The rumor mill is reaching peak production this week, as Apple bolsters its mesh networking by joining Thread Group.

Hooked on Nest thermostats, smoke and CO alarms and indoor/outdoor surveillance cameras, this Nest Elite Pro dealer -- and his Nest-obsessed customers -- can't wait to integrate the new Nest Hello video doorbell and Next x Yale smart lock, starting t

August and Nest/Yale employ low-energy home-automation protocols (Bluetooth LE and Thread/Weave) for their door locks, connecting to the home network via Wi-Fi-enabled video doorbells powered over wire.

IoT chip-maker Silicon Labs (SLAB) to acquire Z-Wave technology owner Sigma Designs (SIGM), giving a big boost to the home-automation standard.

Julie Jacobson and Avi Rosenthal wonder why Amazon chose ZigBee for Echo Plus home-automation hub, when Z-Wave is more interoperable, secure, supportable, and ubiquitous.

The theme of Google's big press event last week was: Stuff just happens. No downloads. No "skills." New Google Home Max, potential Sonos buster, listens and learns for "smarter sound," and Nest home automation magically joins the ecosystem.