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Hosted by Gavin Campbell, TJ Huddleston, & Seth Johnson

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593

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Oct 2026

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The HomeTech Podcast features news, opinions, insights, and advice on all things Smart Home | Co-Hosted by Home Automation Pros Gavin Campbell, TJ Huddleston, & Seth Johnson

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October 23, 2026Episode 59457 min

Episode 594 - Happy Foldy Friday

On this week's show: The iPhone Duo shipments arrive this week, TP-Link tries to assemble routers in the US while also collecting lawsuits, hackers turn old D-Link and Ubiquiti gear into bandwidth side hustles, Josh.ai adds more integrations, Shelly brings a privacy-friendly mmWave presence sensor to North America, and Withings puts app syncing behind a subscription. We also hit Home Assistant’s latest Matter server update, a clever photo-frame dashboard hack, listener feedback on UPS options, project updates, a pick of the week, and so much more! iPhone Duo HomeTech Headlines TP-Link moves to assemble routers in the US following an import ban - Engadget TP-Link Falls Under Fire for Its Routers Again as 5 States Sue Over Privacy Concerns Hackers hijack D-Link, Ubiquiti devices to resell your stolen bandwidth Josh.ai Announces New Partnerships and Integrations - Residential Systems Shelly’s Presence Gen4 Sensor Offers a More Private Option for Occupancy Automation Withings now charges $100 per year to sync your data to other apps APC 3000VA Lithium Ion UPS, SMTL3000RM2UC, Pure Sine Wave Rackmount UPS, 120V Uninterruptible Power Supply Reverse Engineering Projects GitHub - wesbos/photo-frame-dashboard: Getting ADB, root, backups and custom apps onto locked-down Android photo frames (Skylight Calendar, BIUFRAME) Airdrop reverse engineered rea · Plugin Catalog | Hermes Agent Home Assistant’s Matter server adds Matter 1.6.1, camera talkback, and IKEA hardware support Deal: RISION Magic Thermal Camera, 320x240 QuadIR, Hot/Cold Spot Track, Live Temp | for USB-C iOS, Android & Win w/-4°F~1112°F , ±3.6℉ Accuracy 25Hz Thermal Imaging Camera for HVAC/Electrical Inspection

October 16, 2026Episode 5931 hr 34 min

Episode 593 - Just Crank It

On this week's show: Apple finally throws a real “Welcome Home” punch with HomeView, a new Apple TV 4K, and even ADT on install duty, Ring ditches the backup key for a hand-crank smart lock, Amazon rolls out a new Alexa tablet lineup, Aqara is now selling in Canadian Tire, Zooz joins Jasco, plus a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more! Anthropic Says Theoretical 'AI Botnets' Could One Day Target the Smart Home HomeTech Headlines Aqara Makes Canadian Retail Debut with Canadian Tire Ring Unveils Hand-Rechargeable Smart Lock and New 4K Cameras Amazon is phasing out Fire Tablets because they weren’t ‘giving customers what they were asking for’ Amazon announces new lineup of Alexa Tablets Introducing UniFi Network 11 | Our Most Impactful Release Yet Tesla’s Automations Feature Is Ready for Launch, Hidden Behind a Flag - Not a Tesla App A New Chapter for Zooz! Jasco Acquires Zooz to Accelerate Growth of Smart Home Division Everything Apple launched at its ‘Welcome Home’ event Apple Unveils HomeView Smart Display With Siri AI, Starting at $429 in Canada | iPhone in Canada Apple’s Fabled Smart Home Collection is Here, Here’s What Integrators Need to Know Apple HomeView LG Video Doorbell Wired – Essence Graphite ADT to Offer In-Home Installation of Apple's New HomeView and More The new Apple TV 4K has built-in microphones so you can talk to Siri AI DeFlock - Flock Camera Tracking LEDVANCE joins Works with Home Assistant From the unRAID community on Reddit: Unraid OS 7.3.3 Stable is now available 2026 Self-Host User Survey: Open for Submissions

October 9, 2026Episode 59249 min

Episode 592 - The Theme is Updates

On this week's show: Apple’s smart home plans keep leaking from every direction, with LG-branded locks, doorbells, thermostats, and cameras rumored alongside Apple selling Aqara’s new thermostat; Google Home gets better at hearing you over the chaos; Amazon quietly takes away Alexa aux voice control; UniFi Protect 7.3 squeezes more history out of your storage; Inovelli’s roadmap starts moving again; Home Assistant renames Cloud to Link because, well, “cloud” has baggage; a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more! Apple and LG team up on new smart home gear, starting with a lock, doorbell, and thermostat Apple’s Smart Home Push Could Include Doorbell, Thermostat and Cameras | iPhone in Canada Apple now sells Aqara’s new Adaptive Temperature thermostat and more accessories HomeTech Headlines Google Home speakers can now hear you better Alexa can’t control the aux input on Amazon Echo speakers anymore Introducing Protect 7.3 Inovelli 2026: Q3 Update! Z-Wave 800 Series Button Controller + Dimmer Switch | Project Walt Home Assistant renames Home Assistant Cloud to Link Big Tech ruined the cloud, so we’re renaming ours A Code of Conduct for AI in the Home Emporia Vue 3 Home Energy Monitor RoomSync for Home Assistant App - App Store

October 2, 2026Episode 59155 min

Episode 591 - Schneider buys Shelly

On this week's show: Schneider Electric wants Shelly, Apple’s smart home hub may finally be real, Amazon refreshes the Fire TV Stick 4K, Disney raises streaming prices because apparently doubling profits wasn’t enough, ULTRALOQ rolls out new Matter and Aliro-ready locks, Home Assistant’s latest beta overhauls maps, and the local-control crowd keeps cooking with June oven and Roborock cloud-escape projects. We also hit some custom-install gear from Crestron and NextLevel, a weird little Pro-Ject streaming amp, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more! Shelly Group Has Entered Into an Investment Agreement With Schneider Electric on the intended Voluntary Public Takeover supported by the founders | Shelly Group Report: Anthropic Lost $42 Billion in 2025, Will Spend $518 Billion in Coming Years HomeTech Headlines Apple's smart home hub could arrive next month - Engadget Amazon unveils a thinner and faster Fire TV Stick 4K, plus a new remote - Engadget Disney+ and Hulu raise prices by up to 13 percent after doubling profits ULTRALOQ Launches New Smart Lock Collection Including ULTRALOQ Bolt Mission, Bolt Pro and Latch 5 Pro Wireless Box E – Pro-Ject Audio Systems NextLevel Acoustics Mantelbar Integrates Fireplace Audio Crestron Home OS 4.12 Adds Multiview for Multiple Video Sources Anker's new eufy S4 video doorbell sees everything with 360-degree AI tracking The June oven could live on From the selfhosted community on Reddit: Self-host your own Roborock cloud without rooting or hardware modification Technical Writeup - Roborock Local Server Home Assistant 2026.10 Beta: You are here 📍 Tesla, Home Assistant, ESPHome and Smarter Automation with Gavin Campbell – HGG690 Droplet: Smart Home Water Sensor

September 25, 2026Episode 59048 min

Episode 590 - Hacking the Echo Dot

On this week's show: your smart TV is probably spying on you, so we talk through what to turn off and why “just don’t connect it” keeps sounding smarter; Matter 1.6.1 finally locks in Groupcast to help grouped devices act like a group; a local Sofabaton integration gives Home Assistant users more remote-control fun; Crestron and Hubitat get a pro-friendly upgrade; D-Tools says the CI market is growing and also very much not growing, depending on who you ask; plus a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more! LinkedIn CringeBot 3000 Free LinkedIn Post Generator (AI-Powered) | Postiv AI HomeTech Headlines There are ways to protect yourself from your spying TV Sofabaton X: local Home Assistant integration for the X1, X1S and X2 Crestron-Hubitat Integration Driver Gets a Major v2 Upgrade D-Tools 2026 Midyear Report Finds Widening Performance Gap in CI Channel Matter 1.6.1 finalizes Groupcast and adds chime sound controls Home Gadget Geeks - The Average Guy Network GitHub - loryanstrant/HA-CustomComponentMonitor: Reports on whether you are using your Home Assistant custom components

September 18, 2026Episode 5891 hr 27 min

Episode 589 - A Person Living in Your Doorbell

On this week's show: CEDIA says the crowds showed up, Apple unveiled a foldable iPhone, LG is pushing back on smart TV spying claims, Google wants outside AI agents in your home, Aqara and IKEA both have new Matter-friendly hardware, SimpliSafe would like a human guard at your doorbell, plus a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more! HomeTech Headlines CEDIA Expo 2026 By the Numbers - Residential Systems Heard at CEDIA Expo 2026: The Future Is Experiences, Not Products - Residential Systems LG strongly denies TV spying claims, says tracking and snooping concerns 'not true' - online investigation claims 216,000,000 TVs spy and record audio Apple event 2026 recap: iPhone Duo, iPhone 18 Pro, and more reddit.com/r/iphone/comments/1whl55w/the_biggest_disappointment_with_the_duo Aqara Announces the Availability of The Spatial Multi-Sensor FP400, Offering Advanced Spatial Intelligence for Smart Homes IKEA DUBBELKISEL Brings Matter Over Thread to Cabinet Lighting Apple wants $60 a month to unlock AI summaries on five cameras Google Home is unlocking the agentic smart home — which is great, right? This doorbell camera lets a human security guard watch your front door CAST-1 Audio Casting Deco Gear 49" Curved 5K Display | DQHD 120Hz Ultrawide Monitor Yoolax Motorized Blinds with Remote, Smart Blinds for Windows, Custom Size How long until local AI pays for itself? — Sunk Cost My Results: You’re underwater for 19.7 years. — Sunk Cost

September 11, 2026Episode 5881 hr 50 min

Episode 588 - CEDIA and IFA 2026

On this week's show: TiVo decides skipping commercials should cost something, LG TVs face some very ugly privacy claims, Home Assistant 2026.9 brings a big Modbus cleanup, UniFi tries a friendlier whole-home Wi-Fi pitch, and Sonos rolls out Beam Ultra, Ace Ultra, and a whole new Sonos 27 software story. We also hit new gear from both CEDIA and IFA, a full mailbag of feedback for Gavin, project updates, and so much more! HomeTech Headlines Apple announces September iPhone launch event TiVo Plans to End Free Automatic Commercial Skipping in November, Tests Paid Premium Replacement Service | Cord Cutters News LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices Homey expands beyond the app with the Portal touchscreen and rotary controller JBL takes on Sonos with new multi-room Cove speakers Shelly launches first smart camera at a budget price without any subscriptions Sonos Launches Beam Ultra and Ace Ultra Pre-Orders in Canada | iPhone in Canada How Sonos rebooted itself Sonos 27: Why Your System Keeps Getting Better Introducing UniFi Travel Router Long-Range Introducing Whole-Home WiFi by UniFi ProStudio by Josh.ai Raises the Bar for Custom Home Control, Integration, & Installation at CEDIA Expo 2026 AVA OS 3.0 Adds Over 100 New Features to Systems Audio Pad Series | Architectural Audio Integrated into Faceplates | Magna Audio CEDIA Announces Winners of 2026 Smart Home Awards Americas Govee expands its smart lighting lineup at IFA 2026 with dual-zone outdoor lights, a simulated skylight, and new COB strips Aqara expands its global smart lighting range with Thread and Zigbee support at IFA 2026 These new robot lawn mowers trim your edges Roborock expands beyond the living room with automated pool cleaners and LiDAR mowers at IFA 2026 iRobot unveils the Roomba Duo Feedback ICO – The Smart Pool Monitor Smart Pool Water Analyzer | Make Pool Care Effortless - iopool Droplet: Smart Home Water Sensor Tailwind iQ3 Smart Automatic Garage Door Controller ESPHome Tesla BLE “How Many Gavins” Calculator 2026.9: There's room on this bus E-Wand™ Single Unit – Current Luxury

August 28, 2026Episode 5871 hr 16 min

Episode 587 - CEDIA 2026, Hacked Cameras, and the $80 Echo Dot

On this week's show: CEDIA’s first-timer list hints at where custom integration is heading next, Sonos teases a new soundbar, Control4 gets new Google Home and Google TV integrations, Wyze builds privacy right into a $40 indoor cam, Amazon raises prices on Echo, Fire TV, and Kindle gear while also handing some Fire TV users Alexa Plus for free, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more! Are These First-Time CEDIA Expo Exhibitors the Next Big Thing in Custom Integration? Sonos Teases New Soundbar Ahead of September Hardware Reveal | iPhone in Canada Chowmainsoft Introduces Google Home and Google TV Integrations for Control4 HomeTech Headlines Recessed Entry Sensor - Ubiquiti Store Mova’s latest robot vacuum solves the kitchen stool problem Wi-Fi 8 is the first wireless upgrade in years that isn’t chasing speed, and home networks need it The lens in Wyze’s new $40 indoor camera retracts for privacy Hackers Compromised 14,500+ Dahua Devices Using Credential Attacks, Auth Bypasses, and P2P FCC officially decides gigabit speeds are too good for you Amazon just hiked the prices for Echo, Fire TV, and Kindle products by up to 60 percent Fire TV users are getting an Alexa Plus update – for free Aqara expands H1 Matter lighting lineup with new downlights and spotlights From the homeautomation community on Reddit: I reverse engineered the Litter Robot 4 to control it 100% locally via Home Assistant. Custom firmware and install guide in description! From the homeautomation community on Reddit: I reverse-engineered local Ecobee control and put it on PyPI (no cloud, no dev key, no Home Assistant) From the homeassistant community on Reddit: Samsung Family Hub Reborn: Turning a Fridge Touchscreen into a Home Assistant Dashboard 🏠🥳 Video: I Finally Sorted Out My Box of Mystery USB Cables Treedix USB Cable Tester 2.4" Screen for eMarker PD3.0/3.1 Resistor Korg nanoKONTROL2 Slim-Line USB Control Surface, Black Photon | Bring your agents to iMessage, WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, and beyond Hot Dog Stand – The Game

August 21, 2026Episode 5861 hr 7 min

Episode 586 - Distracted by Paperclips

On this week's show: the Open Home Foundation puts Community Day 2026 on the calendar, Apollo makes ESPHome a little less breadboard-y, Petlibro reminds everyone why cloud-dependent pet gear is a terrible way to miss dinner, and Whisker proves AI still can’t always tell one cat from another. We also hit Brilliant’s new managed-service subscription, Comcast turning routers into motion sensors with a privacy asterisk, Aqara pushing Matter camera controls forward, Sonos news, plus CEDIA-bound gear from DreamWall and DoorBird, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more! Community Day 2026: Save the date! – Open Home Foundation ESPHome Starter Kit is shipping! Universal Paperclips (Game) HomeTech Headlines Cats and dogs are missing meals after a popular smart feeder went down Whisker’s AI-powered litter robot thinks my cats swapped bodies Brilliant Launches Subscription Service for Managed Smart Home Automation DreamWall to Debut New Generation of Outdoor CooLED MicroLED Video Wall Solutions at CEDIA Expo 2026 DoorBird Launches the New D22x Series - Residential Systems Comcast adds motion sensing to millions of its newer routers, with a privacy catch | TechCrunch Sonos gets ready to launch new Ace Ultra headphones Sonos Adds Live Activities Support on iPhone Aqara enables PTZ camera control through Matter on the G350 SEED - SEED Early Access | A brand new world, ready to be populated Whats Up, Reynoldsburg?

August 14, 2026Episode 5851 hr 6 min

Episode 585 - Bad Gavin, Smart Donut

On this week's show: CEDIA Expo 2026 is almost here with hundreds of product debuts on deck, GE talks up US-made chips in connected laundry, Home Assistant finds a new way to boss around Apple devices, Google Home on iOS may be turning lights on just for fun, Alexa+ lands in Australia, Sonos learns some Lutron tricks, OpenAI’s hockey-puck AI speaker rumor rolls on, ESPHome gets a much friendlier desktop app, plus a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more. Oberlin, Ohio HomeTech Headlines Hundreds of New Products Anticipated to Debut at CEDIA Expo 2026 GE Appliances doubles down on US-made chips. iOS 27 Flips the Script: Home Assistant Can Now Control Your Apple Devices Dolby Vision 2 is officially available on select Hisense TVs - Engadget A Google Home bug is randomly turning on smart lights Amazon's Alexa+ Assistant Launches in Early Access in Australia “Hey Sonos, open the shades.” OpenAI speaker to be hockey puck-sized and cost over US$300: report Simplify your ESPHome setup with the new desktop app WiiM Bar | Display-First Dolby Atmos Soundbar Badgers : animated music video : MrWeebl