Category: Home Automation
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Logitech Circle View Video Doorbell Tech Support is Outstanding
Reading Time: 5 minutes We’ve had a Logitech Circle View Video Doorbell installed at my house since January 2021, which is a long time for a doorbell compatible with Apple Home. Like many other HomeKit users, I’ve run into a few technical issues with the Logitech Circle View Doorbell, mostly early in 2021. But this…
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Useful HomeKit Online Communities
Reading Time: 2 minutes In November 2020, we began automating our new home. I searched for online communities where discussions occurred about successes and failures regular folks had implementing HomeKit devices in their own homes. Reddit Reddit was a pretty hot place to look for user-generated content. So, I started looking for informative content there.…
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Avoiding Smart Home Control Controversies
Reading Time: 4 minutes Anna Kodé of The New York Times wrote a provocative article called Unwanted Connection: Who Has Control of Your Smart Home? that was published on Friday. I started out reading this article with alarm. I had never considered what would happen if I bought a house that had some Smart Home…
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The Circle View Doorbell’s Stunning Improvement
Reading Time: 5 minutes I bought my wife a Logitech Circle View Doorbell for Christmas in 2020, when it was newly on the market. It has turned out to be a great product; Arguably the best HomeKit Secure Video doorbell available in North America. The funny thing about the Circle View Doorbell is that it…
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When Did Operation Gadget’s Focus on Home Automation Begin?
Reading Time: 2 minutes In November 2020, a number of things changed in the lives of my family. We bought a house in Bucks County, Pennsylvania that had living spaces on three different levels. Also, the HomePod mini became available from Apple. After watching the HomePod mini announcement, which was part of Apple’s “Hi, Speed”…
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Eufy Security Cameras: Video Was Not Encrypted as Promised
Reading Time: 2 minutes AppleInsider reported that video from Eufy Security Cameras have not been properly encrypted as promised, when that video is sent to the cloud. Eufy is a brand of Fantasia Trading LLC, better known in the United States by its largest brand name, Anker Innovations. According to the article: Anker has admitted…
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Allicaver Outlet Shelf Frees Counter Space
Reading Time: 5 minutes In a previous article I mentioned that we currently have six HomePod minis installed in the house. One thing that you will realize if you install multiple smart speakers is that a well-designed outlet shelf frees a surprising amount of counter space that would otherwise be taken by the speaker. Lots…
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Apple Can’t Corner the Smart Home Market, Even if HomeKit is Great
Reading Time: 2 minutes CMSWire has a post up titled Do We Really Want Apple to Corner the Smart Home Market? which essentialy argues that the existence of HomeKit, Apple’s new “new framework for communicating with and controlling connected devices in a user’s home” will allow it to exert control over the home automation hardware…