How do you solve the problem of growing a popular smart home platform committed to open-source, open-standard ideals into something bigger that stays true to those ideals? You create a foundation. At least, that’s the approach Home Assistant founder Paulus Schoutsen has chosen.
Technology
The little smart home platform that could
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This week, Home Assistant announced it is now part of the Open Home Foundation. The newly formed non-profit will own and govern all of Home Assistant and its related entities. Its creators and inaugural board members — Schoutsen, Guy Sie, Pascal Vizeli, and J. Nick Koston — all work on Home Assistant, and the foundation has no other members so far.
In a press release, the foundation stated its aim is “to fight against surveillance capitalism, and offer a counterbalance to Big Tech influence, in the smart home — by focusing on privacy, choice, and sustainability for smart home users.”
A community-built, open-source smart home platform, Home Assistant differs from its major “big tech” competitors — such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home, because it offers four things simultaneously: local control of your smart home that can be faster and more reliable than the cloud: authority over and access to all your data; compatibility with almost every connected gadget — regardless of protocol or manufacturer; and the ability to make them work together. While many competitors offer some of these, few offer all.
“I want to make it clear what our intentions are to the world: That we’re driven by a higher goal than money. And that we are not for sale.”
Home Assistant is known for its unmatched power and flexibility, but so far the platform, which has an estimated one million users, has struggled to reach the mainstream. Home Assistant can have a steep learning curve, especially when compared to the relative simplicity of a platform like Alexa or Apple Home. Onboarding devices can be complicated, the UI has lots of room for improvement, and integrations can be hit or miss.
“Home Assistant is no one’s first smart home platform,” says Schoutsen. “When people outgrow their existing systems and want more advanced control, that’s when they come to Home Assistant.” But he sees that the platform is at a tipping point.
With the arrival of the industry-backed smart home standard Matter (with which Home Assistant is heavily involved), smart home adoption is pushing into the mainstream. Home Assistant wants to stay swimming alongside Apple, Amazon, Samsung, and Google, all of which it’s been competing with in the smart home for roughly a decade now. Home Assistant has never accepted investors, says Schoutsen, and he sees a foundation as the best way to grow.
Schoutsen outlined the platform’s future roadmap at its annual State of the Open Home presentation on Saturday, April 20th. In an interview ahead of the live stream, he told The Verge about some of the bigger changes planned for Home Assistant following this transition:
- The Home Assistant Green smart home hub will be sold on Amazon this year, the first time the organization will sell directly to consumers. A new line of Home Assistant Connect dongles for Thread / Zigbee and Z-Wave will follow. These connect the hub to gadgets that use those protocols (and will replace the SkyConnect dongle).
- The Home Assistant Works With program, which offers certification for products that work with the platform, is expanding. New partners include Aqara, Ultraloq, and Jasco.
- A new Home Assistant voice control hardware device running Home Assistant’s local smart home voice assistant is planned for release at the end of the year.
- Home Assistant is working with Nvidia to incorporate a local AI model into the home automation platform.
- The platform has been researching ways to improve its UI to make it easier for everyone in the home to use Home Assistant. It’s calling this the “Home-approval factor,” a variant on the wife- or spouse-approval factor that encompasses everyone in a home.
(See sidebar for more on these.)
The collective goal of all these efforts is to move Home Assistant toward becoming a more mainstream, out-of-the-box option for smart home users. “We want to be a consumer brand,” says Schoutsen. “You should be able to walk into a Home Depot and be like, ‘I care about my privacy; this is the smart home hub I need.’”
The foundation will also advocate for the development of “better” smart home products, says Schoutsen, “Devices with local APIs and that are built sustainably. Because there needs to be products compatible with Home Assistant that you can trust.”
Is Home Assistant all grown up now?
Schoutsen, who started Home Assistant in 2013 with a Philips Hue smart lighting bridge, a Python script, and a mission to control his lights any way he wanted to, sees the foundation as necessary to both protect Home Assistant and move it forward. “I want to make it clear what our intentions are to the world: That we’re driven by a higher goal than money. And that we are not for sale,” he says. The new ownership structure provides a stronger platform for growth. “It gives us a way for people to take us seriously, to help us reach a bigger audience,” he says.
To date, the informal way Home Assistant operates has been confusing to companies looking to partner with the platform, says Schoutsen. The launch of the for-profit Nabu Casa five years ago provided a revenue stream for Home Assistant through an optional cloud computing service that now supports 33 full-time employees.
The foundation, which was created last month as a Verein (“association”) in Switzerland, formally separates Nabu Casa from Home Assistant. The foundation will own all of the open-source projects, standards, drivers, and libraries associated with Home Assistant, along with ESPHome, ZigPy, and Wyoming.
Nabu Casa will continue as a for-profit entity running the cloud and selling Home Assistant hardware and will operate as a commercial partner of the foundation. “Funding and support can only flow one way—from Nabu Casa, and any future partners, to the Open Home Foundation and its projects,” says Pascal Vizeli, co-founder of Nabu Casa, and a foundation board member.
It also protects Home Assistant from being sold. Swiss law prohibits members of a non-profit Verein from benefiting from it, Schoutsen explained to The Verge. “Our articles state ‘There will be no direct distribution to members in return for activities performed for the association or as any other form of gratuity in any kind,’’’ he says. Similarly, he says the foundation can only have income from membership fees, donations, license programs, and contributions from partners.
Still, Home Assistant users may be wary of these larger structural changes. The Verge asked Schoutsen how he could assuage any fears that this will negatively impact current users. It’s hard not to draw parallels with SmartThings’ shift to become a more “consumer-friendly” platform following its purchase by Samsung.
“We’re constantly doing this balance between ease of use and advanced features and I don’t know how we are going to keep balancing this,” he said. “But we cannot forget about our power users. The platform is open; maybe at some point, there might be a split where we have the basic UI and the advanced UI; I don’t know how that’s going to work. But because we are open, because our data is accessible, they’re all part of the community, even if they don’t use our specific tools that we’re building.”
“There’s a bigger audience that I would like to reach that we don’t today.”
He is also wary of entering the business side of the smart home while recognizing its necessity to grow Home Assistant. “We need to be very careful moving into this space,” he says. “The challenge with partnership people is that they’re very business-focused. And that’s not how we operate.”
He hopes the foundation will provide the necessary building blocks for growth while protecting the platform’s core beliefs and values. “I think we can get even bigger now that we have this stepping stone. The foundation is a real entity. People will take us more seriously. I think the press will take us more seriously. There’s a bigger audience that I would like to reach that we don’t today.”
While today’s mainstream smart home platforms offer simple and convenient ways to control your smart lights, locks, and other gadgets, the lack of access to your data, limited options for local control over devices, and some platforms’ over-reliance on the cloud can put the user at a disadvantage.
Matter — which aims to bring local control and interoperability across all smart home devices and platforms—is designed to solve some of these problems. But Matter isn’t a platform; you’ll still need to use an app on your phone or computer to control your home. Home Assistant wants to be that app.
Can it move fast enough? There’s a long road between forming a foundation and packing Home Depots with Home Assistant hubs and gadgets that pledge Home Assistant loyalty. In the meantime, Matter is also providing other platforms — such as Aqara, Homey, and Hubitat — the tools to expand and grow into more viable alternatives to big tech in the smart home. It’s going to be interesting to see where everything lands.
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The fate of Google’s search business is now in the hands of Judge Amit Mehta, as closing arguments concluded in the landmark trial on Friday.
The Department of Justice and plaintiff states made their last arguments Thursday on Google’s alleged anticompetitive conduct in the general search market, and on Friday focused on its allegedly illegal conduct in search advertising. Google was also under fire (separately) for failing to retain chat messages that the DOJ believes could have been relevant to the case.
The government is trying to show that Google locked up key distribution channels for the general search engine market, so that would-be rivals could not grow into significant threats. It says it did so through contracts with phone manufacturers and browser companies to be their exclusive default search engine. If the judge agrees that Google successfully foreclosed competition in that market, he can consider the government’s arguments about the search advertising market as evidence of anticompetitive conduct.
In his summary, DOJ attorney Kenneth Dintzer said that the last major tech monopoly decision, US v. Microsoft, “fits like a glove” on Google. Google’s lead litigator in the case, John Schmidtlein, disagreed. In Microsoft, he said, manufacturers were coerced into deals and customers were spoon-fed an inferior product they didn’t want. “Google has won with a superior product,” he said.
“The importance and significance of this case is not lost on me,” Mehta said as he concluded Friday’s court proceedings. “Not only for Google, but for the public.”
An adequate substitute for Google ads
If Google charges higher prices for advertising, are there suitable substitutes that advertisers would flee to? The answer to that question can say a lot about whether or not Google has the monopoly power that the DOJ alleges it has created through the contracts it has to be the default search engine on various browsers and devices. Google says there’s plenty of alternatives for advertisers; the government disagrees.
Mehta seemed sympathetic to the government’s arguments, though he acknowledged that alternatives to Google are robust ad companies in their own right. Amazon, for instance, isn’t exactly an inferior substitute to Google for ads, said Mehta. Unlike wrapping a sandwich in newspaper instead of cellophane, Mehta said, “If you move your ad money from Google to Amazon, you’re not wrapping your ad in newspaper.”
But Mehta later differentiated ad platforms like Facebook and TikTok from Google. Users searching on Google come with a strong idea of what they’re looking for, pretty much spelling it out in the query. Social media platforms often have to infer that intent from indirect signals.
In 2017, Google ran an experiment over several weeks and found it could increase prices five to 15 percent while still growing revenue
In 2017, Google ran an experiment over several weeks and found it could increase prices five to 15 percent while still growing revenue. “Google is able to decide on what the margin that they are going to acquire is. And that’s why they’re running experiments to say, ‘well if we up it by 15 percent, how much are we going to lose in revenue?’” Mehta said to Schmidtlein. “That’s something that only a monopolist could do, right?” Schmidtlein disagreed, saying it’s fair to run pricing experiments to figure out if they’re charging the right price.
Mehta pointed out that there was “no evidence that Google ever looks at a competitors’ pricing” for that purpose. Schmidtlein responded it wasn’t that simple. Because ads are sold through a complicated auction, not even Google has total insight into the pricing mechanism behind it. It simply isn’t the same as a Coca-Cola rep walking through a grocery store to see Pepsi’s prices.
Sabotaging ads on Bing
The plaintiff states — the attorneys general for 38 states led by Colorado and Nebraska that brought the suit alongside the DOJ — are also arguing that Google intentionally dragged its feet when building certain features for SA360, its search engine marketing tool. SA360 helps advertisers manage ads through different platforms — not just Google, but competitors like Microsoft’s Bing.
The states say that Google lagged behind in building a SA360 feature for Bing ads when it had already implemented it for Google search ads.
“The evidence here is a little bit tricky for Google,” Mehta said, noting the significance of Google having said rather publicly at the start that it was “not going to play favorites” when it came to SA360. While Google could have chosen to exclude Microsoft from the tool at the outset, “that’s not the choice they made,” Mehta said.
The tool was not delivered for nearly five years after Microsoft asked for it. “How can that not be at least inferred to be anticompetitive?” Mehta asked.
Deleted chats
Hanging over the whole case is an issue about whether Google intentionally deleted or failed to retain documents that might have been used as evidence in this trial.
Google had a policy of having “history off” on its chats by default, leaving it to employees to determine when to turn it on for relevant conversations. DOJ’s Dintzer called the alleged destruction of documents “unequivocal and honestly breathtaking.” He added that “there’s no question” executives “intentionally had conversations with history off.”
“Google’s retention policy leaves a lot to be desired,” said the judge, adding disapprovingly that it was “surprising to me that a company would leave it to their employees to decide when to preserve documents.”
“Google’s retention policy leaves a lot to be desired”
Soon after, Dintzer’s slide deck paused on a slide that simply read “This is Wrong,” as the DOJ attorney pointed out Google never apologized for the unretained documents nor promised not to do it again in the future. He said it’s imperative that the court impose sanctions that show the risk of destroying documents is not worthwhile. The DOJ is asking Mehta to make an adverse inference about Google for any element of the case where he doesn’t think plaintiffs have sufficient evidence. That would mean the judge would assume that any deleted chats would have been bad for Google and showed their anticompetitive intent behind their contracts with manufacturers and browsers. The DOJ also wants Mehta to take the destroyed chats as a signal of its anticompetitive intent.
Google attorney Colette Connor said the company’s lawyers had informed the state of Texas (one of the plaintiffs) early on about their retention policies. Dintzer said even that disclosure came months after the litigation hold and that the DOJ “clearly” would have acted had they known.
Mehta didn’t seem to buy Google’s defense. “It’s interesting to me that Google has been very deliberate — and perhaps after seeing what’s happened with Microsoft – very deliberate in advising employees in what not to say,” he said. In a training for employees, the company advised avoiding terms like “market share.” (Bloomberg Law has noted this is a common practice in large companies.)
It’s now up to Mehta to decide how those absent chats should be accounted for. He hasn’t provided a timeline for his decision, but in the meantime, Google and the DOJ will be preparing for their second antitrust face-off over advertising technology in the fall.
Stories like this make my blood boil. Some creep was caught taking pics up a woman’s skirt at a Target store. Let’s give a big cheer to the woman who called him out and filmed it.
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Peeping Toms and tech are a match made in you-know-where. They use everything from smartphones to hidden cameras to get their fix. Luckily, I’m on your side to keep you and your loved ones safe.
SPAM TEXT FAQ: WHAT TO DO, WHAT NOT TO DO AND HOW TO GET LESS
Skirting around the issue
On an otherwise ordinary day in Greenville, North Carolina, a woman took a trip to her local Target. She noticed a 21-year-old man getting a little too close for comfort — crouching down on the ground near her.
When she moved, so did the man. Then she noticed his cell phone on the floor. That’s when it clicked: She was wearing a skirt that day, and this creep was trying to slide his phone underneath to get a photo.
Caught red-handed
Another Target shopper spotted the creep, too. She started filming the peeper after noticing him following the victim around the store. She captured him putting his phone on the floor and posted it to social media.
Surveillance cameras displayed outside a home security shop in Markham, Ontario, Canada, on June 24, 2023. (Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Ultimately, that video is what led to the peeper’s arrest.
Of course, when the cops picked him up, he denied it all and gladly handed over his phone. Cops got a search warrant to dig deeper, and fortunately, they didn’t find any inappropriate photos of children.
The peeper was released on bond, and his fate now rests in the courts. He also won’t return to his job anytime soon. Where’d he work, you ask? An elementary school.
Protect your privacy
Whether you’re on a Target run or vacation, a Peeping Tom could be lurking. Stay safe and smart with these tips:
7 WAYS TO STOP PAYING SO MUCH ON STREAMING EVERY DANG MONTH
- Any public place is fair game for a creep. Be aware of your surroundings anywhere you change clothes, including fitting rooms, hotel rooms and gyms.
- Be on the lookout for cameras. Red flags include suspicious wires and tiny flashing lights. Cameras can also be hidden behind things like wall decor, lamps and shelves.
- Mirrors are camera hotspots. To check for one, turn off the lights in the room and shine your phone’s flashlight into the mirror.
- Don’t forget to check the toilets, too. Cameras could be hiding behind seats and tanks.
- For an added layer of protection, invest in a hidden camera detector and keep it in your purse. If you want to go the free route, there are also hidden camera detection apps for iPhone and Android. Just don’t expect stellar results.
What about rentals? Yes, you need to check there, too
I once found about a dozen cameras throughout a house I rented, but they were only disclosed in small type at the very bottom of the listing. It was clear they wanted me to miss that warning.
Given all the coverage about hidden cameras spotted in rentals, I’m not surprised Airbnb just banned indoor cameras. If anything, I’m shocked it took this long.
Checking around a small dressing room is one thing. Making sure your entire rental property is creep-free is a bigger job.
The Xiaomi Smart Camera C500 Pro is being showcased at the Mobile World Congress 2024 in Barcelona, Spain, on March 8, 2024. This latest surveillance camera from the Chinese company features smart detection capabilities for pets, baby sounds, or strong noises. (Joan Cros/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Here’s how to find them
Larger cameras are easy to spot, but anyone can easily hide smaller cameras behind furniture, vents or decorations. A simple way to spot most types of cameras is to look for the lens reflection.
- Turn off the lights and slowly scan the room with a flashlight or laser pointer, looking for bright reflections.
- Scan the room from multiple spots so you don’t miss a camera pointed only at certain places.
- Inspect the vents and any holes or gaps in the walls or ceilings.
You can also get an RF detector. This gadget can pick up wireless cameras you might not see. Unfortunately, RF detectors aren’t great for wired or record-only cameras. For those, you’ll need to stick with the lens reflection method.
If you can connect to the rental’s wireless network, a free program like Wireless Network Watcher shows what gadgets are connected. You might be able to spot connected cameras that way. I do this in every rental I stay in, just to double-check what’s connected to the network.
The Google Nest Cam, an indoor and outdoor smart security camera developed by Google’s home safety brand, is on display on Android Avenue at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, on March 25, 2024. (Joan Cros/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Be aware that the owner might have put the cameras on a second network, or they could be wired or record-only types, so this is not a fail-safe option.
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Microsoft’s latest Windows Insider blog posts say that when it comes to testing new Copilot features in Windows 11, “We have decided to pause the rollouts of these experiences to further refine them based on user feedback.” For people who already have the feature, “Copilot in Windows will continue to work as expected while we continue to evolve new ideas with Windows Insiders.”
We’re expecting to see new Surface laptops powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite processors that run Windows on Arm and compete with Apple’s M3-powered MacBook Air. Meanwhile, new features for Windows are expected to include an AI Explorer app that resembles the old Windows 10 Timeline feature that remembered what you were doing and allowed users to pick up tasks across different devices, and play up the idea of a “Copilot for every person.”
Copilot features Microsoft recently tested in the preview include one where the Copilot taskbar icon animated to show when the AI assistant could help. You could then hover the mouse icon over it to see your options, like getting an AI-generated summary of text.
Another allowed Copilot in Windows to pop out of the sidebar and into a normal application window, which users could resize and move around. This feature started rolling out to the Canary channel in March.
New builds going out to both the Dev and Beta channels include a fix for Copilot unexpectedly auto-launching after a restart. There’s also a new shortcut in the right-click menu for tabs in File Explorer, allowing users to duplicate the current tab. But for those who keep a close eye on Task Manager, the most important note of all is that Microsoft has updated the units to correctly reflect memory speed, going from the MHz of yesteryear to a DDR-ready MT/s count.
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