Apple Hires Ex-Microsoft Exec to Revamp Smart Home Business

[9081094]

HomeKit seems to be a hard sell to wireless gadget manufacturers. They seem to always come out with their own app at launch and allude that HomeKit compatibility might be coming in the future. Sometimes it does, often it doesn't. It seems like HomeKit has lost its hype luster and manufacturers are going their own way.

I think lots of manufacturers are planning for the future too and don’t see any compelling reason to make their devices ready for a stagnant platform which 85% of the world doesn’t even use.

 

[nt5672]

Joke’s on you. My generation will never be able to afford a home lol

Might be a hint that your generation is voting the wrong way, or buying (which also a form of voting) the wrong things. Might not, YMMV.

 

[ipedro]

I think there needs to be an internal change at Apple. They keep buying companies but none of them have helped them improve their software and hardware.

Where've you been?

Apple's Siri got a lot smarter over the last 9 months
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/21/apple-siri-vs-alexa-google-assistant-loup-ventures.html

Apple's AI and ML acquisitions have been showing up in Siri as it was rebuilt from the ground up using the technologies and people Apple inherited from those acquisitions.

The Beats purchase which many many people (specially here) cried about has made an incredible return on investment. iTunes was quickly losing its footing as Apple's dominating force in the music industry and Apple used Beats to quickly turn around into Apple Music, now growing at a faster pace than Spotify (which means that Apple will inevitably catch up). Beats hardware revenue alone already returned to Apple what they paid for the company and continues to pay, and will continue to pay dividends into the foreseeable future.

Buying Workflow was an easy win for Apple, which have become Shortcuts, an important element of how Siri will continue to integrate into third party apps.

There are I'm sure acquisitions that we'll not know how they factored in to Apple's plans but saying that Apple hasn't improved their software or hardware is myopic and frankly, provably wrong.

 

[nt5672]

Apple will never have anything to do with my home. I want my home to be my home, not Apple's home that only respects my wishes when said wishes correspond to Apple's politically correct notion of right and wrong.

 

[ipedro]

The smart locks don’t accept a physical key? The only electronic lock (Schlage) I have ever used accepted a regular key in case the battery died or the electronics otherwise failed.

This particular lock doesn't. Instead, it has a local unlock mechanism that doesn't need a connection or even a phone. It uses a combination by turning the lock. If the batteries run out (and you ignored all the warnings), it goes into a standby mode that lasts for a year and a half on internal power.

 

[trifid]

Wait, Apple just woke up about this? Same with the Siri situation. What the hell?

 

[KPandian1]

And yet, Apple grew the number of Mac users from 60 millions in 2012 to 100 million users in 2018. In fact, more than 50% of those who buy a Mac has never owned a Mac before.

Seriously! Support these numbers, please. Also, that has to be active computers, in percentage and not just a cumulative number. Windows can pull much larger numbers out of the air, too!

Support for the OS system comes from the institutions - basically, it means the OS supported will be the majority, by a huge margin, not 60-40 or so.

Apple had ~95% market-share of the computers in colleges in the early 90's - it is the inverse now. A similar thing happened with the iPads vs Chrome Books. Institutions support for Apple has crashed; and Chrome Book is winning from the KG level up!

The sad part of this whole thing is that it takes minimum effort from Apple to keep their Mac lines in the more popular - all ports as in '15 MacBook Pro/Air as a simultaneous line to satisfy us "convenience crowd", while giving the "real pros" all fully enabled USB-C ports only in their "professional" models. They just needed to keep the 2012-2015 MacBook Pro/Air modules alive.

It is cheaper to make motherboards and chassis with just identical USB-C ports, instead of all those other ports popular with people; so, charge the peasants a bit less for these "non-professional" models, so that the Pros can feel better about their "superior" Macs. /s

IRL, charge the well ported models (including MagSafe) a couple of hundred bucks more and see if they sell. Almost like a costlier SE model of the each of the Mac computers! Also, stop soldering the traditionally added components, anything outside the SoC.

 

[mpainesyd]

Another way that Apple could demonstrate that it is serious about developing Homekit is to create a Homekit category for Apple Communities. Currently threads with Homekit advice are spread between Homepod, AppleTV and other categories, making self-help difficult.
So far they seem to have ignored this suggestion.

 

[az431]

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.

August locks are the biggest turds unleashed on humanity. So no, bad idea.

And in any case, this acquisition was not about hardware. Apple has expressed zero interest in HomeKit hardware.

 

[adamski23]

Apple was too late for me. My point of entry was a gifted google mini and now I’m fully entrenched. It hasn’t let me down yet and I’ve no plans on switching to HomeKit any time soon.

 

[az431]

Apple had ~95% market-share of the computers in colleges in the early 90's - it is the inverse now. A similar thing happened with the iPads vs Chrome Books. Institutions support for Apple has crashed; and Chrome Book is winning from the KG level up!

First, Apple never had a 95% market share, and I'm not sure how you came up with this number.

Second, while Apple was dominant in education in the early 80s (not the 90s as you allege), it was because Apple gave away computers to schools:

Apple is offering a free Apple IIe system to every eligible elementary and secondary school in California. The package includes a 64K Apple IIe computer, a display monitor, one floppy disk drive, and a copy of Apple Logo, a computer language designed for students. The current suggested retail value of the package is $2364. The KCW package also contains coupons for free and discounted educational software from more than 25 educational software publishers, including The Learning Company, Hayden Electronic Publishing, and Sterling Swift.

...

After this push into California schools and particularly after the launch of the Macintosh in 1984, Apple soon came to dominate the education PC market (for a while at least), helped no doubt by other marketing initiatives like the Apple Distinguished Educator program and research projects like Apple Classroom of Tomorrow.

http://hackeducation.com/2015/02/25/kids-cant-wait-apple

Once schools had to actually pay for computers, they of course went with the least expensive option, PC and Windows.

 

[KPandian1]

First, Apple never had a 95% market share, and I'm not sure how you came up with this number.

Second, while Apple was dominant in education in the early 80s (not the 90s as you allege), it was because Apple gave away computers to schools …

Yes, 80's into the 90's until they crashed out. The marketshare mentioned was in colleges.

MS was literally giving away its OS to the IBM-PC makers (with monopolistic restrictions) to PCs to the general public.

Chrome books are given away (or "sold" at below cost, aka dumped) into the schools now - similar strategy.

 

[SeattleMoose]

Connected-home tech has lagged along with Apple TV, Siri, clunky iTunes design/layout, and the Mac Pro.
But damn we got great emoji engineering and innovation going on!!!

 

[dan110]

In my opinion, Apple has already lost this race when they decided to stop developing wifi routers. They literally ceded this space to their competitors. Unless they make a mea culpa and bring back the Apple Airport line of products to support automated technologies, then they'll continue to lose in this space.

HomePod is ok for Apple finatics, but there's absolutely nothing compelling about Apple's in home offerings.

Siri is not even a contender for anything anymore. It's a complete embarrassment.

 

[mschmalenbach]

It makes sense - so many other aspects of the Apple experience are becoming more like the MS experience... crashing OS, focus of updates on stuff that really doesn't matter, etc etc etc...

BUT - it still has a long way to go to be as bad an experience as Windows has been for 30 years...I'm hopeful.

My high end MacBook Pro retina 15, with all the bells and whistles and some $3.5K plus $500 in new dongles and crap was bought by my employer. Had it been my money I'd have been p1ssed. Lots of kernel panics and file structure corruptions. Stable now. After nearly 9 months, original hardware. Battery life is poor though. Oh well...

 

[mikethemartian]

I wish Apple could convince a window manufacturer to create an electric sash window that could be opened and closed with an app or wall switch. It could also include a security sensor, and a rain sensor that would close the window automatically. The electric window would be for new construction or remodeling.

Back in the mid 80s I read that Honda was working on automobile windows that would use LCD technology so that the tinting could be varied electrically. That would basically create a solid state window that wouldn’t require a motor to open and close unless you wanted to change the air flow.

 

[JRobinsonJr]

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.

True, and a great idea. One concern would be that while August can and will likely push into new areas... Apple would take years testing the waters and just get further behind. IMO what Apple needs is a ready-to-sell or ready to update with HomeKit product line. That's the only way they'll even hope to catch up.

 

[mejsric]

Apple should hire this commentators as advisers.

 

[ipedro]

True, and a great idea. One concern would be that while August can and will likely push into new areas... Apple would take years testing the waters and just get further behind. IMO what Apple needs is a ready-to-sell or ready to update with HomeKit product line. That's the only way they'll even hope to catch up.

Eve wouldn't be a bad acquisition. They have an extensive HomeKit compatible lineup.

I would like to see Apple keep whatever smart home company acquisition at an arm's length. If they acquired August, it would remain August. If they acquired Eve, it would remain Eve. They'd continue to operate as a smart home company, independent of Apple, but with the virtually unlimited resources of its parent company, in step with Apple's long term goals and free from the risk of being taken over by an Android focused company

 

[dwaite]

As for Skills, don't these run on device, whereas shortcuts require the paired iPhone to be present in order to function as that is where they run? I don't think they are comparable.

1. Alexa Skills do not run on device, but instead in the cloud (mostly on the developer's infrastructure after recognition)
2. Siri Shortcuts are developer features tied to specific application functionality that a user can enable via "Add to Siri". These can be run by HomePod or Apple Watch, or could require an app to open in which case they will not.
3. Shortcuts is an app where power users can build scripts which are voice-activated by Siri. This does not directly use Siri Shortcuts, but is analogous to registering these scripts as Siri Shortcuts. Depending on how these are built, they can be run by HomePod/Apple Watch.

I do not know if any of these work on Apple TV. Likewise, I do not know if there is a line by which Siri Shortcuts can run "on" a HomePod or Apple Watch, vs running over wireless communicating to an iPhone with the actual backing app. I'd be willing to experiment more if I owned a HomePod

 

[Junior117]

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.

Hello? Pun Police?

Yes, this post right here.

 

[KPandian1]

It was his startup. He had investors but he founded the company. He poached Apple employees to work on it but like any other company, anything employees invented while working there, belong to the company.

Did he not start the company with these patents - so aren't they his property, preceding the existence of the IP that the company would own?
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5G is going to overtake WiFi as the connectivity standard as anything with a CPU, big and small, will have 5G chips built in and can connect directly to the internet without requiring a local network.

If 5G has as many towers as 4G/LTE has today after this many years of development, even in another 24 months, it will be a surprise.

The coverage will be spotty even in the largest metropolitan cities, poor in the suburbs and near non-existent in the rural areas. The cellular companies have no incentive to have these up and running, definitely no pride of accomplishment, as evident from the 4G towers present.

 

[citysnaps]

5G is going to overtake WiFi as the connectivity standard as anything with a CPU, big and small, will have 5G chips built in and can connect directly to the internet without requiring a local network.

At what monthly fee? I'm fine with my free WiFi connecting all my computers and devices. And with no data caps or throttling. I suspect many others are as well.

 

[SeaFox]

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.

That wont happen.

You're advocating a business plan that completely echos the one Apple faced in the 1980's -- whether to license the IP and let others make "compatible competitors" to grow the platform quickly, or tightly hold onto the crown jewels and be the sole supplier of the business. Apple generally wants to own the whole pie so they don't have to compete.

 

[Internet Enzyme]

I use Homekit and Alexa, but have generally found Alexa easier to set up. Not a LOT easier, but still.

What I would really like is for smart homes to be, well, smarter.

I have a sensor. I come in the front door and it turns on a light scene for me
- if it is after dark
- if some OTHER lights aren't already on
- if the TV is off because I wouldn't want to mess with other viewing in progress.

The thermostat knows if I am just sleeping in my room because I worked all night and doesn't let the house get up to 85F.

If I tell it to turn off all the lights, it turns off all the lights and doesn't complain about a few things sharing that name (when nothing has that name).

It automatically talks quieter after bedtime.

While i have some problems with the home app’s strange design idiosyncrasies, the alexa app is just a straight mess i swear to god. Ive found homekit easier too bcus i dont have to add a skill or whatever