Tag: Google

Retailers that sell alcohol can't accept payments from suppliers to advertise their products. And since wine producers pay Amazon fees to sell through Amazon Wine and it sells as a retailer through its newly acquired Whole Foods Market chain, the situation violates the law. So Amazon Wine which was launched...

Google launched its wearable OS, Android Wear, in 2014. To much fanfare. All of us early adopters, tech writers, and geeks were fully on board. The future was right there on your wrist. All of a sudden we could all be Dick Tracy. After a few bumps, Wear devices finally...

This is an interesting development. Well, at least for smart home and home automation enthusiasts it might be. SmartThings (now owned by Samsung) today announced a USB stick called the SmartThings Link that works with the NVIDIA Shield streaming box to create a smart home hub. It costs only $39.99, though...

Amazon jumped into the voice-enabled digital assistant (aka smart speaker) market early, and now it appears to be reaping major dividends. A new report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) says that in the U.S., the Amazon Echo has an install base of 15 million units. That represents about 76%...

It could (Tim Cook and team are sitting on some $260 billion in cash). But would it? Would Apple acquire a camera company called RED Digital Cinema? Hollywood! It's not just for aspiring actors. It's increasingly a place companies see as a place to not only increase revenues, but to...

It's called Multi-Room Music and the new feature enables several Echo smart speakers to stream music in sync across the home.

Stark Insider's buying guide for smart home dimmer switches. If you're on the hunt for dimmer switches for your current or planned smart home, there's a beguiling selection -- a quick check on Amazon reveals hundreds of products. What to buy? You may be tempted to grab a $35 Leviton Decora...

Good news. Today, free Spotify accounts are now supported by the Google Home hub. That means even if you don't pay for a Spotify subscription you can still enjoy one of the best music streaming platforms, even if it will be with some restrictions. As you might expect, supported voice-activated commands...

Short answers: yes, and, well, it depends.

Already own or considering buying a smart home hub? Clinton Stark shares 10 tips for the Insteon Hub that might help you get the most out of your existing Insteon system or help you understand the hub market and some of the options on the market today. It's the year of...