When Apple revealed the HomeView to the world, it did so with an unusual ad for the company: Instead of pristine, polished tech in immaculate rooms, it's a three-minute look at the messy, frantic morning routine of a family of five. Apple's new smart display sits in the center of the chaos on the kitchen table, helping the family check their calendars, send messages, and pull up a French toast recipe in seconds, with simple, step-by-step instructions.

The HomeView is just the latest in a long line of websites, browser extensions, and smart home gadgets with the same promise: that it can take an online recipe and strip it down to the essenti …

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We tested some of the most popular automatic dry- and wet-food pet feeders to see which ones are worth the money.

For more than a decade, Apple has told other companies to build smart home devices for its platform. This week, Apple launched its own. The Apple Home Collection is a lineup of cameras, thermostats, sensors, a smart door lock, and a video doorbell, all codeveloped with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric. They arrive alongside HomeView, Apple's first smart display.

Even after 12 years of HomeKit, Apple's smart home ecosystem still felt underdeveloped, especially compared to the competition. Amazon's and Google's ecosystems support more products, and both have popular in-house brands: Ring and Nest. Apple had nothing of its own to point cu …

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You don’t need the fanciest model to make your heating routine smarter. A refurbished Ecobee we love is just $120 through October 21.

Following the launch of its $50 subscription-free security camera last month, Shelly announced another new accessory for smart home automation today that can keep track of multiple people as they move through rooms or large spaces without recording them. The Shelly Presence Gen4 sensor uses mmWave radar technology instead of a camera to detect the presence, motions, and activities of people and pets. It's available starting today for $84.99 through Shelly's online store and is expected to hit other retailers like Amazon and Best Buy soon.

The Presence Gen4 can be perched on a shelf or a table using its built-in stand or permanently mounted …

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Permanent eave lights that attach to the exterior of your home are becoming more popular. But are they worth the effort and cost?

I'm just going to come right out and say it. I love the approach Apple has taken with the HomeView. I think it's the shared, always-available household interface that my family might finally use. Is Apple's first smart display my dream smart home dashboard? No. But is it the right product for Apple Home at this moment? Absolutely.

A lot of initial reactions to the $299 HomeView (which looks like a giant Apple Watch on a flatter metallic HomePod Mini) ask why you would want it when you can do most of what it offers on your iPhone or iPad. And yes, its features replicate many of the things you already do on the devices you use all the time. B …

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Apple says HomeView is "the perfect way" to enjoy its audio and video entertainment apps, but some notable examples like Apple TV only work if you AirPlay it through your iPhone. As noted on the HomeView spec page, Apple TV, Apple Books audiobooks, Apple Music Classical, and Apple News Plus aren't natively supported on the smart hub, so you'll have to use your phone to operate them.

HomeView is foremostly designed as a hub for managing smart home gadgets, but competing smart display hardware like Amazon's Echo Show and Google's Nest Hub devices can natively stream Prime Video and YouTube, respectively, without requiring a phone connection. …

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Apple's ad introducing its new HomeView smart display is a little unusual. It's fast-paced and unruly, depicting a family of five as they rush through the morning routine. There's yelling and mess, misplaced keys and discarded eggshells. Apple's typical vibe is clean, simple, orderly; this commercial is chaos.

But the spot has parents - those with teen children in particular - feeling seen.

I'll admit that it stressed me out the first time I watched it, too. Mornings getting my five-year-old out the door are a special breed of chaos, and usually culminate in us playing whatever ad-libbed game will get him to put his shoes on. But it's not …

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Apple has just announced the HomeView, its first smart home display - and I just got hands-on with the device, which features a gorgeous 7-inch square touchscreen and built-in Siri AI. It's designed as a smart home controller, personal assistant, and home hub for your household, so there was a lot to check out.

The first thing that struck me about the HomeView was its size. It's much smaller than I expected, and the screen almost entirely hides the small aluminum base that acts as a speaker. The Liquid Retina display is bright and responsive to touch, and it displays photos and the HomeView "faces" brilliantly.

You can swipe to change fa …

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We've just gotten a closer look at Apple's new video doorbell, security cameras, a door lock, and thermostats following the company's "Welcome Home" event on Tuesday. The six new devices are part of a new Apple Home Collection, which the company co-developed with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric.

The LG smart lock costs $349 and comes with support for Apple Home Key, allowing you to unlock your door hands-free with UWB. You can unlock the door with a PIN code, too, or by using the physical keyhole beneath the keypad.

There's also a new $249 video doorbell from LG. It comes with two cameras that support up to 2.5K resolu …

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The HomeView smart home display announced by Apple today comes in two models that both cost $299: one with a speaker base, and the other being a self explanatory "Wall Mounted" version. If you want the latter, however, you'll actually have to pay at least $59 more - the mounts required to actually affix the display to your wall are sold separately. Maybe calling it the "Mountless" version would have been more accurate?

Apple isn't exactly shouting about that sneaky additional premium for wall-mounted HomeView customers. The details are mentioned in the small print at the bottom of the product announcement page:

HomeView (Wall Mounted) wil …

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Apple's HomePod Mini 2 is here, and we've gotten a close-up look at the second-gen smart speaker.

The HomePod Mini 2 comes with an upgraded S10 chip capable of powering Siri AI, though Apple says support for new AI features will roll out as part of a future update. It also offers a sound glow feature that matches its LED lights with the colors of a song's album art and can work as your Mac's default speaker.

Physically, the HomePod Mini 2 is almost identical to its predecessor, but the colors have changed. There's now a pink model and a green model, and the blue has changed colors. There's still black and white for those who want basics a …

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The new devices work with HomeView, the company's new smart home hub which can be used to control accessories and interact with apps.

Apple is taking a big swing at the smart home market with its latest product that competes with Amazon Echo Show and Google Nest Hub.

With customizable “faces,” this 7-inch smart display is a unique hybrid between an iPhone and an Apple Watch.

I got an early glimpse of Apple’s biggest push into the smart home in years.

Apple is hosting an event on October 13th that seems like it will be all about its efforts for the smart home. The event’s tagline is certainly a big hint — “Welcome home” — but the company is also heavily rumored to be launching a series of new smart home products soon.

One of the rumored new products is a smart home hub with a display that will also feature the newly released Siri AI assistant, according to Bloomberg. MacRumors has obtained what appear to be official images of a new HomePod Mini with refreshed colors and a new Apple TV 4K with a similar design to the current version. Bloomberg has also reported that Apple is collaborating with LG on devices like a video doorbell and a thermostat, and recent leaked renders appeared to show off some of those new devices.

The event takes place in New York at 9AM ET, and you can follow along with all of our coverage right here.

• How Apple can win the smart home
• What to expect from Apple’s ‘Welcome Home’ event
• Apple may have filed to trademark the word “HomeView.”
• Apple announces surprise ‘Welcome home’ launch event

This week, Apple is hosting its first-ever dedicated smart home event. While the company hasn't shared details about what it will reveal at the "Welcome Home experience" in New York City on Tuesday, October 13th, it doesn't take an army of internet sleuths to deduce we'll get news about Apple Home - specifically, new hardware. Apple finally seems to be taking the smart home seriously.

According to Bloomberg, Apple will release a smart home display alongside a refreshed HomePod Mini and Apple TV. The display, which MacRumors reports may be called HomeView, is arguably Apple's first dedicated Apple Home hardware since it launched the HomeKit …

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We are quickly coming up on Apple's "Welcome Home" launch event, where we expect a host of smart home-related announcements. We are expecting refreshes to Apple TV and HomePod Mini, as well as a brand new smart home hub. We could also see the debut of a new platform called homeOS, and some partner devices from LG.

What we probably won't be seeing is the long-rumored touchscreen MacBook, which Cupertino whisperer Mark Gurman says will debut later this month.

"Welcome Home" will officially kick off in New York on October 13th at 9AM ET. Here's more about what to expect.

A proper smart home hub

Until now, Apple has primarily relied on the …

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