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Tech News
OnPay's analysis of search trends finds small-business owners collectively run over 91,000 searches a year on how to process payroll manually, while employees log 35,000 more searches looking for ways to cash paper checks. The company points to case studies like Max Farnsworth of Farnsworth Industries, who cut hours of monthly manual payroll work down dramatically after switching to an automated platform.
A veteran smart-home tester outlines ten practical adjustments homeowners can make to limit data collection from cameras, speakers and displays, including physically closing camera shutters and muting microphones when not in use. The piece also cites cybersecurity attorney Laurie Selkowitz, who warns that many users fail to disable opt-in data-sharing settings on devices like Ring cameras.
A veteran smart-home reviewer argues that Apple's next major hardware push should be a dedicated home computer that processes data locally rather than another cloud-connected screen. She notes that new CEO John Ternus described the iPhone using language—an 'intelligent personal hub' focused on local processing and privacy—that better fits a smart home hub than a phone. The piece also points to Anker's Eufy MindBase, shown at IFA Berlin, as an early example of this 'super hub' category supporting Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thread, Zigbee and Matter.
A hobbyist blogger purchased a WiFi-enabled Lidl Smart Kettle and began probing its network behavior after setting it up through the companion Lidl Smart Home App. Using nmap and netcat, they found the kettle opens a single TCP port (6668) that responds to connections but returns no identifiable banner or HTTP response, leaving its underlying protocol a mystery for further investigation.
At IFA 2026 in Berlin, several companies unveiled connected home products aimed at everyday consumers, including LG's thin 83-inch OLED EVO AI TV, Govee's under-couch LED lighting strips, iGulu's F1 automated home beer brewing system, and a Xiaomi Mijia refrigerator that can chill water below freezing without solidifying it. A CNET reporter toured the show floor to sample and evaluate these gadgets for a hypothetical dream smart home.
Multiple Wear OS users across Pixel Watch, Galaxy Watch, and OnePlus Watch devices say Gemini claims to complete smart home commands—like adjusting lights, AC, or vacuums—without actually executing them. The issue surfaced around the same time Google expanded Gemini for Home's voice command capabilities on phones and speakers, where the assistant continues to work normally. Google has been contacted for comment but has not yet responded publicly.
The Verge's editorial team, including news editor Dom Preston and smart home reviewer Jen Tuohy, spent the week at IFA in Berlin testing new products firsthand. They opened a subscriber-only Q&A session to field reader questions about the devices they tried, with answers rolling out live starting at 12PM ET.
Ugreen, best known for chargers and NAS storage devices, debuted its HomeAgent smart home system at IFA, combining camera storage, on-device AI processing, and home automation controlled by a new voice assistant called Uliya. The flagship MasterAgent MA100 hub doubles as a NAS device and smart home brain, using an Nvidia Jetson Thor T5000 chip capable of up to 2,070 TFLOPS of AI performance, with three hub tiers available.
UGreen has introduced three smart home hubs — the HomeAgent HA100, HomeAgent HA100 Pro, and MasterAgent MA100 — that handle voice commands, camera monitoring, and Matter device control entirely on-device rather than through cloud servers. Each unit combines a two-bay NAS with dedicated video storage and varying levels of onboard AI horsepower, including NVIDIA hardware in higher-end models, with the base HA100 offering 16GB of RAM and 26 TOPS of AI performance.
UGREEN has launched a set of new smart home devices including three cameras (one indoor, two outdoor), a smart speaker, and a digital photo frame. The cameras—Indoor Cam ID500 Pro, PoE Cam OD600 Pro, and Battery Cam OD800 Pro—all feature 8MP 4K main sensors and are built to integrate with UGREEN's local-AI smart home hubs for video processing and storage. The new SynCare Smart Speaker connects users to UGREEN's own AI assistant, called Uliya.
Ugreen unveiled a lineup of smart home hubs built around on-device AI processing, topped by the MasterAgent MA100, which runs on Nvidia's Jetson Thor platform with 128GB of unified memory and delivers up to 2,070 TOPS of performance. The flagship carries a $20,000 list price, though early buyers can get it at half off, while the entire hub lineup supports ONVIF and Matter devices with Zigbee and Thread support planned, and includes NAS-style storage bays requiring user-supplied SATA drives.
Philips Hue is expanding its smart lighting range with unconventional designs, including a flexible, colorful light that can be bent into shapes and a tall pole light meant to be propped against a wall rather than mounted. The additions signal a shift toward more sculptural, decor-focused lighting rather than purely functional fixtures.