Tech
Ikea home automation review : Amazing, when they work
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Part of Ikea’s new smart home lineup with Matter-over-Thread
Ikea has an impressive new lineup of Matter-over-Thread devices works with Apple Home, but after months of testing, we think that lingering connection issues with bulbs, controls, and sensors are the main problem.
Unlike Tradfri, Ikea’s last smart home push, the fresh batch of smart home wares doesn’t have a unifying name. Instead, it is made up of over 20 individual products.
The launch made big waves as the Swedish brand was putting all of its weight behind both Matter and Thread. With such affordable prices and a large array of choices, I went in thinking this was going to be a slam dunk.
Unfortunately, Ikea has been a victim of emerging standards. Many users, including staff here at AppleInsider, have reported connectivity issues.
After extensive testing, multiple interviews, and much user feedback, the full picture is complex, to say the least.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Many new devices
Ikea’s lineup of Matter-over-Thread devices keeps growing. It originally was 21 devices but has since expanded, including the updated Varmblixt donut-shaped lamp.
Here’s the current availability:
- Kajplats: Smart bulbs
- E27/E26 standard globe (white spectrum, 1,521 lumens)
- E27/E26 standard globe (white spectrum, 1,055 lumens)
- E27/E26 standard globe (white spectrum, 470 lumens)
- P45 E14 (white spectrum, 470 lumens)
- P45 E14 (white spectrum, 806 lumens)
- P45 E14 (color and white spectrum, 806 lumens)
- GU10 directional spot (color and white spectrum, 470 lumens)
- GU10 directional spot (white spectrum, 575 lumens)
- E14 decorative clear glass (white spectrum, 470 lumens)
- E27 decorative clear glass 60mm (white spectrum 470 lumens)
- E27 decorative clear glass large globe 95mm (white spectrum 810 lumens)
- Myggspray: Motion sensor
- Myggbett: Door/window contact sensor
- Timmerflotte: Temperature and humidity sensor
- Alpstuga: Air quality sensor
- Klippbok: Water leak sensor
- Bilresa: Two-button remote
- Bilresa: Scroll wheel remote
- Grillplats: Smart plug
- Varmblixt: Donut-shaped lamp
I’ve been testing out a few of the light bulbs, the contact sensor, the motion sensor, the two-button remote, the temperature sensor, the lamp, and the air quality monitor.
These won’t be my last Ikea smart home devices, but opinion varies amongst the AppleInsider staff.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Bilresa
Of the entire lineup, I was most excited to test out the Bilresa remote. My house is fairly well equipped with smart plugs and bulbs, but I can always use a reliable new remote.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Bilresa remote can be mounted or carried around
The remote is simple, made of characteristic white plastic with small and large dimples on the top. The front of the remote is removed by pressing the release clip on the end to access the battery compartment.
Two AAA batteries power the remote. I use rechargeable ones, which should last me roughly two years depending on usage.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: The Bilresa remote mounted to the wall
The back of the remote is magnetic, which enables it to stick onto a fridge or other metal surface. Ikea includes a small piece of metal, too, that fits right onto the back of the remote.
The adhesive pre-installed on the piece of metal offers a quick option for mounting, but it also features two holes for alternative mounting. This makes it easy to mount the remote under your desk, on a wall, or on the edge of a nightstand.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: The remote has six commands you can program
Like with other Apple Home-compatible buttons, this technically shows as six programmable buttons in the Home app. You can set a single press, double-press, or long-hold for each of the two buttons.
Setting six commands can be overwhelming for some, but they’re certainly not required. For example, the one I have in my son’s room only has two scenes set: one for his good morning scene and one for his goodnight scene.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: It runs on two AAA batteries
In our master bedroom, I get a bit fancier. One button sets the lights to 100%, 50%, and off, while the other sets the air purifier fan to the same three levels.
Priced at $6, this is an incredible value, and it’s taken no time at all for me to buy several more to place throughout the home. I use one in the studio to set my filming scenes and in the living room to control our two different window shades.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Kajplats
That little Bilresa remote can also be perfectly paired with any of Ikea’s other devices. You could adjust its Kajplats lights, its smart plug, or the lamp.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Two of Ikea’s smart bulbs
With the Kajplats bulbs, Ikea did an exceptional job. There’s a wide variety in shapes/sizes, brightnesses, and color choices.
There are plenty of sizes and designs Ikea could still launch, but out of the gate, this is a great selection. I don’t have anything fancy, but I chose two of the clear filament-style decorative bulbs for our home.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: The decorative globe bulb looks great
First, I have the large, clear globe in our master bedroom closet, and the second one I have as a desk lamp in the studio. Both look wonderful and don’t give off the obvious appearance of a smart bulb.
One of the best parts about these bulbs is that no matter which model you choose, they all support Apple’s Adaptive Lighting feature. This is extra impressive because many more expensive smart bulbs lack this feature.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Adjusting the white balance on the Ikea decorative filament bulb
Adaptive Lighting will automatically adjust the color temperature throughout the day so it’s warmer in the morning as you wake up, cool white in the middle of the day to promote focus, and warmer at night to help you wind down.
Other manufacturers tell me that they omit this feature because of the onerous hardware requirements for Adaptive Lighting and Matter. That excuse falls apart when Ikea does it for less than $10 a bulb.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Adaptive Lighting in the Home app
You can turn on Adaptive Lighting from the Home app, just as you would adjust the color for any smart bulb. If you have the color versions, you can choose any color you’d like, while the white spectrum just has cool to warm whites to select.
I’m the biggest fan of the clear decorative style, as the colored ones look cheaper. They have a white plastic base and a white globe that helps diffuse the light at the top.
It will always depend on your installation location, but current design trends mean that most of my light bulbs are exposed. I’d rather have elegant-looking white spectrum clear bulbs than the full-color ones.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Varmblixt
Outside of the straight light bulbs, Ikea also has the Varmblixt lamp. This is the viral donut-shaped lamp that has been updated with Matter and Thread compared to the old, non-smart version.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: The donut-shaped lamp is all glass with a metal back
This is the most expensive of the lineup, priced at $99, but it also includes a Bilresa remote in the box. The quality helps justify that price, though, as the whole enclosure is glass instead of plastic with a braided power cable.
The Varmblixt is a foot wide with a metal back. There are key holes in the back that you can use to hang the light on the wall, or you can set it on a table or shelf with its silicone feet.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: The light looks great mounted on the wall, though the cable is visible
Out of the box, the Bilresa remote is directly paired to the lamp, and you can use it to cycle through multiple predefined colors. You can optionally pair the remote and the lamp to Apple Home via Matter for smart control and automation.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: The lamp can change colors
I love the look of this lamp, and there is a reason it’s so popular. The glass has a matte finish to it, which helps nicely diffuse the light so it’s never too bright and is a great accent piece in any room.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Timmerflotte
Next in my collection is the Timmerflotte, which is a temperature and humidity sensor. It’s two and a half inches around with a sensor opening on the bottom and a keyhole mount on the back.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: The temp sensor looks like a plain white circle with the display off
The circle is blank and looks pure white, but when you press it, it shows a hidden display. It’s a retro-looking dot matrix display that shows first the temperature and then the humidity.
It supports both Celsius and Fahrenheit with a toggle hiding on the back. Remove the back, and you can change it to your units of choice and replace the two AA batteries.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: The display shows the temperature and humidity
Lately, I’ve been using this as a remote sensor for my Aqara W200 thermostat, which is amazing. That allows me to heat or cool my home based on an average temperature versus what is measured in the hallway.
You can use this to trigger other automations too, such as turning on a fan, humidifier, or dehumidifier based on the readings.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Myggspray
Moving on, we have the Myggspray motion sensor. This is great for basic motion control, but not ideal for larger room setups.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: The motion sensor may not be well-suited for large rooms or occupancy
Since it detects motion, it’s not very smart. Pets, shadows, or robot vacuums can trigger motion, and if you sit still too long (like while watching a movie), it will stop detecting motion.
So if you create an automation to turn on your living room lights when you walk into the room, they may turn off on you while you’re watching TV. By design, they’re just too unreliable for this use case.
For rooms, it’s best to use a presence sensor instead that relies on mmWave radar, which can detect occupancy even if you’re sitting still. That’s not to say motion sensors aren’t useful, though.
They’re cheaper than presence sensors and are great for places like closets, which is where I use mine. So when my partner or I go into our master closet, the light turns on and turns off when we leave.
It comes with a snap-on back that you can mount to the wall. The bracket has four mounting holes and works at angles, too, so that it can appropriately face into the room.
My only wish is that Ikea also offered a presence sensor to give people options. Perhaps an mmWave sensor will be coming down the line, and we can get a more affordable version than what’s available now.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Alpstuga
The sensor I’ve had the most mixed results with is the Alpstuga environmental sensor. This is also the first one that requires USB-C power rather than batteries.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: The Alpstuga has a display that can show the time and various metrics
It can sit on your desk or bedside and will show the different environmental metrics on the front-facing dot matrix display. It records air quality, PM2.5, VOCs, CO2 levels, humidity, and temperature.
IKEA says that it partnered with Sensirion for its sensors. Ikea says that the sensor has an accuracy tolerance of +/- 100 ppm + 10%, and it takes up to 12 hours for self-calibration. We’re not sure about the accuracy.
Unfortunately, mine continues to read very high CO2 levels in my studio. Thanks to some friends in the federal government, we also tested the Alpstuga in an airtight chamber calibrated to 600 ppm CO2, and left it in there for 24 hours.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: All the different Alpstuga metrics in the Home app
The results showed incredibly wild swings in the CO2 reading far outside the promised tolerance. We tested four different sensors, and all had results nowhere near the 600 ppm for which the chamber was calibrated.
Perhaps we got multiple bad units, but that seems unlikely. The CO2 sensors just aren’t accurate, and Ikea had no comment on the matter after we provided our testing inforamtion. All the other sensors seemed accurate, though, matching the other sensors I had in my studio.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Myggbett
For my Myggbett door sensor, I use it on an interior door. It’s your standard contact sensor with a main body and a secondary magnet that triggers the sensor when it comes close enough.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: The Ikea door sensor attaches with adhesives
You could use this on a cabinet, window, door, mailbox, and more. Through Apple Home, you can get an alert any time the sensor is opened or closed, and it attaches with an adhesive.
I’ve had no issues with this sensor, and I have it programmed to turn on a light whenever it is opened. It works as advertised and runs on a single AAA battery on the inside.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Apple Home
Unsurprisingly, I used all of these devices with Apple Home. I also simultaneously paired a few of them to Samsung SmartThings to test multi-ecosystem support, which worked great.
I could see all the devices, and they were all responsive in both ecosystems at the same time. This is a big benefit of Matter devices.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Adjusting color via Apple Home
Setup works exactly as you’d expect. You just scan the pairing code on each device, give them a name, assign them a room in your home, and you’re good to go.
You can use them in conjunction with any other Apple Home or Matter devices. For example, I can use the Timmerflotte temperature and humidity sensor to trigger my Matter-enabled Hisense dehumidifier when the humidity level in the room rises.
Scenes can be triggered based on time of day, location, and much more. It’s best to get creative in how sensors, controls, and other accessories can work together.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: You can do firmware updates right from Apple Home
As we’ll talk about, updating accessories is very important, and Ikea makes this as easy as it gets. Each device can be updated straight through the Home app, just like a HomePod.
Devices can be updated in the background, or you can turn off automatic updates and install them when you’re ready for them. There’s no need for any third-party Ikea app for setup or updates.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Matter, Thread, and connectivity
Part of the reason behind a compilation review is that all the devices seem to be plagued by the same central set of issues. All, regardless of whether they are USB-C or battery-powered, support Matter-over-Thread.
Matter is the unifying smart home standard that allows these devices to work with Apple Home, Samsung SmartThings, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and more. Here, I tested primarily with Apple Home, but some sensors I connected to a secondary ecosystem, as I mentioned.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: My home’s Thread network
Thread, though often lumped in with Matter, is a wireless connectivity standard. It’s how these devices communicate with each other and your home’s network.
What’s nice about Thread is that it is extremely low power, very fast, and self-healing. Compared to older standards like Zigbee or Bluetooth, it’s more modern and has several benefits.
The biggest benefit in my eyes is that it doesn’t require a central hub to operate. With Zigbee, you need one primary hub that all link back to.
On the other hand, Thread can have any number of what are known as “Border Routers.” Border Routers, which would primarily mean a HomePod, HomePod mini, or Apple TV for Apple Home users, bridge the Thread network to the internet.
If one of the Border Routers goes offline, it’s a non-issue as another one will pick up in its place. At least, that’s how it is supposed to work.
Since they launched, the entire Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup has had connectivity issues. Some users struggled getting their devices commissioned, requiring multiple resets.
Others got them set up, but they kept going unresponsive.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: All devices support Matter
These were widely reported online. Here at AppleInsider, our own Mike Wuerthele had constant issues with his setup and ongoing connectivity, even after he took the extreme act of bouncing power on his entire house to refresh the Thread network.
At the same time, my home was the definition of perfect. All devices but one set up on the first try, and that one device worked on the second try.
Light bulbs respond nearly instantly to button presses and scenes. Asking Siri for the temperature gave me the real-time temperatures without delay.
Plus, all of my automated scenes have worked without issue, such as turning on my bedside light when my son opens his door at night or my timed morning scene that turns on a few ambiance lights.
It’s honestly frustrating to have such a stellar experience while others struggle.
I reached out to multiple users, other reviewers, Ikea, and the Connectivity Standards Alliance to collect as much information as possible about what was going on.
Ultimately, I never got a clear, singular answer as to what was causing the problems. Unsurprisingly, it seems largely related to home networks and communication across the network to Thread, and Matter.
Needless to say, none of this should be a problem, and is incredibly frustrating for users. It’s unacceptable to have this inconsistent experience across homes, especially considering that Ikea devices at this price point are probably the first tiptoe into home automation for beginning users.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: The Ikea bulbs are great, bright, and responsive
Perhaps it’s the price Ikea is paying for being a fairly early adopter. The good news is that by and large, it seems to be getting better.
Ikea has continued to roll out firmware updates for its devices, and many of the people I originally spoke to were no longer having problems. Most recently, the Bilresa remote was updated to support Matter version 1.4.
“We are continuing to investigate the onboarding and stability issues that some users have experienced with the new Matter-over-Thread range,” Ikea told me. “We’ve already rolled out a number of improvements, and additional work is ongoing together with ecosystem partners and the Connectivity Standards Alliance.”
“These have included changes aimed at improving Thread network stability and making onboarding more reliable in a wider range of home environments. What we see at this stage is still that the large majority of customers are getting the experience we intend, while the remaining issues in general tend to appear in more complex environments where multiple border routers, controllers, and different ecosystems interact,” Ikea added. “We do believe the situation has improved as updates have rolled out across the ecosystem, but we also know there is still work to do.”
We’ll see. My system is perfect after initial problems. Mike’s is better, but not perfect.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Should you buy Ikea’s new smart home lineup?
The uncertainty around connectivity makes unconditionally recommending the new lineup tough to do. I don’t want to tell everyone to run out and pick up a whole array of devices when the performance may not necessarily be where it should be.
Simultaneously, for those who do have a good experience, there are few better options on the market. The price point is unbeatable, and the performance is superior to many more expensive devices out there.
You can pick up a three-pack of wireless remotes for $15. I can replace 8 bulbs in my master bathroom with decorative, tunable, dimmable smart bulbs for about $65.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Ikea’s new lineup of devices
Smart home devices are often notoriously expensive and have made it hard for people to fully outfit their homes. Ikea is fixing that.
For me, they work so well that I’ve put them in places where I don’t have wiggle room for error. The contact sensor tells me when my son opens his door, especially while we’re in our bedroom.
The Bilresa remote is used to set my son’s “goodnight” scene that closes his windows, turns on his two nightlights, and turns on his starlight laser projector. I don’t want to have to explain to my toddler at bedtime why the remote isn’t doing anything, so it needs to work reliably, 100% of the time.
Ikea also went above and beyond, including things like Adaptive Lighting for Apple Home and native updates through various ecosystems. This means you truly do not need the Ikea app, which enhances user experience.
This full-lineup support for Matter and Thread is just what we want to see from smart home manufacturers. Even if there are a few growing pains here at the beginning.
If you’re understandably hesitant about buying into Ikea’s new devices, my recommendation is perhaps to try just one or two. If you have a local Ikea, you can go grab a few devices and easily return them if they don’t work.
More than likely, your experience is going to be great. For me, these devices are an easy 5 out of 5 stars, but until all the fringe cases are sorted out, they’re going to be rated a bit more down the middle.
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Pros
- Native Apple Home features like updates & Adaptive Lighting
- Good build quality
- Most of the time, fantastic performance and reliability
- Works with multiple ecosystems at the same time
- Super affordable and widely available
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup review: Cons
- Alpstuga CO2 sensor is very bad
- Still ongoing connection issues for some networks
Ikea Matter-over-Thread lineup rating: 3.5 out of 5
You can pick up the new smart home range from Ikea stores or online, starting at only $5.99 and rising to $99.
During a call with investors on Wednesday night, Cisco executives discussed the layoffs further, with CFO Mark Patterson saying, “This was really not a savings-driven restructure,” according to a transcript of the call.
“Things are moving incredibly fast right now,” he said. “And this is more realigning from an already strong base, as you’re seeing in our financials, but really realigning resources around silicon, optics, security, and AI. And so being able to move fast, we don’t always have the exact resources that we need going forward in the right places. And so that’s really what this is about versus savings.”
Due to the layoffs, Cisco expects to “recognize up to $1 billion of pre-tax charges with $450 million to be recognized in the Q4 FY ’26 and the remainder during FY ’27,” Patterson added.
“These [layoffs] are building from a position of strength and focusing on the technologies that will accelerate our growth, deliver unmatched innovation to customers and partners, and define our future,” Robbins said on the call.
Bonuses and training for laid-off workers
Robbins’ blog post said that affected workers will receive “pro-rated payment” of fiscal 2026 bonuses. The company also says it will offer services to help laid-off employees find new jobs.
“We will provide support in finding new opportunities, whether internal or external, through Cisco’s placement services—a program that has seen 75 percent of participants discover their next role,” Robbins said. “We are also committed to continued personalized learning and will provide one year of access to all Cisco U courses and certifications, covering AI, security, networking, and more.”
This round of layoffs follows the dismissal of 4,245 employees, or 5 percent of the workforce at the time, in February 2024, and about 6,000 people, or about 7 percent of the workforce, in August 2024. Cisco also attributed the latter layoffs to the need to restructure around AI and security, The Register reported at the time.
LA Chargers fans who stayed up late on schedule night were in for a treat this year. The team effectively transformed the entire 2026 lineup into a Halo-inspired trip that would fit right in with the games themselves. Microsoft collaborated with the Chargers to make all of the details inside the Halo game engine look right at home, and let me tell you, the end result feels like stepping into a custom Halo campaign, where each opponent becomes its own battlefield map, full of sneaky references that will only be picked up by true NFL and Halo fans from the start.
should we REALLY make our schedule release video in halo?
yes yes yesyes
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yes yes yes yes yes
yes yesyes yes yes
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yes yes yesyes pic.twitter.com/eusK9QmNGd— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) May 14, 2026
The Halo series’ voice talent is all over this thing, including Jeff Steitzer, who has been shouting legendary game lines for years. while maps start loading and rolling in one after the other, he still has the stamina to call out dates and places in the same over-the-top approach he used to use while shouting about flag captures and double kills. Screens range from recognizable Halo sky and ring buildings to weapon crates, but each has some extra-clever features related to the next match. If you scan the scenes quickly, you’ll see logos, player allusions, and inside jokes that make the schedule reveal feel like a real event rather than just a list on a screen.
The preseason schedule begins on August 13, with a travel to Houston to face the Texans under the lights. Two weeks later, the 49ers visit SoFi Stadium on a Thursday night, and the final tune-up is the Chargers’ home game versus the LA Rams on the 27th. That sets the tone before things get serious in September.
The Cards visit town on September 13, which marks the start of week one. The map for that game features a beautiful desert landscape blended with Covenant technology, a great tribute to the Cardinals’ desert background. Week two is a local matchup versus the Raiders on September 20th. The Raiders’ silver and black blend in with the Halo color palette, and it’s only after you see them that they feel intentional. Next week, on the journey to Buffalo on the 27th, the map has a cooler tone and includes big open fields that reflect the Bills’ outdoor approach.
October begins with a road trip to Seattle on October 4th. The Seahawks map shows Pacific Northwest mist flowing over some Forerunner ruins. Back home on the 11th, the Broncos will arrive, and the map here jumps out the most. There’s a slow-motion shot of a grenade arcing at an ankle joint, a direct reference to one of the significant injuries from the previous postseason. The first game against the Chiefs is scheduled on October 18 in Kansas City. Then there’s a QR code on the screen that the curious can scan to reveal an extra little jab at the presenters.
The newly announced changes focus on expanding Copilot’s ability to make web browsing more seamless for users. Microsoft has recently indicated it is scaling back broader Copilot integration in Windows 11, but Edge remains the primary platform for deeper AI-powered browser features.
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Adobe has confirmed that its Premiere video editing app will arrive on Android, with Google announcing the news as part of a broader set of creator-focused features tied to the Android 17 platform reveal at The Android Show.
The confirmation moves the app beyond the vague “in development” status that Adobe attached to it last year, though Google’s announcement stops short of a firm release date and describes the arrival window as only “soon,” offering little clarity for creators who have been waiting since the original disclosure.
According to Google’s blog post accompanying the Android 17 announcement, the Android version of Adobe Premiere will include exclusive templates and effects specifically oriented toward YouTube Shorts, a focus that signals Adobe and Google are positioning the app as a tool for short-form content creation rather than a full-featured editing suite from the outset.
The iOS version of Adobe Premiere, which launched in September 2025, offers a broader set of capabilities that provide a reasonable indication of what Android users may eventually receive once the app reaches feature parity on the platform.
That iOS release supports background removal, automatic captioning, multi-platform video resizing, and the kind of transition effects that have become standard across TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts content, functions that represent the core editing toolkit most mobile creators currently rely on third-party apps to access.
The app operates on a free-to-use model on iOS, with the only paid element covering Firefly generative AI credits for users who want access to Adobe’s AI-powered generation tools beyond the standard feature set.
While the Android release date remains unconfirmed, Google has introduced several other creator tools in the Android 17 update, including a simplified workflow for reaction video production and Android-exclusive features within Instagram’s Edits app, giving creators alternatives to bridge the gap ahead of Premiere’s arrival.
Adobe has not published a roadmap or feature breakdown for the Android release beyond what Google included in its announcement, leaving the full scope of the app’s initial capabilities on the platform unconfirmed.
Is Mercury in retrograde over Brazil? Because sources there are giving Xbox a very hard time today. Brazilian regulator Anatel appears to have accidentally leaked images of the Xbox Elite Controller 3 that were then circulated by local tech site Tecnoblog and in turn picked up by The Verge.
According to the specs making the rounds, this controller boasts some notable new features. There are two scroll wheels at the bottom that could be controlled by your thumbs. A new pairing button on the front appears to switch the device between local and cloud modes. The D-pad also has been redesigned, and the gamepad seems to at long last be switching over to a removable, rechargeable battery.
Tecnoblog
If this story sounds familiar, it is. Tecnoblog also published leaked images of a different Xbox peripheral earlier today. That story showed off a pint-sized gamepad that was presumed to be an unreleased Xbox Cloud Gaming controller.
It has been awhile since Xbox released a refresh to the Elite controller. The second generation of the hardware debuted back in 2019, and it became customizable in the Design Lab in 2022. And since at least one national regulator is currently looking at the device, it seems likely that the product is close to hitting store shelves. Xbox’s big summer showcase is just a few weeks away, but after today’s leak fest, Microsoft might be inclined to make the official announcement sooner than later.
— Pamela Bhattacharya has left her role as senior director of AI at Microsoft to join OpenAI as a member of its technical staff, where she is leading AI safety work with a focus on child safety. Bhattacharya spent nearly nine years at Microsoft as a principal applied scientist and manager before leaving in 2021, worked at Meta and Lacework, then rejoined Microsoft in 2024.
The computer scientist holds more than 30 patents and is an expert in machine learning and human-in-the-loop systems. “I’m especially energized by problems where getting it wrong has real consequences — and by developing the next generation of AI leaders who can navigate that complexity,” she said in her LinkedIn profile.
— Aniruddha Kembhavi, a former senior director at the Allen Institute for AI (AI2), has joined Meta‘s AI Research team in London. Kembhavi spent nearly a decade at the Seattle-based institute before leaving in December 2024, then joined autonomous vehicle company Wayve as a director. He is also an affiliate associate professor at the University of Washington.
After just a couple of weeks at Meta, Kembhavi said on LinkedIn that he was already “incredibly impressed by the caliber of the people, the energy, and the ambition of what’s being built.”
— Diego Panama is taking over as CEO of LogicGate in July, succeeding co-founder Matt Kunkel. Panama joined the Chicago-based risk management software company last year as chief operating officer, having previously served as chief revenue officer at Olo, a Bellevue-based SaaS company.
Although LogicGate is headquartered in Chicago, it has been operating out of a Bellevue co-working space since January and plans to move into a permanent office there this summer, the Puget Sound Business Journal reports. Chief Marketing Officer Michael Schultz and about four other employees are also based in the Seattle area. The company expects to grow its Bellevue headcount to 20 by year’s end.
— Public relations veterans Kent Hollenbeck and Erik Moser have co-founded Resonant Advisory Group, a Portland-based PR firm focused on crisis preparedness, issues management and communications strategy for clients in technology, healthcare, retail and AI.
Hollenbeck previously spent nearly six years at Amazon as its marketing and brand lead for robotics and fulfillment technologies. Moser most recently served as a managing director at Global Gateway Advisors. The two previously overlapped at Edelman, where both held executive roles in the Pacific Northwest.
—Chris Blais has joined Riviera Partners, an executive recruiting firm specializing in technology, product and design leaders. Blais comes from Seattle-based Herd Freed Hartz, where he spent 12 years focused on tech talent.
— Nora Hawkins has been promoted to energy policy director at the Washington State Department of Commerce, where she has worked for four years.
— Adam Dimopoulos, a former senior program manager in cloud security at Microsoft, has been named chief information security officer at Entrust. He joins the Minneapolis-based software company from Synchrony.
— Kostas Mallios, a former Microsoft GM and past VP at Intellectual Ventures, joined the board of directors for the Greek nonprofit Panathenea. Mallios is currently a corporate VP for Applied Materials.
Design Within Reach carries some of the best and coolest home decor you can find, from modern couches to fantastic office chairs and fun designers like Herman Miller and Dusen Dusen. It’s not a cheap store to shop at, though, which is what makes these coupons something to jump on. Unlock online-exclusive discounts of up to 50%, free shipping, plus 20% off featured brands and 15% off office furniture bundles with Design Within Reach promo codes and Summer 2026 sale events. Save on hundreds of stylish items, including our favorite Design Within Reach office chairs, plus some other fantastic home gear we’ve earmarked for testing.
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The Design Within Reach Memorial Day Sale is one of the best ways to save on major furniture purchases to upgrade your home. During the Design Within Reach Memorial Day Sale, you’ll get up to 30% off in-stock furniture, like outdoor, sofas, dining sets, and other decor. This includes a 25% discount on the timeless Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman, and a favorite office chair, the Aeron Chair (also for 25% off).
Get 15% Off Furniture With Design Within Reach Promo Codes
On Design Within Reach’s website, you’ll see an expansive catalogue with a huge range of furniture to revamp any room—from couches and credenzas to coffee tables and bar stools for way less than normal designer prices. Flos lamps, known for mixing functionality and style, are now 20% off for a limited time. These colorful table lamps start at $255, with wall sconces, pendants, and more on sale.
Summer’s here, and it’s better late than never to get some great outdoor furniture. During Design Within Reach’s outdoor sale event, you can get up to 30% off great outdoor furniture essentials, like outdoor sectionals, chaise lounge chairs, benches, and outdoor tables. You can get bonus savings with sitewide Design Within Reach promo codes during this time. But you can still save thousands of dollars, on top of 50% off markdowns. If you’ve been eyeing the Eames Lounge Chair, Aeron Chair, or Noguchi table, this is your chance to save over $1,500.
One of the easiest ways to get a design within reach coupon is by signing up for their emails. When you sign up for DWR’s email list, you’ll get 15% off your first order, plus, you’ll be the first to know of flash sale events and discount codes when the updates are sent straight to your inbox.
You can ditch the delivery fees with Quick-Ship free shipping offers. You can save up to $699 and get complimentary shipping sitewide on orders of $2,000 or more. Explore the many items with quick-ship and free shipping offers, including sofas, storage pieces, coffee tables, and more iconic furniture. Check out their New to Sale deals too, with 40% off select bar stools, 20% off sectionals, and decor for 50% off. Design Within Reach’s end-of-season sales are some of the best times to save big on those pricier purchases, but you’ll be surprised to find that many new arrivals will go on sale too. While you’re browsing the Sale section, you can use the filter button to organize by category, specific designers, brands, and even price. Unleash your inner interior designer and go wild.
Shop up to 50% Off Design Within Reach Clearance Sale Deals
Buying furniture and other household items can be one of the biggest purchases one makes in their life. Luckily, Design Within Reach has some great furniture deals, with clearance deals that are even steeper than their usual sale discounts. These deals include last-chance furniture discounts, with up to 50% off on all home categories and decor—including light fixtures, tables, ottomans, furniture cushions, and more. Check out Design Within Reach clearance deals and take advantage of the final sale prices, where furniture items are at their lowest prices yet—before they go out of stock.
More Ways to Save on Design Within Reach Furniture
Design Within Reach is also here for small business owners and design industry professionals, to help them jumpstart and elevate their businesses in style. They can apply to the free DWR Trade program, where they will receive sitewide discounts every day, a dedicated Account Executive, exclusive promotions only available to Trade members, and exclusive and discounted Trade pricing across Design Within Reach’s 200 premium design brands in one place.
Our Favorite Design Within Reach Gear
Design Within Reach has a huge range of designers and home pieces, from massive couches to decor and chargers. They carry Herman Miller pieces we love from our guide to the Best Office Chairs, plus chargers from Courant that we recommend in our Best Wireless Chargers guide. We’ve also got our eye on couches and sheets from designers like Hay and Dusen Dusen to test too that you can find at Design Within Reach.
A zero-day exploit circulating online allows people with physical access to a Windows 11 system to bypass default BitLocker protections and gain complete access to an encrypted drive within seconds.
The exploit, named YellowKey, was published earlier this week by a researcher who goes by the alias Nightmare-Eclipse. It reliably bypasses default Windows 11 deployments of BitLocker, the full-volume encryption protection Microsoft provides to make disk contents off-limits to anyone without the decryption key, which is stored in a secured piece of hardware known as a trusted platform module (TPM). BitLocker is a mandatory protection for many organizations, including those that contract with governments.
When one disk volume manipulates another
The core of the YellowKey exploit is a custom-made FsTx folder. Online documentation of this folder is hard to find. As explained later, the directory associated with the file fstx.dll appears to involve what Microsoft calls the transactional NTFS, which allows developers to have “transactional atomicity” for file operations in transactions with a single file, multiple files, or ones that span multiple sources.
The steps for carrying out the bypass are simple:
- Copy the custom FsTx folder from the Nightmare-Eclipse exploit page to an NTFS- or FAT-formatted USB drive
- Connect the USB drive to the BitLocker-protected device
- Boot up the device and immediately press and hold down the [Ctrl] key
- Enter Windows recovery
There are at least two ways to accomplish the third step. One way is to boot into Windows, hold down the [Shift] key, click on the power icon, and click restart. Another is to power on the device and restart it as soon as Windows starts booting.
In either case, a command (CMD.EXE) prompt appears. The prompt has full access to the entire drive contents, allowing an attacker to copy, modify, or delete them. In a normal Windows Recovery flow, the attacker would need to enter a BitLocker recovery key. Somehow, the YellowKey exploit bypasses this safeguard. Multiple researchers, including Kevin Beaumont and Will Dormann, have confirmed the exploit works as described here.
It’s unclear what in the custom FsTx folder causes the bypass. Dormann said that it appears to be related to Transactional NTFS, which itself uses command-log file system under the hood. Dormann further noted that by looking at the Windows fstx.dll, one will see code that explicitly looks for \System Volume Information\FsTx in the FsTxFindSessions() function.”
Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.
Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s not too tough, but 7-Across and 8-Across go together, and I always find paired clues difficult to solve. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.
If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.
Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword
Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.
The completed NYT Mini Crossword puzzle for May 15, 2026.
Mini across clues and answers
1A clue: Baseball stat hidden in “super big hit”
Answer: RBI
4A clue: Hi, in Hawaii
Answer: ALOHA
7A clue: With 8-Across, start running or going to the gym
Answer: GETIN
8A clue: See 7-Across
Answer: SHAPE
9A clue: Opposite of NNE
Answer: SSW
Mini down clues and answers
1D clue: Opposite of riches, in a saying
Answer: RAGS
2D clue: “Ew, gross”
Answer: BLEH
3D clue: Tiny bits
Answer: IOTAS
5D clue: Where the hands are placed when “Hey, Macarena!” is sung
Answer: HIPS
6D clue: All over again
Answer: ANEW
from the rudderless-ship dept
We’ve complained a great deal about RFK Jr.’s stint running HHS and its effects on the health of Americans in the short and long term because, well, there’s a lot to complain about. His anti-vaxxer stances have begun infecting national vaccine policy, of course, and his stance of essentially ignoring an ongoing 17 month measles outbreak have generated national headlines. Regarding measles cases, by the way, the official case count in America is at roughly 80% of the total of last year already, which was itself the highest case count in several decades. I’ll take this moment to remind you that it’s May, not even half way through the year.
But there has also been an insane amount of chaos at HHS and its child agencies under Kennedy. And that chaos isn’t slowing down, it seems, with the announcement that FDA chief Marty Makary will be resigning his post. And, because this is the dumbest of timelines in which we live, the reason behind it appears to be Trump’s push to allow for flavored e-cigarettes to entice the nation’s youth.
Makary’s insiders said the former Johns Hopkins University cancer surgeon resigned after Trump forced his hand on authorizing fruit-flavored e-cigarettes. Makary had reportedly been resisting the sign-offs out of concern that the kid-friendly flavors could again entice youth use and addiction—something public health officials and experts have for years worked to combat. But Makary’s stance was in conflict with Trump’s “save vaping” campaign promise—and with the tobacco industry’s interests.
Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had called Makary over a weekend to scold him for not moving fast enough to authorize flavored vapes, particularly menthol, mango, and blueberry flavors from the Los Angeles manufacturer Glas. The FDA authorized those flavored products days later and issued a new policy that would make it easier to market flavored vapes.
The ArsTechnica post goes on to note that Makary had pissed off a bunch of lobbyists for tobacco, pharma, and biotech firms, all while health professionals have been complaining about his participation in Kennedy’s anti-vaxxer nonsense at the FDA as well. He essentially managed to piss off everyone, courting zero allies, which is a remarkable achievement itself.
But the larger story here is that HHS is suffering from a rather damning lack of leadership. Not by performance, but through vacancies of Senate-confirmed people to actually run things.
The firing or resignation of Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary is more intra-MAHA chaos at a beleaguered and battered Department of Health and Human Services.
When you don’t have a CDC Director, an FDA Commissioner, or a Surgeon General, the obvious question is: Why do you have this HHS Secretary? Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is the cause of much of the chaos that has resulted in these job vacancies. HHS is rotting from the head.
It really is incredible to realize that those three positions, important as they are, are currently being helmed by acting leadership members at best. There’s a reason those positions exist. They’re not unimportant. But currently, we have essentially temp employees filling them.
Does anyone really believe that American health is a ship that can be successfully steered without a rudder? That’s what’s happening right now, because Trump and Kennedy can’t seem to get anyone across the finish line in the Senate for these roles. And if the ship crashes, we’re all going to pay for it.
Filed Under: e-cigarettes, fda, flavored vapes, health & human services, hhs, maha, marty makary, rfk jr.
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