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A Reddit user named pdfu discovered strings in HomeView 27.2 software suggesting Apple is developing security camera functionality for its smart home hub, including motion detection, live streaming, and recording. A setup page reportedly references using HomeView as a security camera with HomeKit Secure Video. Apple has not confirmed these features publicly.
Apple pushed out HomeView 27.2 (build 24V514), the operating system for its upcoming smart home hub, which is currently available for preorder. The update contains 20 default wallpapers in both light and dark variants, plus an early look at the device's face customization interface.
Amazon unveiled a sixth-generation Echo Dot that integrates a smart home hub and a built-in eero Wi-Fi extender claimed to add 1,000 square feet of coverage. The speaker runs on Amazon's AZ3 chip, adds a combined temperature/presence sensor, a fourth microphone, and 50% more bass than the prior model. It starts shipping today priced at $99.99.
Amazon has updated its Echo smart speaker lineup, giving the Echo Dot a built-in smart home hub and Wi-Fi extender, and introducing a $250 Echo Studio with Home Camera that adds live video monitoring. A camera-free Echo Studio remains available, and the camera version lets Alexa use visual recognition to identify objects like board games or cereal boxes to assist users.
Amazon unveiled refreshed Echo Dot and Echo Studio smart speakers alongside new devices including a smart photo frame and a sleep-tracking alarm clock. The Echo Dot now functions as a smart home hub and Wi-Fi extender, while the $250 Echo Studio gains an optional camera that enables live video monitoring, with a camera-free version still available for $220.
Amazon unveiled a refreshed Echo Dot featuring its custom AZ3 chip for on-device AI voice processing, a fourth microphone for better voice recognition, and a built-in smart home hub supporting Zigbee, Matter and Thread protocols. The speaker can also now function as an eero Wi-Fi extender, adding up to 1,000 feet of range to an existing eero network, and includes audio upgrades like a full-range driver for improved bass and vocals.
A tech writer reports choosing the Google Pixel Tablet over Apple's still-unreleased HomeView smart home hub for daily household use. The comparison centers on the Pixel Tablet's versatility as both a tablet and a docked smart display, which the writer says already covers the role Apple's hub is expected to fill.
Reolink has released the Home Hub 2, a device that lets users monitor and search footage from up to eight cameras simultaneously. The hub includes AI-powered object search capabilities that function even without an internet connection, and does not require an ongoing subscription fee to use.
Apple introduced HomeView, a smart home hub available in a domed desktop version and a wall-mounted version. Both share Spatial Audio support and two full-range drivers, but the standard model adds a down-firing woofer and dual force-cancelling passive radiators that the wall-mounted version lacks.
Apple has opened pre-orders for HomeView, a $299 smart home hub available in tabletop or wall-mounted versions, shipping November 13. The device features a 7-inch touchscreen powered by the A18 chip, multi-user Face ID recognition for up to six people, and a generative AI version of Siri that pulls from calendars, messages, and web searches.
New reports claim Apple's upcoming Apple TV refresh will include a built-in microphone for hands-free Siri commands, plus a redesigned remote with a speaker to help users locate it when misplaced. The device is also expected to feature an A19 chip to power Siri AI features, with shipping anticipated around October 30th alongside a refreshed HomePod Mini.
Apple has confirmed a New York event for Tuesday with the teaser phrase 'Welcome Home,' pointing to new smart home hardware. Expected announcements include updated HomePod Minis, a refreshed Apple TV streaming box, and a previously unseen home Hub device meant to sit on a counter or mount on a wall.