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Apple Said to Be Developing Smart Home Products for HomeKit Integration

clukas said:
This is why apple should have bought Nest instead of letting Google purchase them. It will be interesting whether apple will stick to software and develop API's or produce actual hardware. My house is definitely ready.
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How frequently do people upgrade their thermostats? Contrast that (I assume to be a) low number with the the number of people who upgrade their headphones.
 
ChrisCW11 said:
I have Nest, and as a thermostat it is definitely one of the best looking and working ones out there as of yet, but Nest oversells itself as a "savior" of the environment and your money.

First, it is not really intelligent. Yes it does set up a schedule as you manually adjust it for the first few weeks, but then it NEVER changes your schedule, even if you do. Once the "learning" period is over, the schedule will be unchanged even after several weeks of manually adjusting it when I started working at a new job and I left and arrived at different times. Yes I can manually adjust it or put it back into learning mode, but that is not the point of a supposedly "smart" thermostat.

Also Nest once boasted of a feature to recognize and adjust to local weather conditions, this is false. Nest is no more aware of the local weather then you are, and too often I see people running their AC or heat when the temperature outside is actually cooler or hotter then the temperature they set it at. A "Smart" thermostat should just tell you to open your windows once in a while.

The "leafs" feature of Nest is dumb because there are several months a year where I don't need to heat or cool the home, I can just open the windows, but during these months when I have the Nest thermostat off, it doesn't report my usage as being "eco-friendly", even though I am using NO energy. Also during these months my Nest will run out of power because modern HVAC systems don't have a dedicated powered wired to the thermostat.

The remote capabilities of the nest are cool, but I have only used this feature a few times in the 2 years I have owned it. Coming home from a tropical vacation was nice to have the house toasty warm in the middle of winter as the plane parked at the arrival terminal, but rarely have I ever needed to adjust the temp remotely, or even look at the Nest status outside of being at home.

I am not saying that Apple will do something mediocre, but coming out with a "Smart" thermostat for the sake of competing with Nest is certainly not in Apple's best interests. However coming out with a thermostat which can actually save you money and the environment by knowing how to adjust itself based on current weather and ALWAYS observing your schedule and presence is the only way I would replace my Nest with something from Apple.
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the problem is we're asking too much of artificial intelligence right now. no machine can, at this point, determine how you feel inside (cold, hot, humid...) nor what type of information you want to view at any one minute. Looking at google's approach, all i see are tons of messages being stent to my phone or watch that may or may not be what i'm interested in seeing at the moment. just because i did a quick lookup of hotels for a friend doesn't mean i'm looking to travel anywhere.

I like apples approach much better. Let me determine what i want to know when i want to know it and have the phone or watch get me the answer form the most reliable source.

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zipa said:
I probably won't really care what it looks like...

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Yearly, or how often Apple decides to release new ones that "change everything".
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yearly??? no - my parents have the same thermostat that came with the house. they do not update yearly.
 
I anticipate HomeKit will be to the home what CarPlay is to the car. And I envision useful interaction between the two. "Things" will get more interesting.
 
ChrisCW11 said:
I have Nest, and as a thermostat it is definitely one of the best looking and working ones out there as of yet, but Nest oversells itself as a "savior" of the environment and your money.

First, it is not really intelligent. Yes it does set up a schedule as you manually adjust it for the first few weeks, but then it NEVER changes your schedule, even if you do. Once the "learning" period is over, the schedule will be unchanged even after several weeks of manually adjusting it when I started working at a new job and I left and arrived at different times. Yes I can manually adjust it or put it back into learning mode, but that is not the point of a supposedly "smart" thermostat.

Also Nest once boasted of a feature to recognize and adjust to local weather conditions, this is false. Nest is no more aware of the local weather then you are, and too often I see people running their AC or heat when the temperature outside is actually cooler or hotter then the temperature they set it at. A "Smart" thermostat should just tell you to open your windows once in a while.

The "leafs" feature of Nest is dumb because there are several months a year where I don't need to heat or cool the home, I can just open the windows, but during these months when I have the Nest thermostat off, it doesn't report my usage as being "eco-friendly", even though I am using NO energy. Also during these months my Nest will run out of power because modern HVAC systems don't have a dedicated powered wired to the thermostat.

The remote capabilities of the nest are cool, but I have only used this feature a few times in the 2 years I have owned it. Coming home from a tropical vacation was nice to have the house toasty warm in the middle of winter as the plane parked at the arrival terminal, but rarely have I ever needed to adjust the temp remotely, or even look at the Nest status outside of being at home.

I am not saying that Apple will do something mediocre, but coming out with a "Smart" thermostat for the sake of competing with Nest is certainly not in Apple's best interests. However coming out with a thermostat which can actually save you money and the environment by knowing how to adjust itself based on current weather and ALWAYS observing your schedule and presence is the only way I would replace my Nest with something from Apple.
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that is why I use Ecobee instead of Nest.
 
Quu said:
I find it really hard to see Apple making any product where it's hard to use and installing panels in your walls, thermostats, alarm systems, CCTV cameras etc these aren't easy to do and you may even need a professional technician to do the installation.

I'm not saying they won't do it just that it would be unusual, it doesn't fit their current mantra of making everything easy for the end user to setup themselves.

I think it's much more likely that they will devise the software and the API's to empower other OEM's to make the actual products.
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Granted, I'm an exceptional woman :) but I've replaced my own thermostat controller and installed 3 ip security cams in my house so I can spy on my pets when I am out of town. Really not that hard for people who are handy and a little tech savvy. And a cottage industry would be created for people to set up other people's houses.

One feature I would like to have is for the thermostat to know when I have any windows and/or doors open so that it doesn't run the AC during those times.
 
rdlink said:
Not the only one, for sure. But I think you're in the minority.

Right now my thermostat, smoke detector, sprinkler system and some of my lights are already connected to the internet. More please...

And if Apple offers anything comparable to Nest thermostat and smoke detectors I will toss the Google stuff in about a half second.
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I never forgot this Twilight Zone classic that got to me as a kid....
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xx7fwe_twilight-zone-a-thing-about-machines_shortfilms ;)

More to the shorter-term future, the keynote seemed to indicate that Apple's play was to work with as many of the existing "net-o'-things" manufacturers at once as possible. I suppose that could include "hub hardware" - but with existing devices, not sure it's necessary...

...also, the CarPlay approach makes them able to work with multiple manufacturers to overlay on maker's own interfaces, and not precluding those same car makers' systems from being able to also respond to offerings from Android and Microsoft....??

...and thinking this might be similar....

Still, I'm not sure of the strategic vision, but the poster who says that Google's "attention span" is short is pretty far off base IMO.

Their robotics initiative's looking out decades at least, e.g., and it's not the only one.... ....and not every "analyst" saw a clever search algorithm becoming an advertising/analytics giant over a decade plus...

The future for Apple will include entrenched, deep-pocketed, determined and clever competitors on multiple fronts...
 
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sailmac said:
I anticipate HomeKit will be to the home what CarPlay is to the car. And I envision useful interaction between the two. "Things" will get more interesting.
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I'm not sure how much sense it makes to mix the two, but as long as it allows me to control everything/anything from my iPhone, it's all good.
 
How Apple will integrate these devices?

for people already have their IOS devices control their home devices such as Garage Door ( LiftMaster), Thermostat ( ecobee) etc. It will be interesting to see how Apple will integrate with these devices.
 
Rogifan said:
Yep I agree with this. Still I think close to 60% of revenue being driven by one product is not a good thing. Apple is keeping Beats hardware and Ive's team is taking over design from the 3rd party consultancy Beats was working with. My guess is Apple is planning to do something in this space besides just milking the existing cash cow. And I don't think HealthKit and HomeKit were designed just for 3rd parties. Same with Metal. We will see the fruits of that labor in future Apple hardware I'm sure.
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I'm certain they have plans for Beats beyond the apparent, if only because the the revenue generated by the existing Beats product line isn't very significant within the scheme of things for Apple. HealthKit is clearly tied into Apple's pending wearable tech product(s). Their intentions for HomeKit are a bit more mysterious, but I suspect it is something of a stalking horse for undisclosed Apple home automation hardware, and announced as just an API at this stage to make it more difficult for them to be outflanked by Google before their own products are ready.

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DaveN said:
I always wondered if 'down south' and 'up north' sayings are reversed in the southern hemisphere. I've been to New Zealand and Australia but never asked. I guess I'll have to make another trip as you can't trust answers you get on the internet... especially for questions as important as that one!
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Any excuse is a good excuse to travel. But why travel when every day is a new language adventure at MR?
 
laurim said:
Granted, I'm an exceptional woman :) but I've replaced my own thermostat controller and installed 3 ip security cams in my house so I can spy on my pets when I am out of town. Really not that hard for people who are handy and a little tech savvy. And a cottage industry would be created for people to set up other people's houses.

One feature I would like to have is for the thermostat to know when I have any windows and/or doors open so that it doesn't run the AC during those times.
Click to expand...

I did those same things in my home, I even setup three IP Cameras. Two of which required me to climb up a ladder and use a power drill on the outside of my property.

The question is, is that the kind of inconvenience Apple wants to sell? I don't think so.
 
Mad Mac Maniac said:
I think it's really interesting how Apple is moving in the direction of creating an ecosystem around the iPhone(iWatch and this home product), but opening up their API's to allow other manufacturers to directly compete with them.

It's a new Apple
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Not really. This is like Apple opening up MacOS to allow other manufacturers to make keyboards, mice, moniters, printers, cameras, etc.. MacOS facilitates their operation. iOS will be the same with the home automation. The API's help with the necessary programmng aspect.
 
Yvan256 said:
I'm the only one who doesn't want his home/apartment connected to the Internet? :confused:
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For me, connection to the Internet isn't the point. It's about control centralization.

When I leave the house, I don't have to go through every room, making sure I've turned off the lights. Or having to go the stereo system to adjust the volume. Hell, not even having a stereo system sitting out taking up space - the whole thing can be hidden in a storage closet, and not even have a display panel. Everything would be controlled via a mobile device (phone/tablet).

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I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they develop a more elegant wall switch and/or electrical outlet.
 
Quu said:
I find it really hard to see Apple making any product where it's hard to use and installing panels in your walls, thermostats, alarm systems, CCTV cameras etc these aren't easy to do and you may even need a professional technician to do the installation.

I'm not saying they won't do it just that it would be unusual, it doesn't fit their current mantra of making everything easy for the end user to setup themselves.

I think it's much more likely that they will devise the software and the API's to empower other OEM's to make the actual products.
Click to expand...

If you ever installed a Nest thermostat you would know that it can be made simple and easy.
 
daye said:
for people already have their IOS devices control their home devices such as Garage Door ( LiftMaster), Thermostat ( ecobee) etc. It will be interesting to see how Apple will integrate with these devices.
Click to expand...

This is my question. There are tons of wireless devices out there that you can control with your phone, but most have their own apps or APIs. I recently installed a Piper camera which is used as a z-wave hub and it works great. One app tells me if all my doors and windows are open or shut, I can unlock/lock my front or back door in the same app, set my home/away/vacation mode to use it as an alarm system, and in am looking at getting a garage door controller next.

This system works almost flawlessly and has replaced my alarm system. If apple does something similar, it should be great. The only question is will they use existing protocols, or make up their own (probably more likely they make up their own based on previously events).
 
I have been keeping my eye on Revolv* (http://revolv.com/). Right now they have two things I could use them for (sonos and wemo).

I am hoping with the new stuff that iOS brings this company is able to provide even cooler integration and compatibility.

*I do not work for or with them, I saw their product at CES2014 and have been watching and following them ever since. I have not purchased one yet though.
 
Mr Fusion said:
I've got a bunch of "magical" stuff in my basement but I fully expect to be accused of lack of innovation until I actually release something to the public. History doesn't count anymore, it's all about what have you done for me lately... Didn't you get the memo? ;)
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when those accusing you of lack of innovation are Samsung users, it's gotta sting a little. it's like fans of Nickelback bashing Cobain for being a 'junkie loser.'
 
Rogifan said:
Buying Nest would have meant buying Tony Fadell. Apple is no longer a divisional company, it's completely functional. Where would Tony Fadell fit in Apple's current organization? I'm sure Apple thinks it can do its own hardware as well as anything Nest does.
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Where does Dr Dre fit in Apple?
 
The iWatch is going to be a bigger part of this than any of Apple's other devices. It's a much more intuitive way to control these things. The point is you should be able to make commands at any place at any time in your home. You don't need to reach to/find your phone. Just speak into your watch.
 
rdlink said:
If you ever installed a Nest thermostat you would know that it can be made simple and easy.
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Except in the UK.

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From Nests own website. This is just another reason why Apple wouldn't do it, they won't enter the Cable tv market because of all the different configurations in use, you think they are gonna go in to thermostats? haha, no way.

Apple will write the software and let other companies make the hardware.
 
Yes! If this becomes a reality, the only thing left would be Mac security DVR software plus some adaptor for analog composite security cameras. The current hardware for this is good, but the software is always garbage designed in China that hardly works. Yeah, I know that neither this rumor nor Apple ever acknowledging the existence of composite video is likely.
 
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