Crestron & Apple partnering for HomeKit & Apple TV integrations
Crestron's popular TSR-310 touch screen home automation remote is getting full Siri, HomeKit, and Apple TV support in a firmware update.
Crestron made the announcement on Monday morning. The update process is multi-fold, with device databases and a firmware update to the remote itself.
Following the update procedure, users of the TSR-310 will be able to control either one Apple TV or multiple linked by device name, connect to HomeKit, and route voice to the currently selected Apple TV.
Beyond the firmware update to the remote, support is coming soon to Crestron Home as well. Crestron promises that benefits from the Apple and Crestron partnership will arrive with the OS 3 update to the system.
The Crestron TSR-310 system is not an inexpensive one. Crestron relies on a dealer and installer network for sales, with pricing variable on what the customer needs in total.
Crestron made the announcement on Monday morning. The update process is multi-fold, with device databases and a firmware update to the remote itself.
Following the update procedure, users of the TSR-310 will be able to control either one Apple TV or multiple linked by device name, connect to HomeKit, and route voice to the currently selected Apple TV.
Beyond the firmware update to the remote, support is coming soon to Crestron Home as well. Crestron promises that benefits from the Apple and Crestron partnership will arrive with the OS 3 update to the system.
The Crestron TSR-310 system is not an inexpensive one. Crestron relies on a dealer and installer network for sales, with pricing variable on what the customer needs in total.
Comments
Apple needs to improve Home and Apple TV integration.
The fact that Crestron programming requires many hours of specialized training does make it difficult if not impossible for the end user to make adjustments or fixes. This is not lost on Crestron. They are trying to create some easier to program systems (not sure how successful they will be here), but I think they see the writing on the wall that Homekit may make some of their product lines irrelevant. Overall, I think it is smart of them to embrace Homekit and see where it takes them. Keep in mind that even with an easy to program system like Homekit, the more capable it gets, the more complex it can be. Complex home automation is still...complex, and can often involve higher level logic and decision making than what many people are interested in doing for themselves. I think future AI tools and techniques will help here, but at some point, an expert human may still need to be brought in.