On the latest HomeKit Insider Podcast episode, your host breaks down the newest smart home news from floor lamps to powerful smart locks.
This week, Nuki finally brought its popular smart lock to the US market. The Nuki Smart Lock starts at $159 and supports Matter over Thread with an optional add-on keypad.
We did a deep dive into the new lock as well as what separates it from others on the market — such as its powerful brushless motor — on a previous episode of the podcast where the founders stopped by. Be sure to go back and listen to that one for more information.
Govee launched three new smart floor lamps this past week, joining the others in its expanding lineup. They are the Uplighter, Torchiere, and Tree floor lamps.
They all work with Matter over Wi-Fi and therefor Apple Home. The Uplighter casts relaxing waves on the ceiling, the Tree lamp has three adjustable cube lights, and the Torchiere is arced with three individual interior lights.
They are all available now on Amazon, starting at $149.
Outside of the news, we found a cool new project worked on by Bas van der Ploeg. It’s a modified version of a cartridge player by The Stock Pot.
Basically, it’s a 3D printed NFC reader and companion cartridges that are used to kick off home automations or play media. It’s running off Home Assistant which means it can tie into many existing smart home products.
In the demo, van der Ploeg created a whole host of cartridges for Apple media from Apple TV shows to podcasts. It’s a very cool home project that doesn’t take much skill to do and can serve as inspiration on other smart home projects.
We wrap up the episode going more hands-on with visionOS 26 and the new widgets. Plus, we look at the Apple Vision roadmap as projected by analyst Ming Chi Kuo.
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