Most smart lock problems start at the door, not in the app. A lock that does not fit the cylinder, cannot be opened from outside while a key sits in the inside, or needs a hub you do not own will annoy you every day, whatever its feature list says. The checks below go in the order that saves money: the door first, then the radio, then the way you w
Buy an Apple TV, a Nest Hub and a SmartThings hub, and you probably own three Thread border routers. There is a good chance you also have three separate Thread networks. Each one carries only the devices that were added through its own ecosystem, and a mains-powered plug in one network will not relay traffic for a sensor in another.
Espressif published a detailed overview of Matter Fabric support in ESP RainMaker, its IoT cloud platform, on its developer portal on 30 October 2026. It is not a new product. RainMaker has supported Matter fabrics since 2023, and the post pulls together what the support covers today. It is aimed at device makers who want their products to work wit
eWeLink published CUBE 2.15.0 on 29 October 2026. CUBE is the self-hosted, local version of the eWeLink platform behind Sonoff devices. It runs on a Raspberry Pi 4 or 5, in a virtual machine, on some NAS models, in Docker, and through one-click installers for Windows and Mac. It talks to Zigbee devices through a USB dongle and can expose them to ot
Apple's HomePod mini 2 reaches stores today, 30 October 2026. Apple announced it on 13 October and opened preorders the same day in the US and more than 23 other countries and regions. It costs $149 in the US and comes in pink, green, blue, white and midnight. The speaker ships with HomePod software 27.2, which Apple released for existing models on
DJI released Local Data Mode for its ROMO 2 robot vacuums on 29 October 2026. With the mode switched on, the DJI Home app stops talking to the internet, and the maps, images and other data the robot uses for navigation and obstacle avoidance are stored and processed on the device itself instead of in DJI's cloud.
Google published a new set of Google Home release notes on 29 October 2026. Most of the list is bug fixes, but two changes matter for anyone running Matter devices through Google Home, and a speaker fix will interest people who have already moved to a Wi-Fi 7 router.
Two CVEs published on October 22 and 27, 2026 describe buffer overflows in the firmware of AiDot smart home devices, sold under the Linkind and OREiN brands. CVE-2026-78846 lets any device on the local network corrupt a plug's or bulb's memory with one crafted discovery reply. CVE-2026-78845 gives remote code execution to an attacker who controls o
A smart radiator thermostat replaces the head on a radiator valve with a small battery-powered motor that opens and closes the valve on a schedule or on command. It is a simple way to give each room its own schedule, and some models are now very cheap: IKEA's Thread-based LILJEBAGGE already sells in Sweden for 199 kronor, and heise reports a German
