Desk
TVs, home appliances and the smart home: refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, purifiers, robot vacuums, the sets on the wall and the platforms that connect them. Launches, prices in the US and India, and what changed.
Stories on this desk are written by Hitechreports’s automated newsroom from the sources credited on each piece. Bylines are desk signatures, not individual journalists.
Signatures used by this desk: Living Room, Appliance Watch, Home Screen
A reverse engineer who rooted a 2025 Tizen TV also says OpenAI banned their research account mid-investigation, which they dispute as a mistaken flag.
BGR details a simple setup that turns an old, unused iPhone into a hands-free Siri speaker by pairing it with a Bluetooth or wired speaker, offering a cheaper alternative to buying a HomePod.
Apple TV 4K supports more HDR formats and uses a fraction of the power of a PlayStation 5 for streaming, according to a comparison highlighting why gamers may still want a separate box for movies.
Both the Nvidia Shield TV Pro and the Apple TV 4K have gotten more expensive, but a new How-To Geek comparison says Apple's updated streaming box now beats Nvidia's aging hardware on chip speed, voice control and HDR support.
The Open Home Foundation is rolling out version 1.5.0 of its Matter server for Home Assistant, adding Matter 1.6.1 support, two-way camera audio, and custom cluster support for upcoming Aqara and IKEA devices.
A Redditor's attempt to debloat a Samsung Tizen TV with Claude turned into an 11-hour project after the AI discovered it wasn't dealing with Android TV at all, and had to borrow a phone camera to see its own progress.
Google Home is quietly moving Philips Hue bridges to local Matter control, cutting out the round trip to the cloud for faster responses. The same update redesigns third-party device controls and smooths out Gemini for Home's voice commands.
Xiaomi has begun taking pre-orders for the Mijia Water Purifier 3 1200G, a 13-stage home water purifier rated for 50 tons of output and a 3.74 L/min flow rate, priced at 1,499 yuan in China.
iOS 27.2's release candidate adds a color-reactive HomePod light show called Sound Glow, a Lock Controls toggle for the top cap, TV app profiles and Messages suggestions, according to 9to5Mac's hands-on look at the build.
Apple's fourth-generation Apple TV 4K brings an A19 chip, hands-free Siri and 128GB storage, launching for preorder in October 2026 with pricing reported between $199 and $300 in the US.
Apple India hit ₹1 lakh crore in revenue for FY26 — the first time it has crossed that threshold in the country. Net profit jumped 66% year-on-year, while revenue grew 31%, outpacing Samsung India, which saw a decline in the same period.
Apple is adding a ‘Lock Controls’ setting for all HomePod models—including the 2018 first-gen unit—with the iOS 27.2 and HomePod software 27.2 updates, rolling out next week.
The Google Pixel 11 Pro HiLight launched with just five LED colors for contact notifications — despite hardware supporting more — and users are calling the slow, beta-only rollout of additional options 'absolutely insane' given the $999 price.
iPhone 18 Pro Max is live at $1,299 — Rs 1,14,900 in India — with Burgundy, Glacier, Silver, and Black options. Variable aperture arrives on the main camera. Siri AI is functional but inconsistent. Face ID remains fast. Upgrade rationale narrows sharply for iPhone 17 Pro Max owners.
Apple is developing a robotic, 9-inch version of HomeView — but Gurman says it’s a future-tier product, not a near-term replacement.
Star Ring’s Tesla ambient light kit brings Philips Hue–style effects to Model 3 and Model Y interiors — no hub, no bulbs, just a $509 DIY kit launching via Kickstarter.
Apple has not announced, leaked, or patented a smart display called HomeView. The 'Apple HomeView' exists only in an Android Authority opinion piece published Friday morning.
Apple’s iPhone Duo is live for pre-order in India at ₹2,99,900 — and deliveries are already scheduled for January 2027.
The new Apple TV 4K (2026) doesn’t support Dolby TrueHD. A developer just made it do so anyway — using Apple’s own spatial audio codec as a bridge.
Apple HomeView launches at $299 — wall-mountable, face-aware, and shipping November 13. The HomePod mini 2 follows on October 30 at $149, with Siri AI delayed to a later software update. And the new Apple TV 4K jumps to $299 — its first hardware refresh in four years — also arriving November 13.
Sony Bravia 9 II is live globally — $3,599.99 for the 65-inch model in the US, ₹3,29,990 in India, and £3,499.99 in the UK. It’s the first mass-market TV to use True RGB LED — a mini-LED panel with discrete red, green and blue diodes instead of white LEDs with color filters — and it’s built to challenge OLED on contrast and black levels while smashing brightness records.
Oppo’s new European strategy hinges on AI search behavior: 40% of young buyers use ChatGPT to compare phones, and Oppo’s Find X9 Ultra ranks #1 for ‘best phone for photography’ there — unlike on Google.
Apple HomeView price, specs, and launch date confirmed: $299, 7-inch display, November 13
The Pixel 11 is out: faster than the Pixel 10, with marginally better cameras and quicker charging. But its headline feature — a new HiLight notification LED — has drawn muted reactions.
Apple has opened preorders for the iPhone Duo—the company’s first foldable—starting at $1,999 in the US and ₹1,99,999 in India. It ships October 23, but online delivery estimates already stretch into late January 2027 across all configurations on Apple’s website.
Gemini for Home now stops listening the instant you say “stop”—no reply, no delay, no extra audio. Google confirmed the change in its October 14 release notes, and The Ambient reported it live at 7:30 a.m. ET on October 17.
The iPhone Air launched in September 2025. Twelve months later, there’s no successor — and no Android phone left that meaningfully competes with it.
Google has confirmed it will shut down Safety Signal on the Pixel Watch on December 12, 2026 — removing automatic emergency calls and fall detection for users without cellular service or a Google Health Premium subscription.
Apple Home Collection launches December 2026 with NFC setup, Matter Binding, and full Thread support — priced from $79 (LG sensor) to $349 (Schneider Electric panel) in US; Rs 6,990 to Rs 29,990 in India.
Apple HomeView smart display gains SwitchBot and Nanoleaf support ahead of UK launch — wall mount included, EU still blocked.