Apple is mandating users upgrade to its new Home architecture by February 10, 2026, or risk losing control of HomeKit-connected smart devices and automations. PCWorld reports the updated system no longer supports iPads as home hubs, requiring an Apple TV 4K ($129+) or HomePod ($99) instead. Despite initial rollout problems in 2022, the re-released architecture since iOS 16.4 promises improved reliability and efficiency for smart home management. Well, this is it: After a series of delays, Apple is finally nixing support for its old Home architecture, meaning those still relying on the previous version of Apple's Home framework have some decisions to make--quickly. The moment of truth arrives February 10, 2026, less than a week away.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Ultramarine robotic pool cleaner joins Ecovacs' home robot lineup Known for its robot vacuum cleaners, Ecovacs shipped its first robot mower in 2023. The Ultramarine is the company's first foray into robotic pool cleaners. Ecovacs, known for its robotic vacuums, lawn mowers, and window-cleaning systems, is taking the plunge--literally--with its first robotic pool cleaner: the Ultramarine. Unveiled at CES 2026, this marks the company's first entry into the space, with a model the company describes as "built from the ground up" to address frustrations users have with existing robotic pool cleaners on the market; namely, poor coverage, overly complicated control systems, and unacceptable device longevity.

The best-known manufacturer of autonomous vacuums declared bankruptcy this week, and no one should be surprised. The home-vacuum robot began, like most things, with war. In August 1990, the same month and year Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, three MIT roboticists incorporated the company that would eventually become iRobot, the maker of the Roomba. In its first decade, iRobot began to assemble a small-droid A-team for the theater of combat. The Ariel defused mines; the PackBot handled bomb disposal.

The US firm behind the Roomba smart vacuum cleaner, iRobot, has filed for bankruptcy protection after facing competition from Chinese rivals and being hit by tariffs. Under the so-called pre-packaged Chapter 11 process, the main manufacturer of its devices, Shenzhen-based Picea Robotics, will take ownership of the firm. The tough commercial landscape had forced iRobot to cut its prices and make major investments in new technology, according to documents filed on Sunday. US import duties of 46% on goods from Vietnam, where most of iRobot's devices for the American market are made, increased its costs by $23m (£17.2m) this year, the firm said. The loss-making company was valued at $3.56bn in 2021 after the pandemic helped to drive strong demand for its products.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. The Google Home app won't let you "Call Home" anymore Google appears to have nixed a feature that allowed users to "call home" to their Google smart speakers and displays from their smartphones. They say you can't go home again, and for the moment, it appears you can't call home to your Google displays or speakers anymore either. Google Home users on Reddit have been noticing that the "Call Home" button in the Google Home app, which lets you directly call your Google Nest Hub smart displays or Nest speakers from a smartphone, seems to have vanished . I don't see the Call Home button on the Google Home app either, and the sleuths at 9to5Google confirm that after "digging through the Home app, 'Call Home' has completely disappeared."

College students often face academic challenges that hamper their productivity and well-being. Although self-help books and productivity apps are popular, they often fall short. Books provide generalized, non-interactive guidance, and apps are not inherently educational and can hinder the development of key organizational skills. Traditional productivity coaching offers personalized support, but is resource-intensive and difficult to scale. In this study, we present a proof-of-concept for a socially assistive robot (SAR) as an educational coach and a potential solution to the limitations of existing productivity tools and coaching approaches. The SAR delivers six different lessons on time management and task prioritization. Users interact via a chat interface, while the SAR responds through speech (with a toggle option). An integrated dashboard monitors progress, mood, engagement, confidence per lesson, and time spent per lesson. It also offers personalized productivity insights to foster reflection and self-awareness. We evaluated the system with 15 college students, achieving a System Usability Score of 79.2 and high ratings for overall experience and engagement. Our findings suggest that SAR-based productivity coaching can offer an effective and scalable solution to improve productivity among college students.

College students often face academic and life stressors affecting productivity, especially students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) who experience executive functioning challenges. Conventional productivity tools typically demand sustained self-discipline and consistent use, which many students struggle with, leading to disruptive app-switching behaviors. Socially Assistive Robots (SARs), known for their intuitive and interactive nature, offer promising potential to support productivity in academic environments, having been successfully utilized in domains like education, cognitive development, and mental health. To leverage SARs effectively in addressing student productivity, this study employed a Participatory Design (PD) approach, directly involving college students and a Student Success and Well-Being Coach in the design process. Through interviews and a collaborative workshop, we gathered detailed insights on productivity challenges and identified desirable features for a productivity-focused SAR. Importantly, ethical considerations were integrated from the onset, facilitating responsible and user-aligned design choices. Our contributions include comprehensive insights into student productivity challenges, SAR design preferences, and actionable recommendations for effective robot characteristics. Additionally, we present stakeholder-derived ethical guidelines to inform responsible future implementations of productivity-focused SARs in higher education.

In the study, the device of social robot was designed for visually impaired users, and along with a mobile application for provide functions to assist their lives. Both physical and mental conditions of visually impaired users are considered, and the mobile application provides functions: photo record, mood lift, greeting guest and today highlight. The application was designed for visually impaired users, and uses voice control to provide a friendly interface. Photo record function allows visually impaired users to capture image immediately when they encounter danger situations. Mood lift function accompanies visually impaired users by asking questions, playing music and reading articles. Greeting guest function answers to the visitors for the inconvenient physical condition of visually impaired users. In addition, today highlight function read news including weather forecast, daily horoscopes and daily reminder for visually impaired users. Multiple tools were adopted for developing the mobile application, and a website was developed for caregivers to check statues of visually impaired users and for marketing of the application.

Sunday Robotics has a new way to train robots to do common household tasks. The startup plans to put its fully autonomous robots in homes next year. Memo may not be the world's fastest barista, but it is impressive--for a robot. I recently watched as Memo, a new home robot from a company called Sunday Robotics, made coffee in an open-plan kitchen in Mountain View, California. Memo looks like something out of Wall-E, with a gleaming white body, two arms, a friendly cartoonish face, and a red baseball cap.

As social robots increasingly enter public environments, their acceptance depends not only on technical reliability but also on ethical integrity, accessibility, and user trust. This paper reports on a pilot deployment of an ARI social robot functioning as a university receptionist, designed in alignment with the SecuRoPS framework for secure and ethical social robot deployment. Thirty-five students and staff interacted with the robot and provided structured feedback on safety, privacy, usability, accessibility, and transparency. The results show generally positive perceptions of physical safety, data protection, and ethical behavior, while also highlighting challenges related to accessibility, inclusiveness, and dynamic interaction. Beyond the empirical findings, the study demonstrates how theoretical frameworks for ethical and secure design can be implemented in real-world contexts through end-user evaluation. It also provides a public GitHub repository containing reusable templates for ARI robot applications to support reproducibility and lower the entry barrier for new researchers. By combining user perspectives with practical technical resources, this work contributes to ongoing discussions in AI and society and supports the development of trustworthy, inclusive, and ethically responsible social robots for public spaces.