Aqara today announced two new smart home safety products – a Smoke Detector for European markets and a Valve Controller T1 for global release. Both devices expand the company's home safety lineup with Matter compatibility and Apple HomeKit integration.
The Valve Controller T1 is designed to prevent water damage by retrofitting onto existing household water valves. It can automatically shut off water flow when linked to leak sensors and supports common pipe sizes from 1/2" to 1". The controller runs on four AA batteries with an estimated two-year battery life.
The new Smoke Detector, available exclusively in Europe, features an 85-decibel siren and smartphone notifications for smoke detection. When paired with Aqara cameras, homeowners can visually verify alarms remotely. The detector can also trigger other Aqara hub sirens and grouped smoke detectors for whole-home alerts.
Both products work with Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, and Google Home through Matter-over-Bridge support. This enables automated routines like flashing smart lights red during smoke detection or shutting down HVAC systems to prevent smoke circulation.
The Smoke Detector utilizes Zigbee protocol for efficient power usage, offering up to 10 years of battery life. Both devices can be managed through the Aqara Home app for configuration and monitoring.
The Valve Controller T1 is available now through Aqara's Amazon stores in the US and Europe. The Smoke Detector can be purchased from Aqara's European Amazon stores and select retailers.
Thursday January 16, 2025 6:45 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today adjusted estimated trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models in the U.S., according to its website.
Some values increased, while others decreased. The changes were not too significant, with most values rising or dropping by $5 to $50.
We have outlined some examples below:
Device
New Value
Old Value
iPhone 15 Pro Max
Up to $630
U ...
Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app.
Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features.
Notification Summary Changes
Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines.
For...
Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action.
Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
Wednesday January 15, 2025 7:16 am PST by Joe Rossignol
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the "ultra-thin" device.
Overall, the "iPhone 17 Air" is shaping up to be a mixed bag. Due to its thinness, the device is expected to have some limited specifications compared to the iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, only a single speaker, no SIM...
Friday January 17, 2025 3:38 pm PST by Juli Clover
For the last several months, we've been hearing rumors about a redesigned version of the iPhone 17 that Apple might call the iPhone 17 "Air," or something along those lines. It's going to replace the iPhone 17 Plus as Apple's fourth iPhone option, and it will be offered alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max.
We know the iPhone 17 Air is going to be super slim, but...
Friday January 17, 2025 5:30 am PST by Joe Rossignol
2025 promises to be quite a big year for Apple, with the company rumored to be planning more than 20 product announcements this year.
Apple's rumored smart home hub will be its second all-new product to launch in as many years, following the Apple Vision Pro headset last year. And of course, we will get several new iPhone and Apple Watch models, like every year. Beyond that, Apple could...
The iPhone 17 lineup will feature a vapor chamber heatsink to improve thermal performance, according to a new report.
The news comes from Chinese tech news site MyDrivers, which claims that the entire iPhone 17 lineup, consisting of the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max, will adopt the improved thermal heat spreader.
Vapor chamber technology is already used...
Well, I was hoping that might be an affordable alternative to the Nest Protect alarm, but it looks as if that's still head and shoulders above the competition (in terms of price, as much as features too, sadly). No carbon monoxide sensing, and (the biggie) no voice telling you which sensor has been triggered or needs its battery replacing. If there's a fire, the last thing I want to be doing is checking an app on my phone to find out what's going on.
Riddle me this: If the thing you keep on all the time at home, ie your router catches fire how will the smoke alarm let you know if you're out of the building?
It should alert you when smoke is detected, before your router catches fire.
