Smart Home

While existing Matter-friendly smart ceiling lights from Lifx and Aqara are $95 to $150, SwitchBot launched a 2,000-lumen 12-inch option for $49.99, and a slightly brighter and larger 3,200-lumen 15-inch model for $79.99. Both include full color plus warm or cool white lighting, dimming, 26 preset scenes, and eight lighting effects.

It may never come to the US, but LG announced its new HomeBot AI Objet Collection Roni robot vacuum in South Korea today. Its charging/cleaning dock can be hidden in kitchen cabinetry (requiring some reno) but there’s also a standalone dock that looks like a nondescript side table.

Google is shipping its first smart speaker in years, and we’re starting to test it. The Verge’s Jennifer Pattison Tuohy joins the show to explain why the Home Speaker matters, whether Google actually cares about the smart home, and more. Then, she helps answer a few questions from the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com!) about the power of Ikea and the future of your thermostat.

Sure, you could buy a smart scale for a body composition breakdown, but why bother?

The creators of the Birdie and Birdie Pro air quality monitors are expanding their offerings to include two new products focused on “healthier indoor climates” expected to launch in November. An emission-free LED candle called the Birdie Flame, and a towering air purifier called the Birdie Podium designed to look like a decorative wooden pedestal.

Thread Group and the Broadband Forum are teaming up to help IoT devices and home internet work better together. The Broadband Forum — the organization that develops the standards ISPs use to manage gateways and routers — is adding support for connecting to Thread networks, giving ISPs visibility into both networks.

The group behind Matter has released the next version of its Product Security Certification Program, a cybersecurity standard designed to provide a single security label for consumer IoT devices.

A Thursday email to Google Home users says there are over 3.5 million Gemini for Home early access testers, and that people should “keep a very close eye on your inbox next week” for news about “a certain speaker.” That sounds like the Google Home speaker we previewed in October, which was projected to launch in spring 2026.

First announced at CES 2026, the three new Matter-compatible smart locks are now available from Home Depot first, and then eventually Amazon. The $139.99 FamiLock E32 is an entry-level model with fingerprint recognition while the $299.99 E40 and E35 feature facial recognition or palm vein identification, respectively.

Ikea stopped selling its smart blinds last October, so Eve is introducing a new version of its MotionBlinds Upgrade Kit with a motor that’s now compatible with roller blinds featuring small tube diameters, including Ikea’s popular Fridans blinds. The new upgrade kit is now available for $169.95 and supports Matter-over-Thread smart home setups.

The headline feature is the camera upgrades, but the smart home app is getting more new features, including energy monitoring.