Episode 584 - First, They Came for the Robot Vacuums

On this week's show: the FCC’s robot ban turns out to include future robot vacuums and mowers, which may make the next robovac harder to buy without making it much safer; Roku decides budget streamers are a premium experience now; Apple’s smart home hub and Siri refresh are reportedly getting closer; Sonos is teasing some kind of AI move for September; UniFi adds a Thread border router and beefs up Protect; plus new gear from Zooz, Aqara, Xiaomi, Homey, SmartThings, and Home Assistant, a pick of the week, project updates, and so much more! • HomeTech Headlines • The US is banning foreign robots (https://theverge.com/tech/972259/us-f...) • The US government just banned Roombas (https://theverge.com/policy/972312/us...) • Robot vacuums are included in US robot ban (https://9to5google.com/2026/07/29/rob...) • The ban on robot vacuums won’t make them safer. But it may make your next one worse (https://theverge.com/tech/973738/robo...) • The US Just Banned New Chinese Robot Vacuums and Mowers: Canada Could Be Next | iPhone in Canada (https://iphoneincanada.ca/2026/07/30/...) • Roku raises streaming stick prices by up to 60 percent (https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/...) • Zooz 800 Series Z-Wave Long Range Motion Dimmer ZEN12 800LR (https://thesmartesthouse.com/products...) • Xiaomi’s smart washing machines are finally going global (https://the-ambient.com/news/xiaomis-...) • Sonos Is Reportedly Planning Something Big for AI in September (https://cepro.com/news/sonos-is-repor...) • Apple’s long-awaited smart home Siri AI refresh is achingly close to reality (https://the-ambient.com/news/apples-l...) • Apple Could Start New Smart Home Push as Early as October (https://cepro.com/news/apple-could-st...) • Ubiquiti’s new SuperLink Gateway HA brings professional Thread hardware to UniFi (https://matteralpha.com/news/ubiquiti...) • UniFi Gets Its Own Thread Border Router (https://matter-smarthome.de/en/produc...) • Introducing UniFi Protect 7.2 (https://blog.ui.com/article/welcome-t...) • Homey is a rare smart home platform that is Matter 1.5 certified (https://the-ambient.com/news/homey-is...) • SmartThings quietly brings Matter 1.6 to beta hub firmware (https://matteralpha.com/industry-news...) • Finally: Aqara launches dual-protocol Matter and Thread smart plugs in the UK and EU (https://matteralpha.com/news/aqara-po...) • Home Assistant 2026.8 beta adds Matter doorbell events and simpler setup (https://matteralpha.com/news/home-ass...) • FireAvert joins Works with Home Assistant (https://home-assistant.io/blog/2026/0...) • Building the device database together: Public preview now live – Open Home Foundation (https://openhomefoundation.org/blog/b...) • GitHub - GuiPoM/ha-sentinel: HA Sentinel — proactive health monitoring for Home Assistant integrations and apps (https://github.com/GuiPoM/ha-sentinel) • ESPHome Starter Kit (https://apolloautomation.com/products...) • Maslow4 Large Format CNC (https://www.maslowcnc.com)