Podcast #844: CNET’s Guide to Smart Living

While this may or may not be the year of home automation (or maybe it was last year?), the idea of making some aspects of your home more automated or “smarter” is becoming much more approachable and affordable. CNET recently put together a collection of articles about how to get into the game that offer some interesting tips and pointers. This isn’t a definitive guide for the hard core home or life hacker, but it helps those who aren’t yet in the game to dip a toe in the water.

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Podcast #832: Smart Speakers and Dumb Aspect Ratios

If you haven’t already invested in one of the many smart home speakers on the market, this summer you’ll have even more options, as Facebook plans to unveil its own version of voice-enabled smart home speakers, called Fiona and Aloha. Looking like something one might buy at Hobby Lobby, the $70 ClearStream View is a large, black picture frame with cutouts for family photos. Concealed in its back is a flat HDTV antenna.

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