On the shelf: Voice Tech & Smart Speakers
Why Apple's HomeView needs a nearby iPhone to work
Apple team members explain why the new HomeView smart display mirrors a paired iPhone or iPad instead of running its own apps. […]
"Hey Gemini" wake word debuts on Google's smart glasses
Google's Intelligent Eyewear glasses open for pre-order with a new "Hey Gemini" voice trigger next to "Hey Google". Phones and smart home gear are not covered yet. […]
Spotify's AI DJ gets nine new voices and a quiet mode
Spotify's DJ now offers seven new English voices and two Spanish ones. Premium listeners can also switch off most of the talk between songs. […]
Hunter ends Google Home and Alexa links for HunterSMART fans
Hunter will switch off the cloud link that lets Google Home and Alexa run HunterSMART ceiling fans on January 1, 2027. Only eligible models can move to Matter. […]
AT&T's home security adds Gemini video search and summaries
AT&T Connected Life now uses Gemini for Home to describe camera events, search recorded video by question and write a daily summary. The features need the $29.99 monthly Professional plan. […]
Apple ships HomeView Software 27.2 ahead of the November 13 launch
The software for Apple's HomeView is out before the device. It shows 20 wallpapers, face editing, automatic light and dark modes and a launcher called BreadBoard. […]
Google updates Nest Audio and Home speakers with seven fixes
New firmware for Google's smart speakers improves streaming and stereo-pair tuning and fixes Bluetooth, Wi-Fi 7 and Google Meet bugs. A Gemini for Home update came the same day. […]
HomePod mini 2 reaches stores October 30 at $149
Apple's HomePod mini 2 starts arriving to customers on Friday. Siri AI is not part of the launch, and the speaker has three microphones instead of four. […]
iOS 27.2 brings Siri AI to five more languages and adds memory
Apple's iOS 27.2 lets Siri AI work in French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish in beta. The assistant can now recall details from earlier conversations. […]
Google Home Speaker pulls huge background downloads, fix rolling out
Some owners of the new Google Home Speaker see tens of gigabytes a day downloaded while the speaker sits idle. Google says a fix is already going out. […]