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