Lots of new smart home products, an innovative charging system, security concerns, and much more home automation news, all on this week's jam-packed episode of the Homekit Insider podcast.HomeKit InsiderThis week, Level Lock introduced its latest piece of hardware, a smart video doorbell. But unlike its other hardware, this is designed for shared dwellings such as apartment buildings. Read more...

Apple turned the iPod into a status symbol. A headset might be a taller order. | Photo by Justin Sullivan / Getty Images ‘This is the single greatest thing that could happen to this industry.’ As Apple prepares its long-rumored jump into augmented reality on Monday, doubts have shadowed every step of the way. There are reports of frequent changes in direction and skepticism inside Apple’s ranks. The device has allegedly been hard to manufacture and required numerous compromises. The process has taken years longer than Apple expected. And at a rumored $3,000, even Apple reportedly expects slow short-term sales. But among AR professionals, the mood is jubilant. “This is the single greatest thing that could happen to this industry,”…

Apple is calling on experts with backgrounds in generative AI to work with the company's "most advanced technologies," including augmented and virtual reality, according to new job listings posted by the company. One new listing posted on Apple's jobs website, highlighted by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, seeks a software engineer in Cupertino to work on machine learning models to build apps related to augmented and virtual reality.AI represents a huge opportunity to elevate Apple's products and experiences for billions of people globally. Apple's Learning Technology Group is looking for Machine-Learning engineers with a background and/or interest in Conversational and Generative AI! You will be leveraging innovative models to build applications on top of Apple's most advanced technologies, while developing your expertise…

Apple’s high-yield savings account, a partnership with Goldman Sachs, launched in April. Some customers have endured longer than expected waits for withdrawals and transfers to complete. Apple Card users can choose to grow their Daily Cash rewards by automatically depositing their Daily Cash into a high-yield Savings account from Goldman Sachs. AnnaMaria Andriotis for The Wall Street Journal: Nathan Thacker, who lives outside Atlanta, had been trying to transfer $1,700 from his Apple account to JPMorgan Chase since May 15. Each time he called Goldman’s customer service department, he said, he was told to give it a few more days. The money arrived in his Chase account Thursday morning, he said, after The Wall Street Journal contacted Goldman about his…

Amazon has negotiated a financially inconsequential settlement with the United States Federal Trade Commission over the company's behavior with Ring doorbell camera data.Ring video doorbellRing has successfully reached a settlement with the FTC that will see the unit paying a paltry $5.8 million over privacy concerns. The filing reveals the FTC discovered Ring gave employees "unrestricted access" to sensitive customer video data, and "as a result of this dangerously overbroad access and lax attitude toward privacy and security, employees and third-party contractors were able to view, download, and transfer customers' sensitive video data for their own purposes." Read more...

Apple's mixed-reality headset will reportedly be the most complicated hardware product ever made by the company, sporting an unusual design that has proven to be an unprecedented challenging to manufacture, The Information reports. Apple headset concept by Marcus Kane The headset apparently features an "unconventional curved design, thinness, and ultralight weight." Several renders seen by The Information "show a piece of curved glass with edges wrapped in a smooth aluminum frame that appears to be slightly thicker than an iPhone." The thin profile requires users who wear glasses to buy prescription lenses that magnetically clip into the headset. Apple had to develop a first-of-its-kind "bent motherboard" to fit inside the headset's curved outer shell. Carbon fiber is used inside the…