The Sunday Scene - 14

New Amazon Echo products - source: Amazon

First

Fire TV Surround Audio - Amazon and Google both had press events showing off new smart home tech. The one item I think it particularly pertinent to my channel content is the new surround sound option with Amazon Fire TV and new Echo speakers. I hope Apple is taking notice and will do something similar with HomePods soon. From the Amazon press release:

“You can connect up to five Echo Studio or Echo Dot Max devices with compatible Fire TV sticks for an immersive surround sound system in minutes. With Alexa Home Theater, you just plug in your speakers, and Alexa takes care of the rest—automatically tuning them to the room. Systems like these typically cost thousands of dollars and take time and expertise to set up. These Echo products will be available in Alexa Home Theater bundles, for the simplest way to get powerful, professional sound.”

Second

ThirdReality Garage Door Opener - ThirdReality teased a future garage door opener at IFA that I missed. Shane Whatley made a great short I’m linking to here. It takes a standard garage door opener and simply presses the button. There’s a connected tilt sensor to know if the garage door is open or closed. I think this could be particularly nice for renters or those not interested in wiring up a garage door controller like my Tailwind.

Third

CEDIA Highlights - CEDIA is an industry trade show in Denver at the beginning of September, around the same time as IFA in Berlin. The major difference is that it’s exclusive to installers and home entertainment industry professionals. Smart home YouTube channel Smart Home with Ryan went to CEDIA thanks to his job and he had some great highlights of the show in the video linked above. I think the PoE Sonos Era 100s and the confirmed update to the Sonos Arc Ultra look very interesting, along with the new Control4 keypads.

The schedule

Last week we had a fun live stream on Thursday night and I published a video on the ECOVACS X11 OmniCyclonerobot vacuum, trying to see if this is the best robot to work with Apple Home.

This week I will have videos covering some products you should keep an eye on for Prime Day and beyond. Speaking of Prime Day, my website is becoming a new and improved way to track all the smart home related deals I can compile, including links to CamelCamelCamel to help you get info on how special a specific deal actually is.

I hope you have a great rest of your Sunday.

Best,
Eric

The Sunday Scene - 13

ThirdReality smart plug

First

ThirdReality Smart Plug Gen2 (Power Metering) - This is the best smart plug for advanced smart home users. It can pair directly with a Homey Pro, Homey Pro mini, and Home Assistant if you have a Zigbee radio. The connection for me with Homey Pro mini is very reliable. You can also uses any of these bridges to expose the plugs to Apple Home, and the power metering gives you some cool options for automation I’ll get into in a future video.

Second

Aqara H2 Light Switches - I’ve been playing with a 4 button Aqara H2 light switch for an upcoming project. These are great light switches and have a number of ways to control smart lights, especially Aqara lights. I also love the flexibility of having 4 buttons on a light switch, three of which can optionally be used as a button in Apple Home.

Third

Smart Backyard Tour - The Verge produced a great video tour of their smart home reviewer Jennifer Pattison Tuohy’s back yard. I really enjoyed it and there are lots of great details about things I don’t cover like Eero outdoor Wi-Fi, Blink outdoor cameras, and robot mowers.

The schedule

Last week we had a quick live stream on Friday instead of Thursday. I didn’t have any long form videos published but as you can potentially tell by the hardware linked above, I have a lot of projects in progress.

This week live streams should return to Thursday night, and I will hopefully have some more videos for you to watch.

I hope you have a great rest of your Sunday.

Best,
Eric

The Sunday Scene - 12

AirPods Pro 3 marketing image from Apple

First

AirPods Pro 3 - These new headphones from Apple are the latest and GREATEST in a long line of incredible headphones. I’m writing this part of my newsletter in the passenger seat of my wife’s car, with noisy kids in the back seat as we go somewhere for Saturday afternoon. I’m listening to my go-to Pure Focus playlist on Apple Music and the loud kids are barely a distraction. For the record, I rarely do this kind of thing around family and it’s also to make our afternoon plans possible. Regardless of the reasons why, if you like noise cancelling of AirPods Pro 2, be prepared to be blown away by AirPods Pro 3.

Compared to AirPods Pro 2, I find the new transparency mode to be a bit harsher and it doesn’t dampen as many of the background noises as AirPods Pro 2 in my initial tests doing household chores. We’ll see how Apple tweaks this mode in the future. While it’s a niche use case, these headphones are also a great upgrade for Apple Vision Pro users.

Second

Ubiquiti’s new UNAS Line - About a year ago Ubiquiti released the original UNAS Pro. The initial UNAS Pro was competitively priced with a $500 starting price for a NAS that had 8 drive bays and 10GB Ethernet. Since the initial hardware release, Ubiquiti has continued to update the UniFi Drive software, and now they have new hardware to fill out the product line. Ubiquiti is expanding, offering a 4 Bay rack-mount UNAS Pro 4, as well as new UNAS-2 and UNAS-4 models that sit on a shelf or tabletop and can also connect to your computer with USB-C.

There are lots more details to get into with these devices and I’ll be working on some content to cover them sometime soon.

Third

iPhone 17 Pro - Last week I mentioned that I had initial plans to get iPhone Air, but since then, I changed my preorder to iPhone 17 Pro in blue. The better cameras, better cooling, and still lighter weight than my 16 Pro Max are what pushed me over the edge. Year over year upgrades are only for silly people like me, but this year’s iPhone Pro is a great update for me so far.

On Friday in the store I held iPhone Air and it is impressively thin and light. If the rumors are true and it is essentially one half of a folding iPhone for next year, I think it will be a tough decision for lots of power users. Do you take a hit in camera capability and battery life to have a bigger, folding screen? Or do you continue to go with a traditional iPhone Pro with better cameras, battery, and cooling?

The schedule

Yesterday I published a review of Level Lock Pro, and on Thursday night, I had a great time talking with Edgar from Edgar’s Home Tech on my live stream.

This week I should have another long form video for you, along with hopefully doing a live stream on Friday. I’m still finalizing the details.

The Sunday Scene - 11

Tim Millet discussing Apple’s A19 Pro chip architecture in Chicago’s Maggie Daley park

First

iPhones 17 - Last week Apple announced their new iPhone 17 lineup. I am intrigued by iPhone Air and initially preordered it, but then started to think of all the places where it might not work out well, like when we take our kids to Disney World next year. In the end, I think I’m going with an iPhone Pro. We’ll see how things actually pan out for me on Friday.

During the event, it was amazing to see scenes from so many Apple Stores around the world, including Chicago. They even had a great scene of Tim Millet in Maggie Daley Park. I’m sure this is more complicated than filming on Apple’s campus in Cupertino, but I love the occasional change of scenery!

Second

Ubiquiti Unifi G6 Pro Bullet - Ubiquiti recently released the G6 version of their Pro Bullet camera, shockingly named the G6 Pro Bullet. They sent me one to check out and I’m really impressed by the picture quality. Ubiquiti still uses infrared for a black and white night vision on this camera, but aside from the lack of color it looks really good. I plan to have more about this camera on my channel in the coming weeks.

Third

iOS 26 launches on Monday - This year Liquid Glass is sure to be a controversial update. I think, overall, it’s a cool new look. But this new UI system is not very flexible compared to the old, flat style introduced in iOS 7. It will be interesting to see how many larger apps actually adopt Liquid Glass in the coming year.

If you want to see what’s coming across iOS 26, keep an eye out for Federicco Viticci’s review on MacStories.net. His iOS reviews are always a great look into the features and details that impact you as a power user.

The schedule

Last week I published two long-form videos. My IFA recap video and one about using a Mac mini as a NAS alternative. I also had to move my live stream to Friday afternoon from the usual Thursday. It was great to have some more live viewers from Europe because of the time change. I can’t do Friday afternoons all the time, but we’ll see I might do more streams then when I am able to.

For channel members, I published a what’s in my camera bag for IFA video.

This week we should have another live stream on Thursday night, and more YouTube videos coming on the channel. It should be a return to a more normal schedule after some unusual weeks around the IFA conference.

I hope you have a great rest of your Sunday.

Best,
Eric

The Sunday Scene - 10

In front of the IFA convention center in Berlin

Greetings from somewhere between Frankfurt and Chicago. I'm traveling home from an eventful week in Berlin at IFA. A great time, but not nearly as effective for getting bits of work done for my channel like I normally have at CES in Vegas. I have lots of stuff still in production and I hope to have more updates for you soon.

In the meantime, here are three highlights from this week you should know about.

First

Philips Hue had an event in Berlin this week with a number of announcements. The biggest were the new Hue Bridge Pro, and Hue's move to support Matter over Thread in their new, cheaper light bulbs. This was technically not part of IFA though.

Philips Hue hasn't had a booth at IFA for years from what I've heard, and they continue to avoid talking to any creator I know, aside from Jennifer Pattison Tuohy at The Verge. None of the US smart home YouTubers I was with were invited to the event. As similar, creator-friendly brands like Govee continue to work with us, it will start to hurt Philips Hue. Please change Philips Hue and start including American smart home creators in your PR!

Second

Nuki and Aliro - Also this week Nuki gave me and a number of creators a demo of their new prototype keypad that supports Aliro NFC. This means you can tap to unlock with an iPhone via Apple HomeKey, or an Android phone with something like Samsung SmartThings. No specific ship date or pricing to announce here, but it's an important detail here to make your next lock buying decision even more confusing. There's HomeKey NFC, Aliro NFC which adds Android support, and Aliro UltraWide Band (UWB) which unlocks when your phone is headed towards the door. The latter two Aliro options have yet to ship in any locks.

Third

ECOVACS X11 OmniCyclone - This robot vacuum is a big step forward for ECOVACS with lots of great features including fast charging pit stops during cleaning sessions, the latest roller mop tech, impressive air flow, and more. ECOVACS sent me one ahead of my trip to Berlin. If you're someone who likes to buy into big generational leaps in tech, this is likely one to consider for robot vacuums. I'll have a full review soon. ECOVACS also helped book my and other US creators' travel out to Berlin.

The schedule

This week we have the Apple "Awe Dropping" event on Tuesday where new iPhones are expected. I'll be talking about that and IFA on my live stream on Thursday. I will also have more IFA content headed your way on YouTube as I catch up on editing during my flight back to the US.

I also have another video that’s been ready to publish but delayed for reasons outside my control. It will hopefully be coming this week.

I hope you have a great rest of your Sunday.

Best,
Eric

The Sunday Scene - 9

Ubiquiti’s new UniFi G6 Pro Bullet

First

Ubiquiti Announcements - Ubiquiti announced a handful of things this week including the Unifi Protect 6.1 (video platform) update with enhanced alarm triggers, people counting, and arming of their alarms. They also announced a PoE Siren, started shipping their SuperLink IoT sensor platform, and announced the G6 Pro Bullet. The G6 Pro Bullet is a high-end 4K PoE camera with 2.36x optical zoom and better low light performance.

Second

Level Lock Pro - I had to hold my tongue on this one last weekend and not say anything, but it’s a very cool smart lock. I used to complain about Level locks being tricky for door alignment and communicating with your smart home. Level Lock Pro is a huge step forward in these areas and I’m really impressed with it. I plan to have a full review sometime soon on my channel.

Third

IFA brands to watch - this week is IFA, and I’ll be heading to Berlin to cover it for you. There are lots of leaks around Philips Hue, and I bet they have some big announcements. Two years ago around IFA they announced their Philips Hue security cameras. I’d also recommend keeping an eye out for updates from SwitchBot, ECOVACS, Aqara, and more. It should be an exciting show!

The schedule

Yesterday I posted a video with ideas on how your Apple Home can be a lot better at night. I also had a great time on the live stream with Patrick Hunt.

This week I have lots more content headed your way, but I am not sure exactly when things will post given travel and time changes.

I hope you have a great Sunday,

Eric

The Sunday Scene - 8

IKEA photo of the Ytberg smart lights I’m using in an upcoming video

First

IKEA Smart Accent Lighting - For an upcoming video project I’ve been researching IKEA Home Smart. While Matter support is coming soon, you can add their lights straight into Apple Home today (IKEA bridge required). In typical IKEA fashion, they have a modular solution to accent lighting with LOTS of different options. This has a steep learning curve but leads to a seemingly infinite array of possible lighting options. Their smart transformers mean many of these can connect into the DIRIGERA hub and connected smart home platforms. Even if you don’t regularly shop at IKEA, it could be worth exploring these options. Here’s the transformer I’m using, but this is just scratching the surface. Each transformer appears as an individual smart light, but it can be powering multiple, compatible lights at once.

Second

Lutron Starter Kits on Sale - Lutron has their starter kits on sale again in the US at Amazon, The Home Depot, and other retailers. Their Diva Dimmer starter kit would be my choice, down to $99 from their regular $124 price. Lutron has more competition than ever in smart switches, but I still think they are the best all-around option.

Third

Made By Google - This week Google had a big launch of lots of new products for the fall including their new line of Pixel phones. On the smart home side they unveiled plans to add their AI chatbot, Gemini, to Google Home. Jennifer Pattison Tuohy over at The Verge has more on this update. Combining with my love of Formula 1 racing, a scene with McLaren driver Lando Norris during the Google event had what appeared to be an unreleased Google Home hub.

The schedule

Last week we had a live stream and I posted a video about some Ubiquiti settings you don’t want to miss.

This week we have another Thursday live stream with special guest Patrick Hunt from the Make Smart Matter YouTube channel to talk about his recent video on Philips Hue. I also have another video coming out that will include, among other things, that IKEA lighting setup I mentioned above.

Looking ahead to IFA, I plan to have some special content for my channel members taking you behind the scenes on my whole process covering IFA, where you will also get to know me better. Learn more about becoming a channel member.

I hope you have a great Sunday,

Eric

P.S. keep in mind due to many affiliate link rules and limitations, I do not share affiliate links in emails.

The Sunday Scene - 7

Image of the new Hue Bridge Pro from the leaked marketing

First

Mark’s big Apple and smart home article - I know I’ve been linking to Mark Gurman a lot but late summer seems to be a particularly juicy time of year for his rumors. As for the smart home, this article doesn’t really have anything new, but it confirms that the things we’ve been hearing about for months and years have not been abandoned. The smart home cameras and security updates are a part I was particularly happy to hear about.

Second

The Philips Hue Leak - Apple wasn’t the only one with rumors. This week Philips Hue had a big leak of a new hub and all kinds of other updates coming soon mistakenly posted to their website. I am guessing these are coming at IFA, but they might be earlier. Philips Hue’s hub is long overdue for an update if they are looking to expand the platform with more features and capacity. But I don’t get the impression that this hub will be required. I’m sure the existing one you might already have will continue to be supported. I also love the look of their long-rumored video doorbell which surfaced in this as well. Just don’t count on this doorbell to work with Apple Home.

Third

Channel Memberships - After months of considering options and planning, I'm excited to announce Team Welander, my YouTube Channel Membership tier. $3.99 per month gets you early and exclusive access to more Apple and smart home content from me. Thank you so much to those of you that already signed up. I’m already working on my second, member-exclusive video.

The schedule

This week we’ll have another live stream on Thursday night. I also have a big Ubiquiti video that should be ready sometime this week, but that timing is counting on me finding more time to film for it after church today…should be fun either way!

Have a great rest of your Sunday.

Eric

The Sunday Scene - 6

First

This past week Apple released Developer Beta 5 for their 2026 releases. Some keen observers of the betas noticed some indications that the Apple Watch Ultra will be getting a slightly larger screen in the fall. But more importantly on the smart home front, we got a much needed refresh to the picker for the thermostat modes. This used to be a sliding wheel, but it’s now a pop up menu I find easier to understand.

Second

Voice First - In his PowerOn Newsletter this morning, Mark Gurman has a great segment expanding more about what Apple’s App-Intent-powered Siri could be like based on his sources. Spoiler alert, it’s more focused on a voice command tool to access features in your apps, which is something Apple is uniquely positioned to produce, rather than an LLM that will write you an essay on the Napoleonic Wars. Apple is still working on a much needed answers engine though for helping people get information, from your personal context or world knowledge.

Third

DJI Romo - DJI, makers of the popular drones, gimbals, and mics for creators, is taking their robot expertise from drones to robot vacuums. This week they announced the ROMO, a new robot vacuum currently only available in China. I love the clear plastic design as something novel, but I don’t know if I’d actually buy it over plain white. DJI has amazing obstacle avoidance tech for drones in the air. We’ll see how that translates to robots on the ground.

The schedule

We’ll be back to regular live streams this week. I also have a lot of videos in production coming your way soon. In the meantime today, I need to prepare the spot for my new 3D printer arriving this week (Bambu Lab A1)!

The Sunday Scene - 5

IKEA DIRIGERA smart home hub (source IKEA)

First

Adaptive Temperature - Steven Moser discovered a number of interesting snippets of text hidden in Apple’s recent betas. These indicate Apple might be working on a feature called Adaptive Temperature that would adjust your thermostat to save energy and get your house to the right temperature at the right time. I’ve never really been a fan of similar features like this from other companies, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple could make something that works well. Apple and Google both have the advantage of really knowing more about when you’ll get home with Apple Maps and Google Maps / Waze.

Second

Adding Matter Devices to IKEA Home - IKEA recently released some major upgrades to their smart home platform. This post by Christian Cawley over at Matter Alpha goes to show how serious IKEA is about playing well with Matter and becoming a more important smart home platform by way of showing how it’s possible to control non-IKEA Matter devices in IKEA Home. We have lots of IKEA furniture in our home, but I haven’t ventured into their smart home tech yet. Looking at these recent updates, I think I should check it out pretty soon.

Third

Tim Cook Holds Apple All Hands emphasizing AI - Mark Gurman has details about a rare all hands meeting Tim Cook hosted from the Steve Jobs theater at Apple Park on Friday. Tim Cook did everything possible to make it clear to employees that AI is a priority and still an opportunity for the company.

While Apple is clearly behind right now, I’m optimistic that they will be able to find a valuable spot within the modern AI ecosystem as it evolves. As an app developer, I remember being surprised how it took years for smart phones to become the true center of our digital lives like they are today. In the same way, we are still in the early chapters of AI. I also think it’s a category that will mature right along with smart home tech. AI can bring more intelligence to the smart home, like Adaptive Temperature above, which increases the reasons to invest in smart home tech.

The schedule

There will be no live stream on Thursday night, but I have some videos in production I’m excited about that you should see posted soon.

The Sunday Scene - 4

My Aqara Camera G100 in my office next to my HomePod mini

First

Aqara Camera G100 - This is a new, solid indoor or outdoor option for Apple HomeKit Secure Video. You need to run continuous USB-C power to the camera though, which might make it tricky outdoors though. Either way Aqara simplified this camera to not include their usual smart home hub functionality. It’s just the camera, which makes for a great deal at $35. I’ve been running the one Aqara sent me in my office for a few weeks and it’s been working great for me.

Second

Smart Home Solver’s Robot Vacuum Trick - Are you tried of your robot vacuum dock dirty water tank smelling like a dirty seaport? Smart Home Solver (Reed) has an interesting hack for this using mouth wash.

Third

Apple’s Public Betas 26 are here - If you’re in the mood to try out the latest and greatest software updates shipping this fall, the public betas are a good time to do so. If you work in designing mobile apps or websites, this year is a must given how Apple is evolving the design. If you want to hear my thoughts on the tvOS public beta, check out my latest video on YouTube.

The schedule

This week we have another live stream on Thursday night, and I also have a video coming about a robot vacuum.

The Sunday Scene - 3

My Ubiquiti U7 Outdoor wireless access point

In this edition of the Sunday Scene, I’m going to give you a sneak peak into some of the latest products I’m playing with and my initial impressions on them.

First

Ubiquiti U7 Outdoor - I’ve been annoyed at the lack of quality Wi-Fi signal I was getting in my backyard. Summer mornings working on my laptop on the back porch is amazing, but it requires reliable internet. This access point solved the problem for me, and was pretty easy to setup. If you find yourself in a similar situation this summer, and you use Ubiquiti Unifi, you might consider this access point. If you’re an Eero user, Eero Outdoor 7 looks like a good option for this same issue, but I haven’t tested it myself. Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 are drastically improved when they don’t have to go through as many walls.

Second

Hisense C2 Ultra - Hisense sent me this projector along with the U8 television I’ve talked about on my channel. It’s hands down the most impressive projector I’ve used and blows the Valerion StreamMaster Plus 2 out of the water, although it’s arguably in a price point above the Valerion. In general that extra $1000 gets you more brightness and optical zoom, which ultimately creates a better image. The picture on this projector is very impressive. More coming in a review at some point on my channel.

Last week I mentioned that if you categorically ignore projectors it’s “at your own loss”. While I don’t think that was the best choice of words and I’m sorry for that, I still stand by the idea I was trying to convey. Projectors are an expensive, but important technology changing when and how we can watch content on a big screen. It might not fit your budget or space anytime soon, but I think it’s wise to stay up-to-date on where the industry is, so you know what the potential is for down the road. Prices are coming down, and smart features like automatic picture correction make projectors easier to setup and use in temporary and permanent setups.

Third

Homey Pro mini - I’ve been struggling to find the right way to talk about this product on my channel, but I hopefully will soon. While I was sent both a Homey Pro and later a Homey Pro mini by the creators at Athom, I always thought the Homey Pro was too expensive for most people. Homey Pro mini brings Homey Pro to a palatable price point of $199 and gives you lots of powerful automation options. Combine it with things like Zigbee devices from ThirdReality and you have a lot of options. One notable downside is Homey’s lack of support for streaming video options. There’s more nuance to comparing it to things like Home Assistant, but if you’re itching to get into more advanced home automation, Homey Pro mini is worth a shot, and going to give you a more polished experience than Home Assistant ever will.

The schedule

As always I have more videos in progress coming your way soon. This week we also have another livestream scheduled for Thursday night.

Have a great rest of your Sunday,

Eric

The Sunday Scene - 2

Aqara’s Doorbell G410 on my front door

First

Aqara Doorbell G410 - Aqara announced their new doorbell, the G100 camera, and US dimmer switch this past week - along with Prime Day! It was a big week for the smart home company. While I’m excited to see the new G410 doorbell hit the market, and I think it’s solid overall, there are some aspects I’m disappointed in. More on that in my review, which should be coming this week.

Second

Jennifer Pattison Tuohy at The Verge on Alexa+ - Jennifer also got access to Alexa+ this week. I think her article does a great job of showing how AI in smart displays is about much more than controlling your smart home. It’s the modern hub of information and control in your home. This tracks with my recent experience using Alexa+, that I hope to eventually get into a video.

Third

George Langabeer on his injury - If you’ve watched my YouTube channel for a while, you’re probably also familiar with George Langabeer as a YouTuber talking about similar smart home topics. Unfortunately he was in a recent e-bike accident which knocked him out of commission from making YouTube videos. This recent video on his channel is a nice way to hear how he’s doing. I’m so glad the brands he works with are being flexible with him as he heals. I’m praying for you George and I hope to see you back making videos soon!

The schedule

With more ongoing video projects, I hope one is ready to publish this week. We also have another livestream on Thursday night. As always, you can subscribe to the live stream calendar over at ericw.org/live.

Last week I published two videos. While projectors continue to get less attention than other smart home topics, I think ignoring them is at your own loss. They are really making some great technological advancements that can change how and where you watch the big screen. While not necessarily cutting edge, this video looks at a NothingProjector screen that can pop out of your floor.

This morning at the end of his Power On Newsletter, Mark Gurman mentions that it’s very unlikely we will see Apple’s smart display this year. Let’s hope it comes soon after!

Have a great rest of your Sunday and start to your week,

Eric

The Sunday Scene - 1

Nuki’s new US smart lock

First

Nuki’s new US smart lock

Nuki released their first smart lock for the US market. I posted a video about it on Wednesday when it launched. One thing I realized working on this review was the importance of build quality in products. It’s not the first time I’ve noticed or mentioned build quality, but for things front and center in a home, it matters.

If you buy Apple products, chances are you appreciate well made tech. While Apple devices today are often best or close-to-best by performance and specs, that wasn’t always the case. In the 90s and 2000s people willingly chose less technical performance for the design. I think there’s an element of that with this Nuki lock. Sure it doesn’t support Apple HomeKey, but some people will pick it because of the design, and attention to detail like a premium lock motor.

There are a lot more pros and cons to consider that I go into in the video, but the analogy to old Macs is original here.

Second

Roborock Saros 10R

This is an exciting new release if you want a vacuum that works inside Apple Home. It’s an ultra thin model at 3.14 inches for the chassis height which means it can fit under lots of furniture. If my July YouTube plans don’t get away from me I hope to make a full review. For now, you should know that it does not support cleaning specific rooms in Apple Home like ECOVACS does, but it’s otherwise an amazing robot!

My friend Eric Modern Day Tech has a great review already up on his channel.

Also please note that Roborock is a past and future sponsor on my channel, but this newsletter is not sponsored.

If you are looking for an Apple Home robot on sale for Prime Day, you should also consider the ECOVACS X8 Pro OmniI reviewed earlier this year.

Third

FitBod

I recently renewed my subscription to this app for the fourth straight year. I’m no meathead, but when I first started using this app it helped me get a lot stronger. It uses AI to figure out what exercises are good for you to do based on available equipment and recovered muscle groups. I also have multiple gym profiles saved including bodyweight only, so I can quickly adapt to different setups for working out.

The schedule

Prime Day is this week officially starting on Tuesday. From what I can tell it’s going to be a big one. Fasten your seatbelts and hold onto your wallets!

I will also be back to my usual live stream on Thursday night this week. Hopefully I’ll see you there.

Until next week,

Eric

Sunday Scene 0: Announcing The Sunday Scene

Welcome to the first ever Sunday Scene Newsletter. I’m starting this as a quick way to keep you up to date on three things from the week that are worth your attention. If you aren’t familiar, a “scene” is a smart home automation that sets lots of lights and accessories in your home with one tap or trigger.

To get this in your email inbox every Sunday, subscribe here.

First

PLACE Smart Smoke Alarms from Gentex - Google is phasing out support for their older Nest products, which led me to replace all my Nest Protects with non-smart Kidde 10-year battery smoke alarms. But if you want a smart solution with a night light and maybe a camera, this new line from Gentex looks interesting and is now available at The Home Depot.

Read more on these by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy at The Verge

Second

If you are still using a Time Capsule for network Time Machine backups for your Macs, you have about 16 months before macOS will drop support for it. If you have a Mac laptop, this is such a great upgrade to have your backups happen wirelessly at home. Unfortunately there’s not a perfect replacement for the Time Capsule right now. I’ll be talking about more options soon.

Read more from Joe Rossignol at MacRumors

Third

F1 the movie is out now in theaters. My wife and I went to see it in IMAX on Friday night. The movie is action packed and feels a lot like Top Gun but for F1 racing. It takes some liberty with the details of F1, but tells an entertaining story that’s worth watching.

While I’m personally an F1 fan, the interesting angle here is that the movie was paid for by Apple. It’s the biggest theatrical film Apple has made to date and it seems like a big success so far, aside from the Wallet app notification faux pa. They even used their iPhone camera tech to build special cameras to survive the speed of an F1 car.

F1.com has a nice page with lots of the coverage of the movie on their website.

The schedule

I didn’t post a video last week, but we did have a live stream. I have a lot of videos in progress and you should see at least one if not more videos from me before next Sunday’s newsletter.

There will be no livestream this week with the 4th of July holiday in the US.

Have a great week,
Eric