On this week's episode of the HomeKit Insider podcast, Cole Ashman from Pila Energy joins to talk about the week's news before talking in-depth about the convergence of the smart home and power.

Co-hosting the podcast this week is Cole Ashman, CEO and founder of Pila Energy. This new startup is creating a unique, expandable, and plug-and-play power station for your smart home.

Pila Energy units are intended to be continuously used and offer value throughout the year, and not just during power outages. Plus, they have Matter support coming down the line with a future update following integration with Home Assistant.

In the news, Kohler has announced its first smart camera designed for the bathroom. This toilet-mounted camera is able to provide helpful health insights for users such as information on nutrition absorption or signs of blood. Seems like a bad idea to us.

Dekoda, which is available to preorder now for $599, it clips on the side of your toilet bowl and can monitor up to five users in a household. It has a wall-mounted fingerprint reader to know who is using it and requires a Kohler Health membership to get the full benefits.

Whisker also announced its new Litter Robot 5 line — including the Litter Robot EVO, Litter Robot 5, and Litter Robot 5 Pro. They feature a range of new features including interior and exterior cameras, a front-facing display, better cat detection, and waste identification.

Lux has two new Matter-enabled thermostats for order. There is the TQX and TQ1 thermostats which run $179.99 and $94.99 respectively.

They both look similar, but the high-end model has additional features such as wireless sensors to learn occupancy and temperature patterns. With Matter, they will likely work with Apple's new Adaptive Temperature feature in Apple Home.

Finally, we wrap up the episode talking about Pila Energy. We talk about the new hardware, how the smart home and power devices are converging, and how Matter will come into the picture.

Those interested in sponsoring the show can reach out to us at [email protected]

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