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19% of California houses are owned by investors

Relatively speaking, California is not a hot spot for housing investors. That’s a conclusion from my trusty spreadsheet’s review of data on investor activity across the nation from BatchData, a small data tracker that digs deeper into property records than many traditional real estate analysts. BatchData reviewed California ownership records to identify the state’s owner-occupied residences compared to houses controlled by investors. This study included properties for short-term or long-term r

States and Cities Decimated Americans' Lowest-Cost Housing Option

Overview Low-cost micro-units, often called single-room occupancies, or SROs, were once a reliable form of housing for the United States’ poorest residents of, and newcomers to, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and many other major U.S. cities. Well into the 20th century, SROs were the least expensive option on the housing market, providing a small room with a shared bathroom and sometimes a shared kitchen for a price that is unimaginable today—as little as $100 to $300 a month (in 2025 dollar

These 7 common household items were draining power all day - until I pulled the plug

Maria Diaz/ZDNET Costs are steadily rising in the US, and energy costs are a prominent example. This is made worse by summer temperatures being at record highs, with heat waves wreaking havoc across various states in the past few weeks. As someone who's gone through a few of these this summer alone, I'm constantly looking for ways to conserve energy. There are many little things you can do that can shave dollars off your monthly energy bill, and they go beyond switching off the lights when you

Bose’s stylish SoundLink Home speaker is cheaper for the first time in months

Audio quality is always going to be a speaker’s most important feature, but it doesn’t hurt if it looks nice too. In our tests, Bose’s SoundLink Home is a solid sounding, aesthetically pleasing portable Bluetooth speaker that you can currently pick up for $199.99 ($20 off) from Amazon, Best Buy, and Bose. The SoundLink Home’s aluminum band and fabric covering distinguish it from the plastic shells used for other speakers, and are likely to be the first things you notice. However, former Verge r

5 Chromecast TV features you're not taking advantage of (including this smart home trick)

Elyse Betters Picaro/ZDNET Since 2014, Google's Chromecast has been an affordable means for helping viewers turn their older model TVs into smart TVs, allowing them to stream content from their phones, tablets, and computers to a bigger screen. Also: Don't cancel Netflix yet: I used these secret codes to unlock the full catalog of shows Alas, the era of the Chromecast has come to an end. Google is replacing it with the Google TV Streamer, promising a faster processor, Thread and Matter integr

Best Video Doorbells of 2025: Eyes on Your Front Door

The app view from a Lorex doorbell on a phone. Lorex/Amazon Does it work with smart home platforms? If so, do the smart features work well together? Nowadays a smart home device is expected to work with at least one major smart home platform. Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple HomeKit are the main ones you need to look for. Apple support is harder to find but if the rumors are right Apple is due to release its own security camera before long and support should become more common. Note t

Best Home Security Cameras Without Subscriptions in 2025: Save on Safety

Does the camera have the ability to listen to audio and initiate a two-way conversation using the app? Does the camera have night vision that can cover the space you have in mind? Is the app easy to understand, control and use to change settings? Does the camera work with your existing home security system or your preferred voice assistant? Can video be stored without fees? Is it local storage under your control or cloud storage? Do you have to purchase your own storage device? Can you share

Google’s Smart Home Ecosystem Is Crumbling

When I started using a Google smart speaker six years ago, I was all in. Voice assistants have never been perfect—in fact, they always kind of sucked—but I found (having also used Alexa and Siri) that Google Assistant sucked just a little bit less than the competition. And the fact that it was actually linked to Google search for real web queries made it even better. Flash forward to now, and everything I just wrote couldn’t be further from the truth. Things are arguably worse for the Google As

Sengled’s downfall shows the peril of relying on cloud connections for smart home control

is a senior reviewer focused on smart home and connected tech, with over twenty years of experience. She has written previously for Wirecutter, Wired, Dwell, BBC, and US News. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. After repeatedly leaving customers without smart control of their lights, Sengled has been booted from Amazon’s Works With Alexa program. As first reported by TechHive, beginning August 1st, Sengled’s Alexa skill for controlling its l

Amazon pulls the plug on Sengled’s Alexa skill after months of outages

is a senior reviewer focused on smart home and connected tech, with over twenty years of experience. She has written previously for Wirecutter, Wired, Dwell, BBC, and US News. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. After repeatedly leaving customers without smart control of their lights, Sengled has been booted from Amazon’s Works With Alexa program. As first reported by TechHive, beginning August 1st, Sengled’s Alexa skill for controlling its l

Google Home can’t catch a break, as Routines widget vanishes

TL;DR One of the widgets offered by the Google app has been a shortcut for accessing your Home Routines. In the latest Google app beta, the Routines widget is no longer available. This loss arrives right in the middle of a growing period of Google Home frustration. If you’re interested in putting together a particularly impressive smart home setup, Google Home’s Routines are probably your best friend. While getting them configured can take a minute, especially if they involve dozens of device

Alienware’s AW2725Q 4K OLED gaming monitor is down to its lowest price ever at Amazon

If you prefer gaming on a PC instead of consoles, you should hook it up to a display that can support playing games at higher frame rates for a smoother experience. Most gaming monitors require you to choose between prioritizing resolution or fidelity, but you get both with Alienware’s AW2725Q. The 26.7-inch 4K OLED display has a refresh rate of 240Hz, with just .03ms of latency (lag), so fast-paced games should look smooth instead of stuttering — so long as you have the graphics power to suppor

Tired of Google Home not working? This new change will make you furious

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority TL;DR Google is updating names for certain voice options for Gemini-powered Assistant on Google Nest and Home smart devices. Some of these names are now simpler and easier to recall. These changes do not reflect Google’s plans to fix the ongoing reliability issues with Google Assistant on Home-affiliated smart devices. Google Assistant on Nest and other Google Home devices has been a mess lately, displaying a steadily declining perception of voice commands

Unplugging these 7 common household devices helped reduce my electricity bills

Maria Diaz/ZDNET Costs are steadily rising in the US, and energy costs are a prominent example. This is made worse by summer temperatures being at record highs, with heat waves wreaking havoc across various states in the past few weeks. As someone who's gone through a few of these this summer alone, I'm constantly looking for ways to conserve energy. There are many little things you can do that can shave dollars off your monthly energy bill, and they go beyond switching off the lights when you

Best Home Security Systems in 2025: Safeguard Your Home With These Top Options

SimpliSafe home security systems can be easily tailored to your needs. Just add or subtract hardware and equipment as you please. CNET When choosing a home security system for your home, you may be tempted to start by deciding between a DIY setup or professionally installed systems with monitoring services. Remember to make your decision after considering the equipment, installation, monitoring options and other features you want. Here are some bits of information to keep in mind about these pa

The Best Smart Home Gyms, as Recommended by a Fitness Expert

The Tempo Studio is a smart home gym that resembles an armoire, meant to blend in with your home. It's an ideal smart home gym to own whether you're new or experienced with strength training. The Tempo Studio's basic package comes well-equipped with two dumbbell bars, weight collars and five sets of weight plates from 1.25 to 25 pounds. You have the option to upgrade your package to the Tempo Studio Plus or Tempo Studio Pro, which includes additional weights and accessories like a bench and a ba

HomeKit Weekly: Tracking local weather in HomeKit is simple with the Eve Weather

Local weather is one of the most underrated variables in Homekit automation. Over the past few years, I’ve used sensors for everything from knowing when to drip faucets in freezing weather to adjusting the sprinkler schedule with the Eve Aqua on hot days. The Eve Weather has been part of my setup for a while now, and with its 2024 Matter upgrade from last summer, it’s now even more useful across more platforms. Some of my favorite gear Aqara Smart Lock U50 Upgrade your doors with Apple Home Key

The anti-abundance critique on housing is wrong

The sharpest criticisms of the book Abundance have sometimes come from the antitrust movement. This group, mostly on the left, insists that the biggest problems in America typically come from monopolies and the corruption of big business. In housing, for example, Ezra Klein and I write that a key bottleneck to homebuilding in the last few decades has been legal barriers to construction, including zoning laws and minimum lot sizes. This is a mainstream view supported by economists and scholars w

The Anti-Abundance Critique on Housing Is Dead Wrong

The sharpest criticisms of the book Abundance have sometimes come from the antitrust movement. This group, mostly on the left, insists that the biggest problems in America typically come from monopolies and the corruption of big business. In housing, for example, Ezra Klein and I write that a key bottleneck to homebuilding in the last few decades has been legal barriers to construction, including zoning laws and minimum lot sizes. This is a mainstream view supported by economists and scholars w

Google Home is still a mess, but at least it’s fixed one of its most annoying camera issues

C. Scott Brown / Android Authority TL;DR Google has released a number of bug fixes for the Home app. Nest Cam users should see fewer “no video available” errors. The company also fixed an issue where turning a camera on and off during a livestream would cause a “Camera Unavailable” error. Google Home has become a point of frustration for many users, especially recently, with numerous reports of declining reliability. Despite those issues, things should be getting at least a little better for

iOS 26 code leaks new Home app feature integrated with Maps

Apple’s Home app hasn’t had any new publicized features in iOS 26 yet, but a code leak just revealed a new feature in the works that relies on Apple Maps’ new upgrades. ‘Adaptive Temperature’ could come to Home app, powered by new Maps features in iOS 26 Steve Moser, in a post on X, has shared code he discovered in the iOS 26 beta that references an in-the-works Home app feature. That feature: Adaptive Temperature. "Adaptive Temperature" hidden in iOS 26 beta Home app Just as Maps learns

Topics: 26 home ios maps new

This thermostat mistake was costing me hundreds: 3 tips to get the best temperature control

Maria Diaz/ZDNET Have you ever found yourself in a thermostat tug-of-war? One room feels like a sauna, another like an icebox, all while your trusty thermostat claims your home is at a perfectly average and comfortable 72 degrees? The truth is, you're probably not imagining things, and the culprit could be hanging right there on your wall. As it turns out, where your thermostat is located can make a world of difference to both your comfort and your energy bills. Also: How to disable ACR on yo

Google Home Is So Bad That a Lawsuit Could Be on Its Way

There’s been some trouble at home lately. Not your home, hopefully, but if you live in Google HQ, then maybe. Last week, people using the Google Home app flooded Reddit with complaints over smart home products that mysteriously stopped working—lights, cameras, smart plugs, you name it. Those complaints were so numerous, in fact, that Google even bothered to address them and do better. Things in the Googleverse were (or are) bad, to say the least. But just because they’re bad right now doesn’t me

I needed three phones to set up my Google TV, and one was running Android 10

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority 🗣️ This is an open thread. We want to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments and vote in the poll below — your take might be featured in a future roundup. I recently bought a Chromecast with Google TV, and before you shout at me for purchasing a device that’s discontinued, I thoroughly researched my options beforehand. I decided to smash that checkout button because it was the best option in my price range and cleared all my other criteria. It’s

Google is rolling out a fix for Home smart light voice control

TL;DR Google Home has been suffering from multiple connectivity issues going back about a week. Users have complained in particular about not being able to control smart lights via voice command. Google is currently deploying a fix for that smart light issue, but it sounds like others might remain. Google has a smart home problem. When you’ve got an entire household of smart devices all configured and running through Google Home, it’s no surprise that glitches will occasionally pop up. Any wh

Crippling Google Home issues spark potential class action response

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority TL;DR A US law firm is investigating a possible class action against Google. The class action would be focused on the deteriorating performance of Home and Nest devices. Recently, users have reported that their smart home devices are increasingly misunderstanding commands or failing to respond. It’s been rough for Google Home users as of late. A growing number of them have been experiencing issues with their smart home devices, ranging from misheard comman

Home Depot has a new animatronic version of Skelly the skeleton

The Home Depot is well on its way to becoming a Spirit Halloween that also sells weed whackers. Here we are in July, and the retailer is already rolling out its Halloween product lineup. The centerpiece is the latest version of Skelly, the hardware store's viral skeleton. Meet the $279 animatronic Ultra Skelly. Given its name, you might think Ultra Skelly is even bigger than the standard 12-ft. model. But the new model is only 6.5 ft. tall. The "Ultra" part comes from app control and animatroni

Topics: app ft home skelly ultra

Futurehome smart hub owners must pay new $117 subscription or lose access

Smart home device maker Futurehome is forcing its customers’ hands by suddenly requiring a subscription for basic functionality of its products. Launched in 2016, Futurehome’s Smarthub is marketed as a central hub for controlling Internet-connected devices in smart homes. For years, the Norwegian company sold its products, which also include smart thermostats, smart lighting, and smart fire and carbon monoxide alarms, for a one-time fee that included access to its companion app and cloud platfo

Alarm․com launches new CarPlay app for smart home control

Homeowners and businesses with an Alarm․com smart home system have a new way to keep tabs on things. The company has announced the launch of its first CarPlay app, unlocking easier access to smart home controls for things like garage doors, scenes, routines, and more. Alarm․com touted the features of its new CarPlay app in a press release today: Hassle-Free Garage Door Control: Easily open and close compatible garage doors with a tap, whether pulling into the driveway or leaving for the day. P

The Famous Home Depot Skelly Finds Its Voice With New App for Halloween

Make no bones about it: Skelly's going high tech. Home Depot's popular 12-foot-tall skeleton decoration is coming back to life this Halloween with an app that lets you give the new Ultra Skelly a voice and new moves to scare the trick-or-treaters. The new animatronic version is shorter than the original at 6.5 feet tall, but you can freak out your whole neighborhood with this skeleton's rotating upper torso, moving mouth and 18 LCD eye variations (ew). And now Skelly can chat with visitors thro