Tyler Lacoma

1 week ago | cnet.com | Tyler Lacoma

Buying new smart home security devices is exciting, especially if they bring hot new features that your old gear doesn't offer. Smart home tech continues to improve it's offerings with better features like AI detection and more. But that doesn't mean you need to give up on your old security tech just yet. I switch out a whole lot of home devices in my reviews, so I'm always tinkering with ways to reuse or find more value in these products. Before you throw out old technology, I've got some ideas.

1 week ago | cnet.com | Tyler Lacoma

Google's latest AI addition makes Google searches conversational on your phone with Search Live -- and I love being able to interrupt it. While Google's AI Mode search has been available to Google Labs participants for some time, the company rolled out the Search Live function on June 18 for iOS and Android users. You can access it through a new AI Mode icon -- a star above three audio lines.

1 week ago | cnet.com | Tyler Lacoma

CNET reviewers have been fans of Wyze's security platform and cameras in the past, but in the last couple of years I've pulled back from recommending their affordable cams and similar security devices due to a series of unsettling security breaches that I covered in-depth. Now it's been well over a year, and Wyze's security changes have culminated in a fascinating new safety layer called VerifiedView. Here's how it works: VerifiedView is a layer of metadata that now applies to all Wyze cameras.

1 week ago | cnet.com | Tyler Lacoma

Today’s LED lights offer warm colors, smart connections -- and higher prices than old incandescents. That's what makes it so disappointing when they suddenly fail after a year or two of use even though they’re promised for years of low-energy performance. It’s happened to me and many others, too, so I asked the experts to figure out what’s going on. It turns out our home LED bulbs fail for very specific reasons and there are steps we can take to keep them lasting as long as they should.

1 week ago | flipboard.com | Tyler Lacoma

4 hours agoA Tesla manager who was recently fired for warning that CEO Elon Musk was ruining the company, Matthew LaBrot, has given an interview to give more details about the situation and how he doesn’t see Tesla coming out of it. Last month, we reported on how LaBrot, a 5-year veteran manager at Tesla, led …