyze has a new doorbell, Sofabaton has a new remote, letters from the mailbag, project updates, two picks of the week, and so much more!

On this week's show: AWS takes down smart beds in the middle of the night, Husqvarna gives robot lawnmowers night vision, Roku adds AI to your channel surfing, and Unifi shows off new AI-powered cameras and a fresh Network update. Apple teases a HomePod-iPad hybrid (because of course), Inovelli lights up Homey, and there's a new Matter-compatible garage door opener in town. A pick of the week, project updates, and so many more raccoons!