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