Michael BrownExecutive Editor, TechHive
Michael is TechHive's lead editor and covers the connected-home and home-entertainment markets. He built his own smart home in 2007, which he uses as a real-world test lab when reviewing new products. Michael also reviews routers and networking products for TechHive and PCWorld.
Sonos Playbase review: Oddly enough, it sounds better playing music than movie soundtracks
The Playbase fits conveniently under your TV, but it’s not the best home theater speaker we’ve heard.
Sanus Swiveling TV Base for Playbase review: The perfect playmate for your Playbase
We all aspire to hang our TVs on the wall, but most of us will never get ours off the furniture.
New Google Home partnerships expand the smart speaker’s footprint in the smart home
Vivint, Wink, and 11 other other brands add ‘OK Google’ to their vocabularies.
Vifa Oslo portable Bluetooth speaker review: A Danish delight for the deep-pocketed
Vifa's Bluetooth mobile sound system offers a luxurious design and fabulous sound for its fat price.
Logitech ZeroTouch review: This Android smartphone holder puts Amazon's Alexa in your car
Anything you can do with an Amazon Echo inside your home you can now do with your Android phone inside your car.
Smart bulbs that work with Amazon's Alexa
Here’s how Amazon's digital assistant can light up your smart home.
Como Audio Duetto radio review: Retro done right
The tabletop radio might seem like a relic of the past, but this one delivers every modern convenience and high-fidelity sound, too.
The new Sonos Playbase is an amazingly thin speaker for flat-screen TVs
The $699 Playbase packs 10 drivers and 10 discrete amplifiers into a cabinet that’s just 2.28 inches high.
SnapPower Safelight review: Better than the original in more ways than one
We offered one suggestion for improving the Guidelight, SnapPower made four to build the Safelight.
Kwikset, Schlage, and Yale smart locks gain Alexa skills
If you have the right lock and a smart home hub, you’ll soon be able to say, “Alexa, lock my door.”
Roost Smart Water Leak and Freeze Detector review: One feature short of perfection
Roost's Smart Water Leak and Freeze Detector is a great leak detector today, and an upcoming accessory could render it our top pick.
Vizio SmartCast Crave 360 speaker review: Great features, but mediocre sound
There’s plenty of value in this battery-powered speaker, which includes both Chromecast and Bluetooth tech, but its audio performance fails to excite.
Brilliant Control could be the most exciting thing to happen to light switches since the dimmer
If the real thing is as good as the demo, every smart-home owner will want to install these all over the house.
Logitech adds Amazon’s Alexa skills to its ZeroTouch voice-control smartphone mount
Logitech's upgraded its ZeroTouch smartphone car mountThe new feature let you control your smart-home devices with voice commands, whether or not you have an Echo at home.
Netgear Orbi Wi-Fi router review: It's not a mesh network, but it's good enough you won't care
Orbi satellites communicate with the router, not with each other; but 4x4 backhaul enabled best-in-class performance in most of our benchmarks.