Apple snubs Nokia's Withings on new HomeKit accessories webpage
Apple recently revamped its online list of HomeKit-compatible products to include status updates on upcoming products. While the catalog includes products from a number of manufacturers, it fails to mention a security camera from major brand Nokia's Withings subsidiary.
Apple's new HomeKit accessories webpage provides iOS users with a comprehensive directory of devices supporting the company's smart home platform. It seems Apple is also tracking development status of forthcoming products, as it assigns "announced" and "coming soon" qualifiers alongside links to manufacturer websites.
The list contains well over 100 individual products from a variety of third party firms, including small Chinese outfits, categorizing each into one of 15 categories: lights, switches, outlets, thermostats, windows, fans, air conditioners, sensors, security, locks, cameras, doorbells, garage doors, bridges and range extenders.
Notably absent from Apple's collection of upcoming wares is Withings' Home Plus, an internet-connected security camera announced at CES in January. Marketed as a security camera and baby monitor, Home Plus features an HD camera with low light recording capabilities, microphone and speaker for two-way communications, light and music programs and environmental sensors for monitoring air quality.
The Home Plus is basically an upgraded version of the already available Withings Home, but with support for Apple's HomeKit baked in. Home was previously featured in Apple's online store, but the product and references to it were removed in December when the Cupertino tech giant scrubbed its website of all Withings devices. The move came when a legal feud erupted between Apple and Withings parent company Nokia.
It seems Apple is carrying forward a no-Withings policy to its new HomeKit accessories webpage, as Home Plus is nowhere to be found. Only two devices, the D-Link Omna 180 CAM HD and Kidde RemoteLync Camera with RemoteLync bridge, are listed in the "cameras" category.
Withings once enjoyed happy retail alliance with Apple for more than two years, even after Nokia purchased the French accessories firm for $192 million last April. The partnership quickly soured when Nokia filed suit against the iPhone maker for allegedly violating 32 patents. Apple released its own legal hounds and lodged a lawsuit against nine patent holdings firms and Nokia itself, claiming the entities are participating in a licensing conspiracy.
The legal war quickly escalated, with Nokia lodging 14 additional complaints in the U.S. and Japan covering a total of 40 patents.
Apple's new HomeKit accessories webpage provides iOS users with a comprehensive directory of devices supporting the company's smart home platform. It seems Apple is also tracking development status of forthcoming products, as it assigns "announced" and "coming soon" qualifiers alongside links to manufacturer websites.
The list contains well over 100 individual products from a variety of third party firms, including small Chinese outfits, categorizing each into one of 15 categories: lights, switches, outlets, thermostats, windows, fans, air conditioners, sensors, security, locks, cameras, doorbells, garage doors, bridges and range extenders.
Notably absent from Apple's collection of upcoming wares is Withings' Home Plus, an internet-connected security camera announced at CES in January. Marketed as a security camera and baby monitor, Home Plus features an HD camera with low light recording capabilities, microphone and speaker for two-way communications, light and music programs and environmental sensors for monitoring air quality.
The Home Plus is basically an upgraded version of the already available Withings Home, but with support for Apple's HomeKit baked in. Home was previously featured in Apple's online store, but the product and references to it were removed in December when the Cupertino tech giant scrubbed its website of all Withings devices. The move came when a legal feud erupted between Apple and Withings parent company Nokia.
It seems Apple is carrying forward a no-Withings policy to its new HomeKit accessories webpage, as Home Plus is nowhere to be found. Only two devices, the D-Link Omna 180 CAM HD and Kidde RemoteLync Camera with RemoteLync bridge, are listed in the "cameras" category.
Withings once enjoyed happy retail alliance with Apple for more than two years, even after Nokia purchased the French accessories firm for $192 million last April. The partnership quickly soured when Nokia filed suit against the iPhone maker for allegedly violating 32 patents. Apple released its own legal hounds and lodged a lawsuit against nine patent holdings firms and Nokia itself, claiming the entities are participating in a licensing conspiracy.
The legal war quickly escalated, with Nokia lodging 14 additional complaints in the U.S. and Japan covering a total of 40 patents.
Comments
A very patchy product indeed considering the price of it versus competitors.
2) The CIA leaks should be a boon for HomeKit-enabled devices.
I'm sure Groupon and Costco will be discounting the new Withings products in a few months.
My guess is that this is just a common retailer issue that will be resolved soon enough, just like we've seen with other products that Apple sells and promotes.
Apple already pays Nokia a fair rate for their patents that are only a part of the entire patent pool required to make a modern smartphone. Ericsson, Samsung, Blackberry, Nortel and others are also large contributors.
Too bad Nokia went from being the largest cell phone company in the world to nothing more than a pathetic patent troll because they were either too stupid (or incompetent) to compete in the smartphone market after the iPhone turned the industry upside down.
They shouldn't be surprised at having their products removed from the Apple Store. Just like Bose had back when they had their little patent tiff. Or ask Samsung how it feels to have billions of dollars in component sales go to their competitors (like TSMC).
- Patents : Apple has already paid Nokia under FRAND terms for most/all of the tech involved. What Nokia is doing is "patent re-engineering" to try and extract additional revenue from the market, by tweaking existing patents, getting the new ones re-issued, and then claiming non-FRAND licensing terms for essentially the same thing but under a new patent. That will get dealt with in a court, but it's dodgy AF.
- Withings may be withdrawing from HomeKit - they have basically stated they are setting up their own cross platform rival system - it would not make sense for Apple to push / promote an orphaned Withings product
I can't respect a single company who makes iKnockoffs so fu** Nokia.