Smart Home

We just got the first glimpse of the TM7, the next generation of my favorite robotic sous chef, the Thermomix TM6. The smart multi-cooker debuted in an Instagram story and sports an all-new streamlined design, possibly some RGB lighting, and definitely a much bigger screen. And is that a drawer handle I see?

One of a new breed of robot vacuums that incorporates a manual stick vac, the Switchbot K10 Plus Pro Combo launched this week for $799 (with a $200 discount at launch).

If you were hoping its rumored home robotics foray might bring us a Rosey the Robot, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has bad news. In a post on X, he said sources indicate Apple is focused on developing a bot we’ll bond with over creating a humanoid assistant, as “...supply chain checks indicate Apple cares more about how users build perception with robots than their physical appearance.”

The Wi-Fi Alliance and Thread Group have revealed they’re working with the CSA on several solutions to make sure your Wi-Fi router plays well with your smart home devices:

In an interview with The Verge, Vividh Siddha, director of engineering at Apple and president of Thread Group, shared another use case for the Thread radio in newer iPhones.

The radar-based technology can detect movements as slight as breathing, so it won’t turn the lights out on you when you’re sitting on the couch.

SmartWings, one of the first to offer Matter over Thread smart shades, has another first. Today, the company announced its Matter over Ethernet smart shades, which use a single cable to provide power and connectivity — no batteries, Thread, or Wi-Fi required.

The electronics giant has followed through on its promise to open the APIs for its ThinQ appliances, and Homey, which is owned by LG, is one of the first platforms to implement it.

ThirdReality’s MK1 Magic Keyboard ($80, launching March) is a Matter smart button. Ingenious!

So, of course, I had to go try it out. This $150 LED Light Therapy Face Mask is the smart lighting company’s first lighting-focused wellness product, and it sounds like there may be more to come. I think it’s rather fetching ... don’t you?