Gary joins me for a catch-up as we kick off the first show of the year, covering a wide range of tech, smart home, music, and CES news.
We start with a look at what (and what hasn't) made waves at CES so far, including experimental laptops, solid-state battery breakthroughs, EV tech, and some genuinely interesting smart home announcements.
I also share updates on recent projects, including:
A Raspberry Pi + e-ink display now working as a dynamic mixer label system
MIDI and synth visualisation projects using Python and LED displays
A new wavefolder sound pack release
New tutorials, including first videos on the Korg Opsix
An in-depth interview with John Lehmkuhl (Korg sound designer & Unify creator)
Plus a quick mention of the recent synth quiz and answers
Gary dives deep into smart home automation, AI, and MCP (Model Context Protocol), showing how AI can directly control real-world devices. We also discuss:
Home Assistant as a smart home abstraction layer
Matter, Thread, Zigbee, and where things still fall apart
Presence sensors, humidity-based automation, and energy-efficient heating
Air quality sensors (CO₂ & PM2.5)
Robot vacuums that climb stairs
Philips Hue spatial awareness
Multi-person presence tracking sensors
We wrap up with thoughts on solid-state batteries finally becoming reality, what this could mean for EVs, phones, and wearables, and what we're hoping to see next from NAMM.
🎵 Also mentioned:
A new synthwave track "Synthetic Skies" — created using the Korg Multi/Poly and a classic string ensemble — now out on YouTube, Spotify, and all major platforms.
