6 Months Later

If the Aliro standard wasn’t coming out this year, ultra-wideband unlocking tech on iPhones would make a lot of users switch away from Android. I’m one week in, and I'm never going back to other smart locks.

[image or embed]

— Josh Teder (@joshteder.bsky.social) January 21, 2026 at 3:15 PM

Apple Creator Studio launches on January 28th.

Apple is aggressively taking on Adobe with a new subscription offering. And given how popular Macs are and how much better Apple's pricing is here, I think this poses a pretty big risk to Adobe. And you can still buy Apple's apps individually as one-time purchases! 😀

[image or embed]

— Josh Teder (@joshteder.bsky.social) January 13, 2026 at 12:45 PM

Out of all the gadgets that launched at CES this year, this is the one that piqued our interest the most.

Cleaning the stairs. Shown off at CES 2026, their new prototype can not only traverse from one floor of your home to another, but it can also stop to clean the stairs as well. You can read more about it in the company’s blog post, which also discusses its first-ever robotic lawn mower.

The Verge’s Jennifer Pattison Tuohy got to test out the new lock for the past month. The lock is Matter-Over-Thread-compatible and should work with the Arilo smartlock standard, due out sometime in 2026, which we talked about in our smart home guide last year. Still no word on where the ultra-wideband Schlage Sense Pro is, which was announced at CES over a year ago.

You can order Aqara’s new U400 UWB Lock today via Amazon:

ⓘ

Aqara UWB Smart Lock U400

$269.99

View on Amazon

Affiliate Link. Product data updated: 2026-01-22 US price.

@verge Aqara’s new smart lock is the first to work with Apple’s Hands-free Home Key. The U400 can unlock your door automatically using ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, which recognizes you as you approach your door with your iPhone or Apple Watch. It costs $269.99, and launches today. #CES #CES2026 #smarthome #homekey #techtok ♬ original sound – The Verge

As reported by The Verge, iRobot has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It is set to be acquired by its Chinese contract manufacturer, which also manufactures some other popular robotic vacuum cleaners. The last time we reviewed a Roomba on the channel was almost six years ago. Since that time, iRobot has been overtaken by others like Roborock, which offered more cutting-edge features like LiDAR navigation, and even robotic arms, like the one on the Saros Z70, which we have a review coming out next week and is on an incredible sale right now:

If you buy something from a link, 6 Months Later may earn a commission. See our ethics policy.

ⓘ

Roborock Saros Z70 Robotic Vacuum with Arm

$2,599.00 50%

$1,299.99

View on Amazon

More Stores

Affiliate Links. Product data updated: 2026-01-22 US price.

ⓘ

Roborock Saros 10R Robotic Vacuu,

$1,599.99

View on Amazon

More Stores

Affiliate Links. Product data updated: 2026-01-22 US price.

According to Digital Trends, this will only work for authors who opt into allowing readers to download their books in EPUB and PDF formats. It’s unclear just how many authors will do this, and this still isn’t quite the solution we called for in our review of the latest Kindle Paperwhite, but it is certainly a small step in the right direction.

As we discussed in our M4 Mac Mini review, Apple will likely refresh the Studio Display in 2026. According to MacWorld, new specs include ProMotion, HDR and more.

Wrist flick and pinch gestures, similar to those on the Apple Watch, plus better AI-powered smart replies (also coming to the Pixel Watch 3), are coming to the Pixel Watch 4 via an update.

Technology Connections continues their quest to steer the Christmas light industry away from god-awful blue-looking LEDs. Thankfully, you can find colored LED holiday lights that offer a superior traditional warm glow. We’ll let them explain how they did it:

Google recently announced new features, including forcing app icons to match your themes, new notification summaries (that don’t suck), and more. Here’s a video they released going over four new significant changes: