home automation
3 stories filed under home automation on Spoot: Spotted Early. The newest of them: “Ring's Flying Camera Actually Ships: But Will It Land on Time”, “Linkind's smart lights finally make the holiday ladder a box in the garage”, and “Apple's HomeView is a chimera of nostalgia, and that's exactly the point”. Ring's flying indoor camera is actually shipping. Changing your phone's wallpaper takes about four seconds. Spoot: Spotted Early New things, caught while they're still new and a little weird. Spoot finds fresh gadgets, clever inventions, crowdfunding campaigns,… The list below is every home automation story on Spoot: Spotted Early, newest first.
Ring's Flying Camera Actually Ships: But Will It Land on Time
Ring's flying indoor camera is actually shipping. January 27th, 2027. $249.99. That's almost six years after Ring first announced a drone that patrols your home, which is either patient iteration or a very long hover. The Drone Cam reacts to motion, an open door, a water leak, or an alarm, then flies a preprogrammed route to go see what's happening. AI-powered, indoor-only, and fully real if the shipping date holds. I want to believe it lands on time, but this is Ring's second try at a flying camera, and the first one never touched down. If you're curious about other ways to watch your home without leaving the house, our piece on Anker's new window cam is a grounded alternative worth circling back to.
Linkind's smart lights finally make the holiday ladder a box in the garage
Changing your phone's wallpaper takes about four seconds. Changing your house's holiday decor usually takes a weekend, two trips to the hardware store, and a very specific kind of marital tension involving a ladder and a frozen gutter. Linkind's new Smart Permanent Outdoor Lights want to retire that December ritual to the garage, right next to the box of tangled extension cords you swear you'll organize this year. They're Matter-compatible, which means they talk to whatever smart home system you've already got without needing a dedicated hub that only works with one brand. I'd happily swap the ladder for that. The real razor clam here is the word "permanent." These aren't seasonal throwaways.
Apple's HomeView is a chimera of nostalgia, and that's exactly the point
The iMac G4's floating display was always the best thing Apple ever put on a desk, and HomeView finally brings that energy to the wall. A 7-inch smart display that borrows the iPad's touchscreen, the Apple Watch's familiar faces, and a HomePod's speaker base? That's a chimera worth taking seriously. It's nostalgic, sure, but nostalgia isn't a flaw when the original design was this good. The real question is whether it earns its spot as the center of the connected home, or just becomes another screen demanding attention. I'm gently skeptical, but also already checking where it fits. If you want the full picture of Apple's smart home push, our piece on how John Ternus is making Apple weird again pairs nicely with this one. Stay spooty.