Apple Hires Ex-Microsoft Exec to Revamp Smart Home Business

[Napalm Doctor]

HomeSwitch $149, HomeLock $499, HomeCam $249, HomeHub (AirPort with HomeKit) $249, HomeFan, HomeSafe, HomeLight, HomeEverything with optional highly recommended subscription for it.

 

[cknibbs]

Apple should’ve acquired August.

They’re already in tune with Apple in the design sense and have the potential to expand beyond locks and doorbells. They were acquired by the world’s biggest lock company so I think they’re now off limits.

I could see August expanding into door and window sensors next and beyond that into cameras and a thermostat.

Had Apple acquired August, they would’ve had, pardon the pun, a turn-key operation.

I was going to buy an August lock... until I saw one in person. Those things are incredibly bulky. I ended up buying Yale Assure SL locks instead...

 

[DNichter]

Putting an Apple logo on a failed complex lock won't make it successful. There's a reason why it wasn't adopted the first time around because higher complexity means higher chance of failure. For something critical that can potentially lock you out of the house or, worse, in the house in the event of a fire or unintendedly unlock the door to strangers, people aren't ready to give up the reliability of traditional locks. Technology should make life easier and not worse.

Review for a top rated smart lock:

I agree, it is highly critical, but from my experience with the August lock, it’s been flawless. When I arrive to my house proximity, the door unlocks. Then it locks 3 minutes later. Haven’t had any issues at all with strangers or guests or anything. This technology has definitely made my life easier.

 

[cknibbs]

You should update your knowledge. HomePod entered the field behind the others who were already established but they haven’t stood still this past year. In recent tests, HomePod is now ahead of Alexa in its ability to answer questions, though still behind Google Assistant.

In terms of capabilities, what Amazon calls “Skills”, HomePod is quickly catching up with Siri Shortcuts, enabling iOS apps to perform functions from a HomePod. What’s more, Shortcuts are easy for developers to turn on in Xcode, rather than having to purposefully write a Skill like Alexa requires. If they have an app, then turning on Shortcuts makes it compatible with HomePod. So, we’ll see Siri catch up quickly. Hundreds of apps have already added Shortcuts in the 5 months that it’s been out.

Shortcuts are a half-baked solution. I can set up as many as I want, but unless I’m home no one in my house can use them, and no one else in my house can have their own shortcuts on the HomePod. Multi-user support is badly needed. As far as smart home support tho, I am happy with my HomePod overall, although I would specifically like Logitech to up their game in regards to HomeKit support for their remotes.

 

[robjulo]

Based on what? Show me your reliability and execution studies.

The combination of HomeKit and HomePod is already the best smart home implementation when it comes to reliability and execution, Apple just needs to get more products in the ecosystem. Hopefully this guy can help.

 

[satchmo]

You don’t always have to be first to market to succeed (iPod, Apple Watch), but it feels like Apple has been more of a follower, than a leader over the past 5-10 years.
I’d love for Tim to unleash that pipeline of products that he continually mentions.

 

[Elian_Gonzalez]

...cheap entries into smart speakers.

Operative word here being "cheap," which also for Amazon and Google is a synonym for "spying opportunity."

"Apple should do this, Apple needs to do that." Never gets tiring, these recycled demands. And when Apple does do "this or that," the first thing you all complain about is the price and how it's a money grab and you can get it cheaper...on Amazon and Google.

 

[HJM.NL]

That is how your investment profits would look today if you invested in Apple in 2012, in reality.


View attachment 822266

I’m not interested in getting the most profits but as a customer interested in products that give good value for money. I would applaud if that graphics showed the grow of good quality products instead of rising shares. Sometimes I wonder if Apple exists for shareholders or customers.

 

[needsomecoffee]

Hopefully he fails upward. A $700 lock??. Apple must believe the citation from the disgruntled employee's Medium post (found via archive.org) is not indicative of his overall skills. (However some people in upper mgmt often are better at selling themselves vs. true talent). Quote from that post: "This company died due to poor management of a considerable investment portfolio that provided over $45m for this project. Bills were (are) left unpaid and staff was blindsided."

 

[DNichter]

Based on what? Show me your reliability and execution studies.

It was more so from my personal experience with Echo and Google mini, but here is some data to support it if needed. Link for more info. Commands are what you would use for smart home execution. They lag in other areas, but Siri is quite good when it comes to commands.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ma.../siri-on-homepod-vs-alexa-google-cortana/amp/

 

[mad4erit]

Apple is too rich and too important to constantly let initiatives like this flounder. Take Apple TV, which finally got an App Store and games but which completely messed up controller support and hasn’t incented developers to release tvOS versions of their iOS games. We all understand that the iPhone is important but it would be nice to see ongoing support of smaller features that still have a user base in the millions.

 

[DNichter]

I’m not interested in getting the most profits but as a customer interested in products that give good value for money. I would applaud if that graphics showed the grow of good quality products instead of rising shares. Sometimes I wonder if Apple exists for shareholders or customers.

As a publicly traded company, they have to exist for both. In the end, if they make great products, people will buy them, and the shareholders will make their money. Apple does well when it comes to sales and customer satisfaction in a number of different product areas, so I think they are releasing good products - I just think you may not be the intended customer for said products. Traditional PC’s aren’t really Apple’s primary focus right now and that rubs a lot of people the wrong way, which is fair, but there is much more opportunity for the company in other areas such as mobile, wearables, health, AR, and services. For many, that’s just not what they have come to expect from Apple and they aren’t happy about it. Like yourself. That doesn’t mean there isn’t someone on the other side completely content with their current products, like me. That’s why there are different companies for different markets and customers.

 

[Scooz]

Yeah that getting into the home console market was a disaster for them......oh wait a minute

No need to wait, you got it right. They will succeed with Mixed Reality now, once they fixed the phone business, though.

 

[ipponrg]

Traditional PC’s aren’t really Apple’s primary focus right now and that rubs a lot of people the wrong way, which is fair, but there is much more opportunity for the company in other areas such as mobile, wearables, health, AR, and services. For many, that’s just not what they have come to expect from Apple and they aren’t happy about it. Like yourself. That doesn’t mean there isn’t someone on the other side completely content with their current products, like me. That’s why there are different companies for different markets and customers.

I think you are making up excuses.

For example, all Apple had to do was update 2015 MBPs with a spec bump, and things would have been fine. There is no need for a primary focus for this. It really was just simply updating the specs. But instead we got brittle keyboards and a touchbar that no one really asked for.

Also a lot of pro Apple fanatics talk highly about how BIG the company is, yet their portfolio of products is pretty small. The size of the company is mostly owed to the majority of its retail employees.

 

[v3rlon]

My gripe with HomeKit has been lack of integration with Logitech Harmony. Siri answers questions just fine.

Truthfully, there aren’t any real “must have” smart home applications that I’ve seen. They’re just kinda nice. When some finds something we all NEED, they will print money.

 

[DNichter]

I think you are making up excuses.

For example, all Apple had to do was update 2015 MBPs with a spec bump, and things would have been fine. There is no need for a primary focus for this. It really was just simply updating the specs. But instead we got brittle keyboards and a touchbar that no one really asked for.

Also a lot of pro Apple fanatics talk highly about how BIG the company is, yet their portfolio of products is pretty small. The size of the company is mostly owed to the majority of its retail employees.

I have nothing to do with Apple so I don’t need to have any excuses for them, but this is just what I’ve seen. They updated their MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini last year and will have a new Mac Pro and likely an updated iMac this year, so I don’t think they are completely ignoring that segment, it’s just that the bulk of their customers come to Apple for products outside of traditional PC’s. As a business, it only makes sense to prioritize those customers.

 

[newdeal]

Tim Cook has let Homekit languish, and that is likely the most important product that apple had. They even had a bit of a lead in that department but under Cooks leadership have done nothing with it. They needed to take hardware in house instead of relying on third parties.

 

[Heineken]

I did some reading on Jadallah and it turns out that he wasn’t just the CEO of Otto. It was his company. Apple has essentially acquired a ready made, yet unreleased smart lock.

This thing is extremely well built and impossibly small, considering the other smart locks out there that are at least twice the size of Otto and have cheap plastic gears.

View attachment 822245

I’m not sure Apple is going to start releasing its own smart home products other than HomePod, but if they do, they could go the route that Microsoft has taken with Surface and Google is doing with Pixel. Release a reference device and encourage third parties to release their own versions to grow variety in the market with plenty of choice.

If they do, I’d like to see this under an arms length sub company like Apple has done with Beats. I don’t know if we need Apple branded everything.

It’s obvious why they chose this one.

 

[timber]

Call me cheap but I am ok with (metal) keys even with all their limitations.

I need one of those Apple type products that I didn’t even knew I needed and after launch I want. Surprise me Apple.

 

[lunarworks]

Apple should’ve acquired August.

They’re already in tune with Apple in the design sense and have the potential to expand beyond locks and doorbells. They were acquired by the world’s biggest lock company so I think they’re now off limits.

I could see August expanding into door and window sensors next and beyond that into cameras and a thermostat.

Had Apple acquired August, they would’ve had, pardon the pun, a turn-key operation.

Apple doesn't want to make the things. They just want to make the platform the things connect to.

Apple us a major laggard in home space.

Abandoned airport.

90% of the access points around me are the ones built into the modem supplied by the ISP. Mostly tech enthusiasts buy WiFi routers these days, and that's a dangerously competitive market to enter because models seem to have their price slashed in half and go on clearance in less than a year. Once ISPs start offering mesh solutions, it's all over.

What Apple needs, really badly, is a low-cost Apple TV to function as a HomeKit hub. People don't wanna spend almost $200 just to get their fancy light bulbs going.

 

[Red Oak]

I use HomeKit extensively: 30+ devices (lights, thermostats, motion sensors), scenes, automations. It works great and is very stable. And Siri works great with it. It is a solid foundation for Apple to build on

All my landscaping lighting is set-up on HomeKit (using Lutron Caseta switches) and standard low voltage system/lights. I can use my Siri on my Apple Watch to command on/off all my outside lights. It is pretty damn cool and very useful

And, Arlo announced support this Spring. I can't wait to integrated my home camera system

 

[Justanotherfanboy]

Hmmmm....
I dunno. I just moved into a new place & set it up w/ all Siri/HomeKit enabled gear from reputable brands. Honeywell thermostat, LIFX lightbulbs & light strips, Chamberlain/LiftMaster garage door opener, IKEA outlets, lighting, & blinds, & an August lock.
It works beautifully w/ the Home App.

Maybe someone with the “Apple is way behind” narrative could explain to me what sucks so bad about my setup & how much I’m missing? What more could I be doing with an Android phone? In what way would it be better, easier, more secure, or more convenient?

For this incredibly nascent space, they seem as mature as the rest, imo.

 

[newellj]

IMHO Apple has:

- the best platform for smart home tech (HomeKit), bt

- the worst hardware.

I don't need a $250 smart speaker. I certainly don't need a $700 smart lock that "boasts seven different grades of stainless steel."

If Apple wants to compete for my dollars I need practical, cost-effective, deployable-in-quantity hardware. More like lower-end Toyota than Tesla.

 

[Defthand]

Putting an Apple logo on a failed complex lock won't make it successful. There's a reason why it wasn't adopted the first time around because higher complexity means higher chance of failure. For something critical that can potentially lock you out of the house or, worse, in the house in the event of a fire or unintendedly unlock the door to strangers, people aren't ready to give up the reliability of traditional locks. Technology should make life easier and not worse.

I agree that Consumer tech companies are quick to pursue an idea just because they can—especially if it’s an analog product that hasn’t been “modernized” with digital abilities. Roger Mcnamee, the venture capitalist who mentored Mark Zuckerberg when Facebook was a start up, made a similar observation. He said, “...these [big tech] companies essentially pick off one industry at a time and disrupt it in a way that destroys the old without replacing it with something of equal value.” Mcnamee used to call himself a tech optimist. He says he no longer is. Tech companies ultimately corrupt an idea when they execute it.

Personally, I don’t see what is exciting and indispensable about home automation. It’s a house, not a goddamn factory. How busy is someone that they can’t flip a light switch?

 

[WilliamG]

Apple should’ve acquired August.

They’re already in tune with Apple in the design sense and have the potential to expand beyond locks and doorbells. They were acquired by the world’s biggest lock company so I think they’re now off limits.

I could see August expanding into door and window sensors next and beyond that into cameras and a thermostat.

Had Apple acquired August, they would’ve had, pardon the pun, a turn-key operation.

Agreed. The August Third Gen locks (Pro) finally got it right. Good battery life (6 months), very reliable etc. I’ve had first, second and third-gen locks so I’ve seen the improvements each gen. Third gen nails it. It’s been great. And I have two!