Apple expected to unveil new smart home platform at WWDC - report

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  • Reply 61 of 150
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by island hermit View Post

     
    I would imagine that home building will be quite different within the next 50-60 years. The home and driveway will be clad in solar cells, connectivity will be easy and abundant, exterior and interior. Within 100 years the smart home will be quite complete... but most people today might not call the results aesthetically pleasing... even though the design will be clean and efficient. 


    Establishing standard communication protocols is important I think. For example my garage doors have some smart home certified logo on them which is compatible with built-in automobile remote controls. If Apple can define the new standard such as they have done with iBeacons then all manufacturers can move forward quickly.  Right now there are several competing process automation control protocols.

     

    To you point about aesthetics, I never considered a driveway as a solar collector. I like that idea. I have been struggling with the solar design for my new home because I want it to look like a traditional Spanish colonial but be all high-tech behind the scenes.

  • Reply 62 of 150
    applesauce007applesauce007 Posts: 1,698member

    This could be the start of something big.

    It'll be interesting to see how Apple makes money from this.

     

    Time will tell.

  • Reply 63 of 150

    Will it be as good as the FIBARO smart home system?

  • Reply 64 of 150
    [quote]lord amhran 05/26/2014 11:06 AM
    Interesting but wouldn't the home need to be hard-wired for Apple to be able to enable this?
    [/quote]

    This would need to happen regardless of whether the client was iOS/Android/Microsoft.
  • Reply 65 of 150
    d0ggd0gg Posts: 9member
    This would be amazing!

    I have several home automation products. Controlling them all in one app would be sweet.

    iZon, NEST, Zwave, airplay speakers, WeMo%u2026 Etc etc

    I can't wait to get more info from the presentation.
  • Reply 66 of 150
    taniwhataniwha Posts: 347member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Dachar View Post



    I have recently had an automated home heating and hot water control system installed. One of its selling points is that apart from much greater control of the central heating and hot water was that the the heating can be turned off when the last person leaves the house and turned on again when the first person returns provided they all have location software running on each smartphone. I can see now this idea could be used for other home automated functions such as lights, doors or security systems. Connecting them all so as you arrive home the alarm deactivates, the door unlocks and the lights go on in the hallway sounds like a good idea. However, the biggest issue is security breaches of the software. If someone could hack into my heating software, then they can tell from it if the house is empty and how far away we are. If I set the holiday setting meaning away for sometime that could be really valuable information to the wrong type of people. So if Apple is to move into home automation and control market I for one will now be thinking more about how secure it will be. All your eggs in one basket may not be such a good idea after all.



    That is a risk indeed: A single point of failure .. when your credit card, bank account, home, car ? and whatever else, are all under the central control of one manufacturer. Not an option that I would like to participate in. (But home automation isn't on my agenda anyway).

  • Reply 67 of 150
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by island hermit View Post

     

     

    I would imagine that home building will be quite different within the next 50-60 years. The home and driveway will be clad in solar cells, connectivity will be easy and abundant, exterior and interior. Within 100 years the smart home will be quite complete... but most people today might not call the results aesthetically pleasing... even though the design will be clean and efficient. 


     

    I would expect newer homes to be wired with home automation controller(s) in mind, but the existing 100 million houses/condos/apartments? Apple has succeeded due to leveraging infrastructure that was easy to get into homes(WiFi routers) or piggy-backing on public infrastructure(3G/4G networks). No matter what you need infrastructure investments.

  • Reply 68 of 150
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    What I mean is that wouldn't the house itself need to be wired to accept input from iOS devices?

    For example, wouldn't I need to hook some dongle or have a hard-wire to my lights, television, oven etc to enable my iDevices to turn them on wirelessly when I enter the room?

    Sure, they'd need to work with the other devices, but that's something that will be made for that, like with Phillips Hue. There won't be a dongle for your current oven/stove, instead you'll have to wait until Apple makes one, or rather, Apple releases protocols and guidelines that allow household appliance makers to work with an Apple device. Not unlike how iBeacons use standard protocols that OS vendor can access, although I'd expect that this would use an encrypted connection and be a two-way communication.
  • Reply 69 of 150
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by island hermit View Post

     

    I would imagine that home building will be quite different within the next 50-60 years. The home and driveway will be clad in solar cells, connectivity will be easy and abundant, exterior and interior. Within 100 years the smart home will be quite complete... but most people today might not call the results aesthetically pleasing... even though the design will be clean and efficient. 


    I agree with that, but at any given point, new buildings are only a small slice of the market for home appliances/devices. Any serious business model will have to rely on retro-fits.

     

    It's the same with commercial buildings as well.

  • Reply 70 of 150
    mdriftmeyermdriftmeyer Posts: 7,503member
    Apple has stated they will be expanding hardware products in their traditional product matrix. We shall see.
  • Reply 71 of 150
    mdriftmeyermdriftmeyer Posts: 7,503member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Lord Amhran View Post

     

    What I mean is that wouldn't the house itself need to be wired to accept input from iOS devices?

     

    For example, wouldn't I need to hook some dongle or have a hard-wire to my lights, television, oven etc to enable my iDevices to turn them on wirelessly when I enter the room?


     

    Yes.

     

    In short, you'll need a product that ties and manages your power systems as an automated platform that communicates to your iOS devices, which can control the lights, power the appliances, etc. Then again, other than on/off most appliances are dumb units. The AT&T Smart home commercial shown on TV requires all smart appliances, including controlling water flow rates, which would require thousands of dollards of replaced equipment+ twice that in installation services.

     

    Controlling the garage door to open, unlock your house, to setting the even lights will be what most people would want to afford. Hopefully, Apple is targeting something more long-term like Off-the-Grid Power from Solar/Wind management tools/hardware etc, to provide a platform for Enterprises and Small-to-Large Businesses.

  • Reply 72 of 150
    island hermitisland hermit Posts: 6,217member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post

     

    I agree with that, but at any given point, new buildings are only a small slice of the market for home appliances/devices. Any serious business model will have to rely on retro-fits.

     

    It's the same with commercial buildings as well.


     

    That's why I mentioned 50-60 years as a starting point where we will see at least half of all buildings having been partially or completely built for smart tech and in 100 years the majority of buildings will have been built for smart tech.

     

    Anything over the next 30 years will definitely be hit and miss and, yes, will have to be retrofitted but will begin to improve beyond that time frame... very similar to buildings/houses that were built in the late 1800s having to be retrofitted for plumbing and electricity. It won't always look elegant but it will work.

  • Reply 73 of 150
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    The speed of the connection is perhaps the least of it. It's about how you get all the devices that need to communicate with each other connected in the first place. Especially since a vast majority of it will have to be retro-fitted.

    The existing internal wiring in most houses can also transmit data. And that is the way to do this. Wifi doesn't scale.

    Example:

    http://m.shop.bt.com/products/tp-link-av200-200mbps-nano-powerline-adapter-starter-kit-7KJ7.html
  • Reply 74 of 150
    ericthehalfbeeericthehalfbee Posts: 4,485member
    solipsismx wrote: »
    One word: Explain.
    iBeacons are the cheapest and easiest way for an iPhone to determine where you are in your house. Adding location awareness to home automation is how I think Apple will differentiate themselves from everyone else.
  • Reply 75 of 150
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post



    I think the Nest thermostat has grace and beauty.

    The Nest thermostat looks nice, but the UI is awful (on par with the Samsung Galaxy Gear watch), its intelligence isn't, and its connectivity is limited. Honeywell does much better with the Prestige 2.0.

  • Reply 76 of 150
    dick applebaumdick applebaum Posts: 12,527member
    I am skeptical that anything can happen soon. A connected home is still many years away. The current setup for wifi (via cable or phone) is suboptimal for this type of thing.

    Perhaps this is a bit pie-in-the-sky, but until someone finds a way to get us wifi via power lines, this is a 'pipe' dream.
    Interesting but wouldn't the home need to be hard-wired for Apple to be able to enable this?

    As Anan mentioned... this would have to be years in the future.

    Mentioning pie in the sky dreams seems very unApple to me. That's Google's game.

    I think the tech already exists -- though it's [currently] targeted at enterprise.
    Qualcomm unveiled a software platform in the 2013 CES that will allow household devices to communicate with each other. Google recently acquired Nest Labs, a private company that makes smart home controls like thermostats and smoke detectors – suggesting that Google may also become known for its smart home presence.

    Investors have taken notice, chasing after the shares of two smaller companies: Echelon ELON +3.63% Corporation and Control4 Corporation. Both are considered to be ‘pure plays’ in the smart home industry, as discussed in a previous piece.

    Echelon Corporation has long been a pioneer in connecting everyday devices to the Internet — though it has become focused on energy control networking solutions. Its products enable everyday devices — such as air conditioners, appliances, electricity meters, light switches, thermostats and valves — to be inter-connected. This technology is certainly making the company a pure play in the smart home industry.

    Control4 Corporation (NASDAQ:CTRL) is another pioneer in the technologies that connect everyday devices, though it was established much later than Echelon. Its Control4 Home Operating System allows music, video, lighting, temperature, security, communications and other devices to communicate with each other. In addition, it offers 4Sight subscription options, which allow for the remote control and monitoring of home devices through smartphones, tablets, and laptops.

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/panosmourdoukoutas/2014/02/20/the-smart-way-to-invest-in-the-smart-home/

    About Echelon Corporation

    Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ: ELON) develops, markets and supports the world's most proven, open standard, multi-application energy control networking platform. Echelon’s vision from its inception 20 years ago is one of low-cost embedded monitoring and control technology in every electrically controlled device in the world. Today Echelon’s technology platform is embedded in more than 100 million devices, 35 million homes, and 300,000 buildings. Our platform powers energy-savings applications for smart grids, smart cities and smart buildings that help customers save 20% or more on their energy usage, reduce outage duration or prevent them from happening entirely, reduce carbon footprint and more. Today Echelon offers, directly and through its partners worldwide, a wide range of innovative solutions including smart metering, smart grid optimization, smart street lighting, and smart buildings. We are headquartered in Silicon Valley, have sales offices around the world and a development center in Fargo, North Dakota.

    http://www.echelon.com/company/


    I had a conversation with Mike Markkula where he described what his new company [Echelon} was about. Basically, he said that they had an inexpensive module that connected to the power lines [in the home] at every outlet or switch. Each device has an unique address -- and the device can be read to detect status [on/off, power consumption] or controlled to set status. At that time, they were concentrating on in the home solutions -- that was later expanded to target enterprise solutions.
    Armas Clifford Markkula, Jr.

    Armas Clifford Markkula, Jr is the founder of our company and has served as a director since 1988. He has been Vice Chairman of our Board of Directors since 1989. Mr. Markkula was Chairman of the Board of Apple Computer from January 1977 to May 1983 and from October 1993 to February 1996 and was a director from 1977 to 1997. A founder of Apple, he held a variety of positions there, including President/Chief Executive Officer and Vice President of Marketing. Prior to founding Apple, Mr. Markkula was with Intel Corporation as Marketing Manager, Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation as Marketing Manager in the Semiconductor Division, and Hughes Aircraft as a member of the technical staff in the company’s research and development laboratory. Mr. Markkula is a trustee of Santa Clara University. Mr. Markkula received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California.

    http://www.echelon.com/company/investor/corpgov/board-of-directors.htm#a-c-markkula


    I've always thought that Apple and Echelon were a natural fit -- maybe the tech and time are right!

    BTW, ELON has a market cap of ~$109 Milllion. Echelon;s power shedding tech, alone, is probably worth that price.
  • Reply 77 of 150
    applesauce007applesauce007 Posts: 1,698member

    If you think about it...

     

    Apple could end up getting a cut of every home appliance on the planet.

    What's more they get a cut on the payment as well when you buy it using their mobile payment system.

     

    If this is the case, who can predict what will happen to the stock? $200 after the split?

     

    The question is will Samsung choose to license it or copy it?  Time will tell.

  • Reply 78 of 150
    suddenly newtonsuddenly newton Posts: 13,819member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer View Post



    Apple has stated they will be expanding hardware products in their traditional product matrix. We shall see.

     

    Noooo! Steve is tired of turning over in his grave. /s

  • Reply 79 of 150
    suddenly newtonsuddenly newton Posts: 13,819member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Taniwha View Post

     

    That is a risk indeed: A single point of failure .. when your credit card, bank account, home, car ? and whatever else, are all under the central control of one manufacturer. Not an option that I would like to participate in. (But home automation isn't on my agenda anyway).


     

    What's really awesome, is that tech nerd can't wait for everything to unite under one Google. They look forward to that day, because Google is just awesome. Google for everything. And everything for Google.

  • Reply 80 of 150
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    iBeacons are the cheapest and easiest way for an iPhone to determine where you are in your house. Adding location awareness to home automation is how I think Apple will differentiate themselves from everyone else.

    The only role of the iBeacon is to advertise to the phones of its own existence at the physical location. Why do I need iBeacon to tell me I'm in front of the fridge when I'm in my kitchen? I guess if I were blind that would be useful but that still wouldn't mean that these location-based beacons need to be built into appliances themselves.

    What needs to happen are protocols that allow Bluetooth or WiFi to be used to send data to from connected devices locally and/or the internet so you can turn off/on, adjust, get warnings, etc. about various electronic devices in the home. iBeacons can't do any of that.
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