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Note: this is about issuing commands to your home... WHILE AWAY FROM HOME.

To me this makes perfect sense... you have one device (the ATV in this case) that is connected to the "cloud" and when you want to issue a command while you're outside of your house the command goes down to the ATV then go out from there to whatever device it is in your house.

Without this you would need to have every device directly connected to the cloud... which would be a mess. Not only in terms of complexity... but also think about security. With the ATV there (which is signed in using your iCloud account - how are you going to sign a light socket into your iCloud account?) a secure message can be sent _into_ your house.

Further, think about firewalls and proxies, etc... do you really want every device in your house to have to have settings for all of that stuff so that it can communicate with the outside world? Why not just one (the ATV) which can dish out commands to everything else internally... greatly simplifying the whole thing.

This isn't about Apple trying to lock you into something... this is about making some damn sense.
 
Support Amazon Prime / Instant Video. Apple, stop crippling ATV.

Agree! Even though I rarely use it, I will like to have the option of using it. Also, I will like smartthings to support HomeKit...I know Samsung bought it a couple of months ago...but still I will like some kind of support.
 
I started wit hate hue (and it is faster then any hub I have seen) and I have the smarthings hub now because ti s more versatile. I use the smartthings hub to control the hue hub. I also have a memo connected to the smart things hub and my sonos speakers. it controls them all and it is extremely programmable. it can do many things and has a huge amount of scripts to do many things like telling you to close your windows cause the weather is getting bad or cause toe songs to bark when someone comes but no one is home.
Myself I doubt the Apple TV will have much in the way of programming or versatility. I mean this is apple KISS is the norm. I want more then just being able to turn the lights on and off with siri. knowing apple it would be simple limited and not versatile. having to reconnect your devices to a new hub is a real pain so it is hardy to have a dedicated hub. most hubs now days support many standards.
 
But why not offer the option to enable the hub in both Airport or Apple TV?

Yeah I really don't get why this would only be in Apple TV. They should add this functionality to any Apple device that is always running in the home, like Airports, Apple TVs and desktops.
 
Sounds promising and exciting for the next version of Apple TV but could someone please explain to me why Apple couldn't just use any of the Airport products to act as the hub for HomeKit?

I own SmatThings for over a year, the hub cost about the same as an Apple TV. So in terms of const I guess that if you don't own an Apple TV, this might be a reason for buying one. However, if you only want to watch TV...probably it will be better to buy something else. Nevertheless your idea sounds great.
 
myself if it does take a apple tv Your going to have to buy a new one. I gave mine to my daughter cause I don't own a tv anymore.
 
It's not something new, but all existed commercial products require tedious networking setup, and most people will find them in trouble fighting with their home router.
Apple will tend to hide these tedious details from user interface, with the price of letting some people unhappy about privacy issue. Which means Apple will probably setup a new proprietary tunneling protocol bounded to iCloud for service discover and pairing; just like TeamView.
Your home fixture setup will probably not exposed to Apple; however, your Apple TV may routinely poll for notifications from iCloud for incoming messages, while your iDevice is not detected within the same LAN.
 
I got an Apple TV for Christmas last year, so thats pretty convenient.

Now all that needs to happen is the addition of BBC iPlayer and equivalent (ITV player, Demand 5, 4OD, Sky Go…) services and ideally NFL GamePass. Or y’know… an app store.
 
Support Amazon Prime / Instant Video. Apple, stop crippling ATV.

I agree with this part of your statement. The iPad has the app which I sometimes use so it would be nice to be able to use it on the TV versus using AirPlay.

My understanding was that it is Amazon that has caused the delay/lack of an app on the Apple TV. Why would that be? Well, because they have a similar box to sell.
 
I'm not buying this rumor.

Why should a "home kit hub" be required in the middle? What does it add?

It adds an extra $100 to Apple's bottom line from anyone wanting to set up and use HomeKit.

On the flip side, Samsung's big announcement at CES was that they were making 90% of their products internet enabled by 2017 and 100% by 2020.

And it will be completely open - no walled garden like Apple is building.


http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2015-01-06/samsungs-smart-home-master-plan-leave-the-door-open-for-others
 
Why can't my $180 Apple AirPort Extreme 802.11ac router handle this? It is firmware upgradable. It's just dispatching simple commands over WiFi.
 
Why can't my $180 Apple AirPort Extreme 802.11ac router handle this? It is firmware upgradable. It's just dispatching simple commands over WiFi.


Devices are paired with the hub once paired they are locked together till you reset them. Door locks need secure connections. The devices are pinging back and forth all the time there is a ton of them out there. Different formats Bluetooth and all that.

I mean would sonos and apple work together sense they compete?
 
Let's hope the bulbs just require a firmware update to broadcast who they are to the homekit API. This is one of the reasons I stopped buying anything when HK was announced.

Not going to happen unless Apple adds Z-Wave to the Apple TV and starts using Phillips' custom protocol. My guess is the ATV will talk to the Hue Hub over the home network, which is just fine.
 
I'm not buying this rumor.

The WWDC developer video for home kit explicitly stated that home kit devices could be securly controlled via Siri both in and out of the house, and made no mention of a "home kit hub" being required.

Also home kit devices connect to the Internet (and yes, sometimes via their own hubs like with hue, which is a different matter - hue bulbs talk over zigbee not wifi so a zigbee hub is required and the Apple TV cannot be used instead) to talk to your iOS devices, so why should a "home kit hub" be required in the middle? What does it add?

Maybe it's for devices that use Bluetooth LE

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Not going to happen unless Apple adds Z-Wave to the Apple TV and starts using Phillips' custom protocol. My guess is the ATV will talk to the Hue Hub over the home network, which is just fine.

This is what the Smartthings hub does

Things get screwed up though if you have a Hue tap
 
I can't imagine they would make people, who have spent $100s on the Phillips Hue bulbs, buy new bulbs. Or am I wrong?

I was leaning towards buying the BR30 ones, but I may hold off for a bit until this is confirmed.

That's the thing. They have not been 100% open and clear. I'm one of those who's wondering if they're trying to shift old stock before releasing a new version. But then they have reassured one or two people they won't need to buy new as there is no new product.

They haven't been clear is the message.

Go ask hue on Twitter. See if the reply is oh so and not concrete.
 
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Why can't my $180 Apple AirPort Extreme 802.11ac router handle this? It is firmware upgradable. It's just dispatching simple commands over WiFi.

Because they already have that as needed when waking up a mac away from home with Back to my mac. Now you will need the Apple TV when using HomeKit away from home. More devices to buy!
 
Because they already have that as needed when waking up a mac away from home with Back to my mac. Now you will need the Apple TV when using HomeKit away from home. More devices to buy!

If everything works off wifi then the Apple TV as the hub cuts down on price of other stuff. But the Apple hub and its up to date. All your devices communicate with that. Easy peasy.

If it works like that.
 
AppleTV & built in Ethernet

Still having issues with Ethernet input; worked initially & then froze. So it's back to Wi-Fi; lucky I have an extra AppleExpress lying around and house is wired for Ethernet.
 
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