My Google Home Speaker had been burning through more data than all the rest of my devices combined. As I looked into it further, I found other smart home devices that had the same problem.
I’m not sure when birdwatching became so popular, but it seems everybody’s getting into it these days. If you want to see what all the fuss is about without leaving your couch, both Coolfly and Birdfy are discounting their camera-equipped bird feeders for a limited time. Right now, you can buy Coolfy’s Aura Smart Bird Feeder for $149.90 ($140 off), or the Birdfy Feeder from Amazon or Birdfy for $109.99 ($90 off). You can also add a solar panel to the latter for an extra $20 from Birdfy, or grab both the panel and lifetime AI-powered bird identification from Amazon or Birdfy for $149.99 ($110 off).
My colleague Jennifer Pattison Tuohy called the Aura Smart Bird Feeder an impressive package, praising its large seed hopper, exceptional battery life, and dual solar panels. She also liked its unique side-mounted camera, which provides a more natural, wider view of birds than many other smart feeders. It can capture up to 2.5K video with a 150-degree field of view and offers full-color night vision, cloud and local storage, and AI-powered identification of more than 10,000 bird species, all without a subscription.
Birdfy’s feeder offers many of the same perks for less, including 2K video, night vision, and AI-powered identification of more than 6,000 bird species. It also lets you watch visiting birds on your phone, set up notifications for when they stop by, and access recordings via the cloud. Unlike the Aura, however, solar charging and lifetime AI identification aren’t included by default, with a subscription running $49.99 a year if you don’t purchase a bundle.
window.HYPE_DESK_CONFIG = {
productImageUrl: "https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/macbook_pro_m1.png",
productImageAlt: "MacBook Pro (M1 series)",
productTitle: "MacBook Pro (M1 series)",
shortDescription: "Get a refurbished MacBook Pro M1 for less",
longDescription:
"Upgrade your laptop for less with a refurbished 13-inch MacBook Pro featuring Apple's M1 chip, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. Back Market offers professionally inspected devices backed by a one-year warranty.",
purchaseUrl: "https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=18275&awinaffid=299513&platform=dl&ued=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.backmarket.com%2Fen-us%2Fp%2Fmacbook-pro-m1-series%3Futm_source%3Dchatgpt.com",
purchaseLinkText: "Shop At Back Market"
};
window.HYPE_DESK_CONFIG = {
productImageUrl: "https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/macbook_pro_m1.png",
productImageAlt: "MacBook Pro (M1 series)",
productTitle: "MacBook Pro (M1 series)",
shortDescription: "Get a refurbished MacBook Pro M1 for less",
longDescription:
"Upgrade your laptop for less with a refurbished 13-inch MacBook Pro featuring Apple's M1 chip, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. Back Market offers professionally inspected devices backed by a one-year warranty.",
purchaseUrl: "https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=18275&awinaffid=299513&platform=dl&ued=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.backmarket.com%2Fen-us%2Fp%2Fmacbook-pro-m1-series%3Futm_source%3Dchatgpt.com",
purchaseLinkText: "Shop At Back Market"
};
A few more Verge-approved deals
Now through October 30th, Woot is selling the JBL Charge 6 for $119.99 ($80 off), which is a new low price. The portable, IP68-rated Bluetooth speaker supports lossless audio over USB-C via compatible streaming services — including Spotify — and can automatically adjust the audio to improve clarity and reduce distortion, even at higher volumes. It also conveniently doubles as a USB-C power bank, letting you charge your phone on the go.
Woot is selling an 8-in-1 Baseus charging dock for $25.99 ($12 off) with a 90-day Woot warranty for the next two months or so. The small hub lets you easily add several ports to your laptop, gaming handheld, or tablet, and includes an HDMI port, three USB 3.0 ports, gigabit ethernet support, and both SD and microSD card readers. It also supports up to 100W USB-C passthrough charging, so you can keep your laptop or tablet powered while using your connected devices.
Govee’s Smart Curtain Lights 2 are on sale at Amazon starting at $99.99 ($50 off), which is the best price we’ve seen this year and only $20 shy of their all-time low. The water-resistant curtain lights feature 520 individually controlled LEDs, which can be programmed to display colorful patterns, animated GIFs, and even your own images. They also offer more than 200 preset lighting effects, sync with music, and can be controlled via any major smart home platform.
Birdbuddy is finally launching the new smart bird feeders it originally announced at CES 2026 earlier this year, but with new names. The Birdbuddy 2 Mini is now called the Birdbuddy Nook, and it is designed to be a smaller and more affordable option the company describes as its "most accessible smart bird feeder yet." The flagship Birdbuddy 2 has been renamed the Birdbuddy Home and delivers upgrades like a redesigned camera with a wider field of view and integrated solar panels. Both models are now available through Birdbuddy's online store while some configurations will be available at other retailers later this month.
From left to right, here are the Outdoor 2K XR Plus and Mini Pant-Tilt 2K Plus (top), and the Spotlight Cam 2K Plus, Mini 4K Plus, and Frontier XR Plus (bottom). | Image: Amazon / Blink
Amazon is launching a new lineup of Blink security cameras, including its first 4K, pan-tilt models, and battery-powered spotlight models. These new additions provide better resolution and extended range for monitoring your property compared to Blink's current Mini 2K, Mini 2K Plus, and Outdoor 2K Plus offerings, with a variety of different specializations to best suit your security requirements.
One of the standouts is the $199.99 Blink Frontier XR Plus, a trail camera that's designed for expansive properties that would typically require multiple cameras or specialized monitoring equipment. It can cover up to 7,000 feet with a clear line …
Tuesday Labs, a New York City-based robotics lab and design studio, has opened reservations for Voxel, its new bi-pedal robot designed to learn and take over routine tasks throughout your home. Similar to other robots like Weave Robotics' Issac 1 that are designed for household chores beyond mopping or vacuuming floors, Voxel features a pair of highly-articulated arms and an advanced vision system. If you're interested in bringing home what Tuesday Labs describes as a "droid butler" you can reserve one now for $200 while full pricing is expected to be around $20,000 when Voxel ships sometime in 2028.
Google says a fix is rolling out that should solve the issue. | Photo: Jennifer Patison Tuohy / The Verge
Some Google Home Speaker owners are currently experiencing an issue in which hundreds of gigabytes of data are being continuously downloaded to their device in the background. The bug, reported by 9to5Google and several Reddit users over the last week, may be caused by the speakers failing to correctly download and install a firmware update, with one Redditor finding that his device was consuming more than 200GB per day.
Thankfully, Google is aware of the issue. In a statement to 9to5Google, the company said that "a fix is already rolling out that should address this for users." Most of the reports are tied specifically to the new Google Ho …
The bright spotlight’s focused beam improves the quality of video captured at night while scaring off unwanted visitors. | Image: Baseus
Baseus announced a new addition to its lineup of AI-assisted security cameras that's more proactive about discouraging unwanted visitors instead of just recording and alerting you to their presence. The Baseus Security PrimeSentinel U2 Pro Outdoor 3K Dual Camera introduces a motorized spotlight that shines directly on a moving target, even as they're running across your property, so they know they've been detected. The targeted light also improves the quality of video captured in the dark to increase the chances of a subject being identified, and it can assist your family with after-hours activities like taking the dog out.
My 15-year-old daughter just got her learner's permit, so when I was pitched a new gadget tailored to teen drivers, I was intrigued. The Miles Plug is a small device that plugs into your car's OBD-II port and monitors location, driving habits, and vehicle health, along with emergency accident response and roadside assistance.
The idea is that knowing all these things should help me feel more comfortable when my daughter starts driving alone. I tested the (now discontinued) Ring Car Cam when my son was learning to drive, but he hated it and refused to turn it on; I wondered if the Miles could provide the same peace of mind without feeling a …
The HomeView can simplify online recipe formatting into easy-to-follow steps. | Image: Apple
When Apple revealed the HomeView to the world, it did so with an unusual ad for the company: Instead of pristine, polished tech in immaculate rooms, it's a three-minute look at the messy, frantic morning routine of a family of five. Apple's new smart display sits in the center of the chaos on the kitchen table, helping the family check their calendars, send messages, and pull up a French toast recipe in seconds, with simple, step-by-step instructions.
The HomeView is just the latest in a long line of websites, browser extensions, and smart home gadgets with the same promise: that it can take an online recipe and strip it down to the essenti …
Apple’s Home Collection, codeveloped with partners, is part of the company’s first major push into the smart home category. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
For more than a decade, Apple has told other companies to build smart home devices for its platform. This week, Apple launched its own. The Apple Home Collection is a lineup of cameras, thermostats, sensors, a smart door lock, and a video doorbell, all codeveloped with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric. They arrive alongside HomeView, Apple's first smart display.
Even after 12 years of HomeKit, Apple's smart home ecosystem still felt underdeveloped, especially compared to the competition. Amazon's and Google's ecosystems support more products, and both have popular in-house brands: Ring and Nest. Apple had nothing of its own to point cu …
Following the launch of its $50 subscription-free security camera last month, Shelly announced another new accessory for smart home automation today that can keep track of multiple people as they move through rooms or large spaces without recording them. The Shelly Presence Gen4 sensor uses mmWave radar technology instead of a camera to detect the presence, motions, and activities of people and pets. It's available starting today for $84.99 through Shelly's online store and is expected to hit other retailers like Amazon and Best Buy soon.
The Presence Gen4 can be perched on a shelf or a table using its built-in stand or permanently mounted …
Apple’s HomeView smart display seems tailor-made for the kitchen. (That aluminum base looks like it will hold up better than my now off-white kitchen HomePod.)
I'm just going to come right out and say it. I love the approach Apple has taken with the HomeView. I think it's the shared, always-available household interface that my family might finally use. Is Apple's first smart display my dream smart home dashboard? No. But is it the right product for Apple Home at this moment? Absolutely.
A lot of initial reactions to the $299 HomeView (which looks like a giant Apple Watch on a flatter metallic HomePod Mini) ask why you would want it when you can do most of what it offers on your iPhone or iPad. And yes, its features replicate many of the things you already do on the devices you use all the time. B …
Apple’s HomeView marketing calls out audiobooks, TV shows, and says you can “keep an eye on the match while you do the washing up,” but shys away about these features needing an iPhone connection. | Image: Apple
Apple says HomeView is "the perfect way" to enjoy its audio and video entertainment apps, but some notable examples like Apple TV only work if you AirPlay it through your iPhone. As noted on the HomeView spec page, Apple TV, Apple Books audiobooks, Apple Music Classical, and Apple News Plus aren't natively supported on the smart hub, so you'll have to use your phone to operate them.
HomeView is foremostly designed as a hub for managing smart home gadgets, but competing smart display hardware like Amazon's Echo Show and Google's Nest Hub devices can natively stream Prime Video and YouTube, respectively, without requiring a phone connection. …
Login
Wired
The Verge - All Posts
