Recent Smart Home Stories

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Google will announce today that it is expanding the YouTube TV channel lineup. But it is also raising prices a bit too.

Buried in this week's announcement about HomePod availability, Apple claims that Siri now has over half a billion active users.

For years, the personal technology market has been defined by platform wars. But I think those days are over.

The word "courage" is often bandied about too easily these days. This is a great example of that.

Ambient computing is the next major wave of personal computing, and smart speakers are how we get there.

If Microsoft is serious about doing right by its customers, it will open up Windows 10 to rival digital assistants.

After a year of near silence on the topic, Microsoft claims that it is expanding the availability of Cortana. It's a nice story.

Google Assistant now supports over one million actions, which are essentially things the Assistant can do.

With CES underway in Las Vegas, Google has announced a stunning list of partners that will sell Google Assistant devices in 2018.

I've just arrived in Las Vegas for CES 2018 but the biggest story of the week has already emerged.

With every new piece of hardware having a digital assistant crammed inside, we are about to experience digital overload.

I attend CES in Las Vegas with many misgivings, though it's something I've been doing for almost 20 years. Here's a visual look back.

In 2017, we moved to Pennsylvania and underwent what I think of as Phase 1 of our smart home makeover. For 2018, I have bigger plans.

Roku is launching a new licensing program that allows third-party hardware makers build smart soundbars, speakers, and other home entertainment products using the company's software and upcoming smart assistant.

Microsoft's high volume, low-cost strategy was the winner in the PC market. But will it work with smart speakers too?

It's a new year and many are resolving to lose weight, exercise more, or drink less. But let's also resolve to get our digital lives in order too.

I often complain about Microsoft's aversion to hard numbers. Well, Amazon is even worse.

Amazon Prime: Come for the free shipping, but stay for the ever-expanding list of digital perks.

Sorry for the seemingly cheap headline, but it's not my fault. This topic creates a unique challenge for its author.

Happy holidays and thank you, as always, to those who wrote in with questions.

Google Home Max is a gigantic smart speaker that offers Google Assistant and Chromecast capabilities.

2017 was another epic year for Microsoft. Here are my picks for the top 10 Microsoft stories of 2017.

I am probably one of Amazon's best customers, but I don't really take advantage of their consumer tech products and services.

I've chosen Chromecast as my whole-home audio solution, so I was very interested in testing Google Home Max.

Tracking can be desirable and explicitly enabled or it can be creepy and automatic, something that happens silently in the background.

You've probably heard the oft-spouted phrase, "hardware is hard." Well, it's true. Just ask Google.

I really enjoy the sound quality of Sonos wireless smart speakers, but I don't like the cost or compatibility issues.