On this week’s new episode of HomeKit Insider, founder and CEO of Ome Kitchen, Akshita Iyer, joins to talk through this week’s news such as the delay of next-gen Siri, the demise of the Sonos streaming box, and testing robotic vacuum cleaners in the Home app with iOS 18.4.
Our guest on the podcast this week is Akshita Iyer, who founded Ome Kitchen. Ome is a smart knob for your stove. With the Ome voice-controlled knob, you can turn off a burner without having to move to your stove. It also has multiple safety features, including alerts if a burner is left on too long, and auto-off.
After covering the news, Akshita helps discuss the future of the smart kitchen, how Ome could one day be integrated into Matter, and more.
This week, the CSA made it official, finally fully certifying Home Assistant as a controller within Matter. This was mostly a formality, but it good to see.
Apple appears set to require users to migrate to the new Apple Home architecture, based on code found in iOS 18. This is likely to help facilitate new smart home features after making it optional since iOS 17.
After falling behind the competition iRobot has introduced several new smart home vacuums, including a second model that will support Matter. The Roomba Plus 505 Combo is its highest-end model, with a multi-function dock and rotating mops.
Speaking of which, we also went hands-on with robotic vacuums inside the Home app, including what they can and can’t do. Ecovacs will be the first to support it fully with a release on March 20.
Finally, Sonos is said to have cancelled its Apple TV 4K competitor. It’s been working on a streaming box for years, and has ultimately decided not to move forward with it.
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