GM and hi everyone! Before jumping into this week’s smart home newsletter, a special welcome to the 59 newest readers of the smart home
newsletter! Thank you for giving me space in your inbox. 
Nothing major here at the O’Driscoll household, school did start for the younger ones, so back to the chaotic mornings 🎉. Other than that relatively cool. So let’s crack on with this week’s smart home news:
Coming Soon: Smarter Electricity 🔌
At CES 2023, the world was introduced to a smart home where electric circuits can keep your home powered, lower your energy bill, manage solar, and charge your electric vehicle, all through a single mobile app.
Even though Schneider Electric isn’t exactly a popular brand, it’s likely that you have one of their Square D circuit breakers in your home. The company has recently announced a variety of smart products that won’t be hidden inside your walls:
- A smart main electrical panel called the Schneider Pulse. It acts as the brain.
- A 7.6kW inverter big enough for whole-home solar and a pair of batteries with an EV charging port
- A wall-mountable and stackable 10kWh battery known as Schneider boost can fit beneath the inverter
- An 11.5kW level 2 EV charger only meant for charging
- A variety of smart outlets, dimmers, and light switches. They can be controlled by the system and work seamlessly with Alexa and Google Home
By purchasing Schneider Home smart products, you can easily calculate the electricity consumption of every outlet and monitor what every individual device is using. In the event of a power outage, the mobile app allows you to choose which smart devices should continue running and which ones should turn off at the circuit outlet. The entire setup is expected to cost around $10,000!
Aqara Is Bringing a HomeKit Secure Video Doorbell and Home Key Smart Lock to the US
At the just concluded CES, Aqara announced a new LED light strip, presence detection sensor, video doorbell, and smart door lock. In addition to being affordable, some of these products are compatible with Apple HomeKit and will support Matter in the coming days. The Aqara Video Doorbell G4 is the first battery-powered video doorbell to work with HomeKit Secure Video in the US and comes with a separate USB-C powered chime that also serves as a Wi-Fi extender.
The doorbell also supports wired power, like the Belkin Wemo Video Doorbell and the Logitech Circle View Doorbell. The difference is that the Belkin Wemo Video Doorbell and the Logitech Circle View Doorbell only work with the Apple Home ecosystem, while the G4 supports local streaming to Amazon and Google smart home displays.
Additionally, the G4 runs on 6 AA batteries, has expandable local storage for videos and features a 1080p resolution camera. The product will retail for around $120 and will be available for purchase starting February 2023.
SwitchBot Adds HomeKit Support to Multiple Products Through the New Matter-Compatible Hub 🪟
The Matter smart home standard has promised to create an open ecosystem of smart home products you can use with your preferred platform. This means that smart products won’t have to be designed to work with HomeKit, but rather all Matter-compatible products will work with HomeKit. The new SwitchBot Hub 2 is designed to work with Matter and will enable other smart products in the SwitchBot ecosystem to work with HomeKit.
In addition to Matter compatibility for SwitchBot products, the SwitchBot Hub 2 also includes a thermos-hygrometer function that allows users to check temperature and humidity from the Home App on Apple Watch, iPhone, and iPad. The first SwitchBot product to support HomeKit through the Matter standard will be the SwitchBot Curtain which will be available for purchase in February.
The SwitchBot Hub 2 comes with a variety of features, including two Scene Keys, an IR control function, and a built-in light sensor that allows LED.
Mui Lab and Emma Aim Set to Revolutionize People’s Sleep with New Smart Sleep Product 💤
At CES 2023, Mui and Emma announced their partnership. The two companies plan to develop a smart product within the sleep space featuring a wooden touch interface.
This interface brings a calm experience to the bedroom and enables users to leave their mobile phones outside a space meant for sleep.
This bedroom product will allow users to customize their bedroom experience using lights, alarms, temperature, and music. These features will only be visible once the information is needed.
TP-Link Introduces a Video Door Lock, New Robovacs, and More 🚪
TP-Link is set to expand its smart home lineup with a variety of new products, such as a new video door lock, a dual video doorbell, two robot vacuums, and several Matter-compatible products. The Tapo Smart Video Door Lock allows you to unlock the door using facial recognition or a built-in fingerprint sensor. You can also unlock the door remotely using the Tapo mobile app.
The device rings when pressed and automatically records the visitor using its built-in wide-angle camera. Additionally, you can communicate with the visitor through the built-in microphone and speaker.
On the other hand, the Tapo RV30C Slim Robovac can vacuum and mop your floor using LiDAR technology. TP-Link also announced 15 new Matter-compatible products, including several smart outlet extenders, smart bulbs, smart plugs, and a sensor.
The company is also set to launch its new Homebase Tapo H900, a smart hub compatible with Matter, Thread, and other smart home systems. Let’s wait and see!
Smart Home AI-Generated Illustration of the Week!
This is it for today, See you next Sunday morning 😉. If you have colleagues, friends, or neighbors that would benefit from knowing about smart home devices, please consider sharing them. They can sign up for the newsletter by going here.
– Gerard