Roku's cameras can (like Wyze) alert you to certain specific things, like people and pets, when they appear on your camera. The alerts appear on a new phone app, but also Roku TVs and streaming devices. (credit: Roku)

Today, Connected TV-maker Roku unveiled eight new low-cost lights, cameras, doorbells, and plugs, all centered on being easy to install and operate from the company's "Roku TV Operating System." It marks the entrance of a new player in the smart home field, one with no particularly novel gadgets yet, but already a sizable gateway into many homes.

The products, available exclusively through Roku and Walmart, can be controlled with a new Roku Smart Home phone app, but Roku is positioning the devices as tightly integrated with their TVs and streaming boxes and sticks. The Roku video doorbell can trigger a picture-in-picture view on a Roku-powered TV and alert you to dedicated events like packages or pets. Using the voice function on a Roku remote can bring up live camera streams, activate switches, or turn on lights.

Roku's Doorbell Pro can pop up on a Roku TV to show who's at the door—in this case, the takeout delivery. (credit: Roku)

The products will be familiar to anyone who has browsed the Wyze lineup, and that's intentional. Roku partnered with Wyze to build its first non-streaming-focused products, and some of them are dead-ringers for existing Wyze gear, especially the cameras. Wyze is a well-known brand, but also one with some security breaches and heavily delayed vulnerability responses in its past. Roku states that its products will offer two-factor authentication, user data encryption, and secure boot and will be certified by the ioXt Alliance .

Roku's cameras can (like Wyze) alert you to certain specific things, like people and pets, when they appear on your camera. The alerts appear on a new phone app, but also Roku TVs and streaming devices. (credit: Roku)

Today, Connected TV-maker Roku unveiled eight new low-cost lights, cameras, doorbells, and plugs, all centered on being easy to install and operate from the company's "Roku TV Operating System." It marks the entrance of a new player in the smart home field, one with no particularly novel gadgets yet, but already a sizable gateway into many homes.

The products, available exclusively through Roku and Walmart, can be controlled with a new Roku Smart Home phone app, but Roku is positioning the devices as tightly integrated with their TVs and streaming boxes and sticks. The Roku video doorbell can trigger a picture-in-picture view on a Roku-powered TV and alert you to dedicated events like packages or pets. Using the voice function on a Roku remote can bring up live camera streams, activate switches, or turn on lights.

Roku's Doorbell Pro can pop up on a Roku TV to show who's at the door—in this case, the takeout delivery. (credit: Roku)

The products will be familiar to anyone who has browsed the Wyze lineup, and that's intentional. Roku partnered with Wyze to build its first non-streaming-focused products, and some of them are dead-ringers for existing Wyze gear, especially the cameras. Wyze is a well-known brand, but also one with some security breaches and heavily delayed vulnerability responses in its past. Roku states that its products will offer two-factor authentication, user data encryption, and secure boot and will be certified by the ioXt Alliance .

Roku's cameras can (like Wyze) alert you to certain specific things, like people and pets, when they appear on your camera. The alerts appear on a new phone app, but also Roku TVs and streaming devices. (credit: Roku)

Today, Connected TV-maker Roku unveiled eight new low-cost lights, cameras, doorbells, and plugs, all centered on being easy to install and operate from the company's "Roku TV Operating System." It marks the entrance of a new player in the smart home field, one with no particularly novel gadgets yet, but already a sizable gateway into many homes.

The products, available exclusively through Roku and Walmart, can be controlled with a new Roku Smart Home phone app, but Roku is positioning the devices as tightly integrated with their TVs and streaming boxes and sticks. The Roku video doorbell can trigger a picture-in-picture view on a Roku-powered TV and alert you to dedicated events like packages or pets. Using the voice function on a Roku remote can bring up live camera streams, activate switches, or turn on lights.

Roku's Doorbell Pro can pop up on a Roku TV to show who's at the door—in this case, the takeout delivery. (credit: Roku)

The products will be familiar to anyone who has browsed the Wyze lineup, and that's intentional. Roku partnered with Wyze to build its first non-streaming-focused products, and some of them are dead-ringers for existing Wyze gear, especially the cameras. Wyze is a well-known brand, but also one with some security breaches and heavily delayed vulnerability responses in its past. Roku states that its products will offer two-factor authentication, user data encryption, and secure boot and will be certified by the ioXt Alliance .

Enlarge / Dell's MS700 Bluetooth Travel Mouse. (credit: Scharon Harding)

There's something to be said about a portable PC peripheral. With many people working in various locations and pairing PC accessories with various devices, portability has become a necessity for many. The Dell MS700 Bluetooth Travel Mouse released today prioritizes portability with Bluetooth connectivity and, more interestingly, the ability to twist into a flatter shape.

The twisted mouse is similar to mice like Microsoft's bendable Surface Arc but stands out with its ability to easily toggle across multiple paired devices, plus a cozy texture. But these are about the only enjoyable things about using the MS700.

Dell's MS700 felt scratchy when I moved it around or made extended swipes, and the touch-scroll strip is an inadequate replacement for a scroll wheel. And there are very few customization options with this $65 (MSRP) mouse.

Enlarge / Dell's MS700 Bluetooth Travel Mouse. (credit: Scharon Harding)

There's something to be said about a portable PC peripheral. With many people working in various locations and pairing PC accessories with various devices, portability has become a necessity for many. The Dell MS700 Bluetooth Travel Mouse released today prioritizes portability with Bluetooth connectivity and, more interestingly, the ability to twist into a flatter shape.

The twisted mouse is similar to mice like Microsoft's bendable Surface Arc but stands out with its ability to easily toggle across multiple paired devices, plus a cozy texture. But these are about the only enjoyable things about using the MS700.

Dell's MS700 felt scratchy when I moved it around or made extended swipes, and the touch-scroll strip is an inadequate replacement for a scroll wheel. And there are very few customization options with this $65 (MSRP) mouse.

Enlarge / Dell's MS700 Bluetooth Travel Mouse. (credit: Scharon Harding)

There's something to be said about a portable PC peripheral. With many people working in various locations and pairing PC accessories with various devices, portability has become a necessity for many. The Dell MS700 Bluetooth Travel Mouse released today prioritizes portability with Bluetooth connectivity and, more interestingly, the ability to twist into a flatter shape.

The twisted mouse is similar to mice like Microsoft's bendable Surface Arc but stands out with its ability to easily toggle across multiple paired devices, plus a cozy texture. But these are about the only enjoyable things about using the MS700.

Dell's MS700 felt scratchy when I moved it around or made extended swipes, and the touch-scroll strip is an inadequate replacement for a scroll wheel. And there are very few customization options with this $65 (MSRP) mouse.

Enlarge / Akiko and Dennis Tito are customers on SpaceX's second circumlunar mission aboard Starship. (credit: SpaceX)

More than two decades have come and gone since entrepreneur Dennis Tito became the first person to pay for his own ride into space, spending a week on the International Space Station.

After that pioneering mission aboard a Soyuz vehicle, Tito said he always had a desire to return to space, with a preference for flying to the Moon. But this thought remained mostly dormant, because Tito did not have confidence in any of the available spaceflight vehicles for such a mission.

That changed about a year and a half ago when he and his wife, Akiko Tito, visited SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, California. After a tour, they discussed possible space tourism trips, and it did not take long for the lunar idea to come up. Would Tito be interested in riding aboard SpaceX's Starship vehicle for a flight around the Moon?

Enlarge / Akiko and Dennis Tito are customers on SpaceX's second circumlunar mission aboard Starship. (credit: SpaceX)

More than two decades have come and gone since entrepreneur Dennis Tito became the first person to pay for his own ride into space, spending a week on the International Space Station.

After that pioneering mission aboard a Soyuz vehicle, Tito said he always had a desire to return to space, with a preference for flying to the Moon. But this thought remained mostly dormant, because Tito did not have confidence in any of the available spaceflight vehicles for such a mission.

That changed about a year and a half ago when he and his wife, Akiko Tito, visited SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, California. After a tour, they discussed possible space tourism trips, and it did not take long for the lunar idea to come up. Would Tito be interested in riding aboard SpaceX's Starship vehicle for a flight around the Moon?

Enlarge / Akiko and Dennis Tito are customers on SpaceX's second circumlunar mission aboard Starship. (credit: SpaceX)

More than two decades have come and gone since entrepreneur Dennis Tito became the first person to pay for his own ride into space, spending a week on the International Space Station.

After that pioneering mission aboard a Soyuz vehicle, Tito said he always had a desire to return to space, with a preference for flying to the Moon. But this thought remained mostly dormant, because Tito did not have confidence in any of the available spaceflight vehicles for such a mission.

That changed about a year and a half ago when he and his wife, Akiko Tito, visited SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, California. After a tour, they discussed possible space tourism trips, and it did not take long for the lunar idea to come up. Would Tito be interested in riding aboard SpaceX's Starship vehicle for a flight around the Moon?