Smart TVs running operating systems from Samsung, Vizio, and Roku continue sending data to automatic content recognition (ACR) endpoints after users opt out of tracking in the devices’ settings, according to research published on Monday. The paper from Northeastern University researchers points to potential privacy violations from some of the biggest TV brands.
ACR captures video screenshots or audio clips from smart TVs and sends the data to remote servers, where it's used for things like measuring content viewership and serving targeted ads.
Smart TVs running operating systems from Samsung, Vizio, and Roku continue sending data to automatic content recognition (ACR) endpoints after users opt out of tracking in the devices’ settings, according to research published on Monday. The paper from Northeastern University researchers points to potential privacy violations from some of the biggest TV brands.
ACR captures video screenshots or audio clips from smart TVs and sends the data to remote servers, where it's used for things like measuring content viewership and serving targeted ads.
For years, the HomePod mini has been my go-to speaker for everyday listening at home. It sounds great, looks sleek, and deeply integrates into the Apple ecosystem—all for just $99 (at least back I bought one when it launched). When Apple unveiled the HomePod mini 2 last week, I was tempted to replace my fully functional stereo pair solely to get the new software exclusives, such as Siri AI. That was until I installed the OS 27.2 update, which brings enough of the second-generation experience to the original HomePod mini to minimize my urge to upgrade.
Quite the glow-up
Sound Glow essentially brings the Dynamic Island’s animated waveform to the HomePod. The brand-new feature extracts the most prominent colors in a playing song’s album art and displays them on the HomePod’s touchscreen. The hues dynamically pulsate in sync with the track’s rhythm, reflecting the bass and treble in real time. While it technically doesn’t change how a song sounds, it does make the listening experience significantly more immersive and enjoyable.
I had assumed Apple would restrict Sound Glow to the HomePod mini 2, as my first-generation stereo pair is always within my sight when working, and such a feature would matter to me. The Music app on my Apple TV 4K 3 already provided a similar visualizer on the big screen; having my HomePod minis react with the same palette would contribute to the overall ambience.
I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Sound Glow is actually supported on all HomePods—excluding the original full-size model. After installing iOS 27.2 on my iPhone and its HomePod equivalent on my speakers, I was able to turn on and use Sound Glow on my 2020 minis just fine. Now they feel significantly more vibrant and energetic when blasting bops on them.
My old HomePod mini is getting new lights and features to match the 2nd-gen model.
Mahmoud Itani / Foundry
Ghost buster
Many users have had to discard their otherwise functional HomePods because of the somewhat widespread phantom touch issue. The flaw repeatedly triggers the affected HomePod’s touchscreen without any user input, pausing/playing music and controlling the volume in a chaotic manner.
The latest OS update fixes the issue with a Lock Controls toggle in the Home app that optionally disables the touchscreen. So, whenever your HomePod starts misbehaving, you can kill touch input altogether and continue to rely on the otherwise functional speaker using voice commands or your iPhone.
Turning a blind AI
While OS 27.2 does not activate Siri AI on my original HomePod minis, the feature is arguably inessential in this context. The classic Siri generally works well for basic audio playback commands, and I tend to have longer, more complicated conversations with Siri AI using the keyboard on my iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
Plus, the new HomePod mini 2 sells for $149, so upgrading my stereo pair would cost me another $300. It would make more sense to maintain my current HomePod setup and instead buy a HomeView for a similar price. This would unlock Siri AI and provide an always-on display as a bonus. Until Apple releases a meaningful upgrade, I will continue to rely on my trusty 6-year-old HomePod minis without a problem.
HomePod Software and iOS 27.2 will launch to the general public next week—potentially on Monday, October 26—with the Sound Glow and Lock Controls features. To try them early, you can sign up for Apple’s beta program and download the Release Candidate builds currently available.
Google Home Speaker users have noticed that the device has consumed an enormous amount of data in the background.
The device was reportedly spotted consuming several terabytes of data in a single month without much use.
Google is reportedly aware of the problem and has started rolling out a fix.
Users on social media are waking up to a startling truth: their Google Home Speaker has been incredibly active in the background. There's no clear reason why, but the amount of data is staggering.
Posts on the Google Home subreddit draw attention to an unfathomable amount of data being consumed by the Home Speaker (via 9to5Google). The user states that they've "got one old Google Mini and three of the new Google speakers." What's more, these devices aren't used for more than 20 minutes a day. This is strange, considering the user reports one of their Google Home Speakers consumed over 140GB of data in a day.
Combined, the user states their three speakers consumed 6TB of data "in under a month." Another user with a Home Speaker reported the same, stating, "Something’s up with them. This just started in the past 2 weeks for mine." This issue appears to be confined to the Google Home Speaker, as a user with a Nest Audio couldn't find an unusual amount of data consumption.
The publication speculated on this, too, but one Redditor said their speaker downloaded 20GB in a single day. However, they added that "It kept downloading firmware and failing to install it." This makes it seem like the device got caught in the worst possible loop of downloading and failing.
Google reportedly informed the publication that this is an issue with the Home Speaker. It adds that "a fix is already rolling out" to address this problem. Android Central has reached out to Google for more information, and we will update this post when we hear back.
I'd be concerned if I woke up one day and saw huge spikes of data being consumed by a Home Speaker. For what reason is it doing this, you know? It's a concerning issue, especially for something always connected to the internet (hence the data consumption). What makes it worse is if you don't use it that often, but maybe sparingly for queries here and there. The good thing is that Google is aware. Let's hope it doesn't happen again.
The Google Home Speaker is the company's new beginning for AI in the home. Gemini is integrated throughout the product to assist users with daily queries and more. While the device has gotten off without a hitch (for the most part), the Home Speaker did struggle this summer. Users reported incredibly slow response times from Gemini.
A latency problem was the culprit. Users reported that on the first day, there were no issues; however, after the second, "...every single question (even 'hello') needs at least 30s of answer time." Many queries that users would have for Gemini would time out, as the AI couldn't respond within a meaningful time. What's more, Google's smart home devices beyond the Home Speaker struggled, too.
Google had to roll out a software update to solve this issue, which is strange. Shortly before these issues appeared, the company rolled out a Gemini update for its smart home devices to make it "snappier." That seemingly backfired and required more tuning to get it right.
Some Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses were recording people’s conversations without the wearer knowing. The recordings occurred without users saying the prompt phrase (“Hey, Meta”), in a bug that Meta says has been fixed.
This week, some usersreported online that their Ray-Ban Metas were recording without their consent. A person going by Kindly-Audience-137 on Reddit, for example, said this happened to them across three Meta Ray-Bans and that they had the “Respond without Hey Meta” setting turned off. The person said the Meta AI app “saves audio recordings and text transcripts of these conversations in my conversation history.”
“I believe this deserves a serious technical investigation. Customers should not have to wonder whether their private conversations are being captured when they have not intentionally activated their glasses’ AI assistant,” the Reddit user said.
Apple opened preorders for the HomeView smart home hub today.
The HomeView is a 7-inch smart display and speaker that aims to be a central access point for up to six members of a family to access and control Apple’s ecosystem of devices, apps, and the Siri generative AI chatbot that's currently in beta.
Users can speak to HomeView to control smart home devices, such as, for example, telling Siri to close the smart blinds or activate smart locks. HomeView can also show a livestream for up to nine video feeds simultaneously.
LG has developed a video doorbell, a floodlight camera, outdoor and indoor cameras, a thermostat, and a temperature sensor, along with a smart lock that supports Ultra Wideband for hands-free door unlocking. Schneider Electric will offer a smart thermostat and temperature and humidity sensors. Device installation will also be available through a partnership between ADT and Apple Retail in the U.S. for an additional fee.
Source: Apple.
Standout features include:
the ability of the cameras to pick out faces, animals, vehicles, and packages,
iCloud+ support for HomeKit Secure Video,
the ability for the indoor cameras to tilt down when a household member returns home,
adaptive temperature on the thermostat that adjusts heating and cooling according to whether someone is home, and
the ability to shift heating and cooling use (U.S. only) to when available energy sources are cleaner.
Source: Apple.
Pricing for the devices is as follows:
LG Video Doorbell Wired: $249.95
LG Floodlight Cam: $399.95
LG Outdoor Cam Plug-In: $299.95
LG Indoor Cam Plug-In: $199.95
LG Smart Deadbolt Lock: $349.95
LG Smart Thermostat: $199.95
LG Temperature Sensor: $39.95
Schneider Home Smart Thermostat: $199.95
Schneider Home Room Sensor: $39.95
The cameras will be available in the U.S., Canada, and the UK, with other devices limited to the U.S. and Canada.
Login
