As the creator of some of the first connected home devices, Nest has long been one of the odd holdouts in supporting the HomeKit, Apple's platform for controlling such products from their iOS devices. A big part it is likely the fact that Nest is owned by Google. But even with that caveat, this situation could eventually change with this fall's release of iOS 11, announced earlier this month at WWDC.
This morning Apple revealed the HomePod, their first "home speaker" - or Siri Speaker, if you prefer. This device has the same processor as the most modern iPhone, no display, and a much more powerful set of speakers than an iPhone. It needs to be plugged in to a physical wall socket and it's able to do a litany of tasks if you ask it - through Siri, of course. Today we're having a closer look at Apple official.
Apple's HomeKit may have had a quiet start, but third-party accessories for an iOS smart home are gradually picking up pace. Latest to store shelves is Elgato's Eve Degree, a compact temperature, humidity, and air pressure sensor, wrapped up in a simple and handsome design, and promising to be the smart trigger your connected home has been asking for.
Smart home products these days speak different languages, which sometimes defeats the purpose of having an automated home. But rather than trying to force existing and future products to speak a single language, device and platform makers are solving the language barrier like we do in the real world: with translators. The Belkin Wemo Bridge is one such translator and it is quite adept at one language. This tiny square that you connect to your Wi-Fi router allows Wemo's switches and plugs to speak Apple's HomeKit language.
Logitech's Pop is getting an Apple HomeKit upgrade, allowing the programable wireless buttons to act as light-switches, scene-triggers, and more for iOS fans. Launched in August last year, Pop offers a triple-function button that can be customized to control hundreds of devices in your smart home. Now, there's a second version for those who went the HomeKit route.
Apple's HomeKit makes a simple promise: take the disparate parts of the connected home, and bring them together under one straightforward umbrella. Still, the stringent requirements around things like security and ease of setup has meant partner devices have been slower to trickle down to the market than for rival platforms: this D-Link Omna 180 Cam HD has the title of first HomeKit-compatible security camera available. $200 gets you a very wide angle lens and freedom from subscription fees, but there are still signs that neither HomeKit nor D-Link's camera are quite where the competition has reached.
Apple's iPhone 8 will be released at some point, but the data we're looking at today suggests that it wont be out in the year 2017. Apple won't be skipping a year for iPhone releases - there's no good reason for them to do so. Instead, one of two major possibilities is that the next iPhone won't be an iPhone 8 at all, but an iPhone 7s. Imagine that - Apple following the same release schedule they've been on for over six years - madness!
The folks at Nanoleaf have an interesting set of lights prepared for living rooms wishing for colorful accents with "Aurora." The Aurora system is a modular smart lighting solution that allows the user to control each panel from a smartphone. The user configures the lighting grid however they like, then turn the lights on, off, dim, and color-change all from a smartphone screen.
Smart appliances and Internet of Things products are growing to be quite myriad, but they sometimes speak different languages that you need hubs to translate them. Not so LEDVANCE's SYLVANIA Smart Multicolor A19 LED bulb. Everything it needs to be smart is inside it already. All you need to do is screw it in, connect it to your iPhone or iPad, and magic the light shine. The magic is all in Apple's HomeKit app and platform.
Elgato has unveiled its latest product called the Eve Motion. As the name suggests the Eve Motion is a wireless motion sensor that has HomeKit tech inside. It can be placed inside or outside the home and will automatically activate HomeKit Scenes and accessories. The Eve Motion is able to turn things on or off when it detects the presence or absence of motion such as power outlets, HVAC systems, lights, and combinations of devices.
Today Elgato showed the Eve Light Switch for the first time, connecting to Apple devices with HomeKit. Using Apple's HomeKit, Elgato puts Siri in control of the lights a user has at home. Unlike other similar systems, this switch puts the control at the switch instead of the plug. In this way, the user is able to control all lights in their home, not just the lamps. There's also Elgato Eve Energy for lamp-lovers.
Apple is working with home builders like Brookfield Residents Properties to create showroom homes filled with Internet-of-Things gadgets, the end result being an automated home that shows potential homeowners the extent of what smart technology can do for them. These smart gadgets, as you'd expect, all work with Apple's HomeKit, and could prove a fruitful way for Apple to draw in new customers to iOS.
