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Thread is a low-power, IPv6-based wireless mesh networking standard used to connect smart-home devices like locks, sensors, and lights.
Apple opens pre-orders for the $299 HomeView, a 7-inch square-screen smart display in stand and wall-mounted versions. The Ambient says it acts as a hub for HomeKit and Matter devices, with Thread built in and no app store at launch.
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Apple co-developed seven smart-home devices with LG that will ship under LG's name, with LG handling manufacturing and support, Bloomberg reports. For teams selling locks, cameras and thermostats into HomeKit, LG is now both a rival with Apple's engineering behind it and the obvious partner to call.
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Apple's co-developed LG home devices will show iPhone controls in the Dynamic Island on a tap, leaker pdfu found in iOS 27 code. MacRumors reported a HomeKit-only setup that starts before power is on, so Apple's software handles the first step of installing an LG lock.
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FCC filings show Matter setup codes and Thread radios on an LG thermostat, sensor and deadbolt that Apple reportedly helped design. Setup goes through the open standard, while the lock's hands-free entry depends on which phones count as compatible, and the filings do not list them.
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The $80 sensor tracks ten people over Thread or Zigbee with no internet needed, but Aqara told Gizmodo that the standing, sitting and lying detection it once promised for the FP400 is now a job for a separate FP400 Pro.
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Homey's new Device Updates panel patches Matter, Z-Wave and Zigbee gear from one app. For Matter devices the firmware metadata comes from the certification body's public registry, which any Matter controller can read.
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Ugreen's three-tier hub line tops out at a Jetson Thor box rated up to 2,070 TOPS. Its cheapest model charges roughly seven times more per TOPS than that flagship does. All three are currently half price.
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The Eufy MindBase runs an Anker-built LLM on a hub with up to 48TB of local storage, turning a claim about where your footage goes into something an outsider can measure. Anker has not said what it costs.
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The module carries a full Hue radio stack. That is why it took 18 months of engineering instead of a Matter profile. It also currently switches off the music sync and screen mirroring that owners bought the panels for.
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Hands-free ultra-wideband entry now has more than one vendor. The newer, pricier lock has fewer unlocking options, no fingerprint reader, and no physical key.
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