Smart Home

The HomePod Mini: Soon, it won’t be the only speaker where you’ll find access to Siri. Chris Monroe/CNET This story is part of Apple Event, our full coverage of the latest news from Apple headquarters. Since its inception in 2011 as part of iOS 5, Apple’s voice assistant Siri has Continue Reading

Amazon Prime Day, the annual shopping event some liken to “Black Friday in July,” happens in June this year — specifically, June 21 and 22. Although other retailers, including Walmart and Target, have announced competing sales, they’re scheduled for that same week. Amazon, for its part, isn’t waiting around: Some Continue Reading

Apple This story is part of Apple Event, our full coverage of the latest news from Apple headquarters. During Apple’s annual WWDC Keynote , the Cupertino tech giant announced a slew of new smart home updates — most notably, that Siri will soon be available on third-party devices. In addition, Apple announced Continue Reading

I’m back from vacation! Did you miss me? Or was it more a case of, “Wait, you were gone?” 😂  There’s a lot happening right now, what with Apple’s WWDC later today, Prime Day coming in two weeks and stores like Walmart and Target ramping up their competing sales. In Continue Reading

Amazon Prime Day is a shopping event without equal. While you can expect Prime Day deals on a massive selection of products, the window of opportunity can frequently be brief. But there’s always an early selection of Prime Day offerings you can rely on, and that’s what I’ve tried to gather Continue Reading

The new Echo Show 8 will include an ambient light sensor that can adjust the screen color and brightness for optimal viewing. Amazon Amazon is launching a trio of updated Echo Show smart displays this week: the midsize Echo Show 8, the compact Echo Show 5 and the chameleon skin-covered Continue Reading

The Echo Dot with Clock, one of the many Amazon and Ring gadgets that will double as Sidewalk bridges starting on June 8. Chris Monroe/CNET This Tuesday, June 8 will mark the launch of Amazon Sidewalk, a new feature that promises to keep your home devices better connected, especially around Continue Reading

For fans of Amazon’s Alexa — and the menagerie of Amazon Echo devices Alexa inhabits — Prime Day is one of the two best times of year to stuff your house to the rafters with Alexa smart speakers and displays. If you can’t wait until Black Friday/Cyber Monday  is the Continue Reading