Jennifer Pattison Tuohy

Its parent company, Nabu Casa, announced it’s partnering with Silicon Labs, one of the main chip makers for smart home devices (and the only Z-Wave chip maker).

Home Assistant builds Z-Wave JS, the only open-source driver for Z-Wave. This partnership basically means it will get the kind of priority support normally reserved for companies that buy a lot of chips, which should translate into more stable smart homes for us. Yay.

This is handy for shutting off bathroom fans or lights in closets without the need to add an additional sensor or set up an automation through a third-party platform.

Wi-Fi switches from companies like Tapo, Leviton, and Meross already have this feature, but it’s good news that it’s coming to the ultra-reliable Caseta line.

The daily animal trivia feature was sunsetted on November 27, and the last critter was, fittingly, crickets. One Reddit user said the loss made his 5-year-old cry when she found out.

Way to go, Google.

Its sister brand Wiz already does this using Wi-Fi-sensing — changes in the signal strength between two or more lights caused by motion can trigger a reaction.

HueBlog, which has a good track record with Hue scoops, says the company has been “working on the function for several years,” and may debut it at CES 2024.