gatorguy

ranson said:

gatorguy said:

Three years ago (or thereabouts) the Republican Party sued Google for employing a similar Messages feature, sending uninvited political texts to the spam folder. I would expect a similar "influence" campaign from them with Apple trying to address the same things. It's tough to ignore the pressure political parties can apply to do their bidding when so much of what the companies do involves regulators and courts. 

That lawsuit was actually about Gmail, not Messages / texts, allegedly being biased by flagging Republican candidates' mass emails as spam (but not Democratic candidates' emails). What was funny about that case (which was dismissed by the judge with prejudice - meaning it can't be refiled) was that the systems the RNC used to send the emails did not properly employ DKIM, PSK and DMARC while the DNC's servers did. That is why the messages were going to spam; it had nothing to do with political bias. But rather than just properly configure their email servers' authentication, they chose to sue for the right to use those unsecured servers to solicit donations without getting flagged as spam.

Ah, you're correct, I shouldn't always go by memory. Thanks for the details. 

Three years ago (or thereabouts) the Republican Party sued Google for employing a similar Messages feature, sending uninvited political texts to the spam folder. I would expect a similar "influence" campaign from them with Apple trying to address the same things. It's tough to ignore the pressure political parties can apply to do their bidding when so much of what the companies do involves regulators and courts. 

Blackwhitepanda said:

Right move. What Prosser did, was not a rumor. It was stealing secrets. 

According to Prosser's text string, Apple's claims are inaccurate https://x.com/jon_prosser/status/1946058379085943243

AppleZulu said:

chasm said:

FWIW, I think the long-awaited Apple Home Hub will not look anything like a wall-mounted iPad as seen above, and look more like an Apple TV box -- a small device that connects at an industry-standard nexus point for home comfort/security, and will be controlled by ... your iPhone or iPad, which is nearly always with you or close at hand. Not all homes will be able to use this, but potentially homes built in this century could be.

Apple has been working with security systems providers for years to add HomeKit compatibility, and I think it is doing the same for home comfort systems.

Ironically we've now seen proof that HomeKit compatibility can rescue a product that has been discontinued by its own manufacturer! (HomeKit may keep some Wemo devices alive after shutdown in 2026). That could be a big selling point for some consumers.

As I've said here before, I think it will be both. I think the primary hub will be a puck, like an AppleTV box. It will have the power to do all the AI stuff onsite for all the HomePods and other devices connected to the same network. Super Siri will thus become available, even via OG HomePods. The central hub will be, in effect a "mainframe" computer. The tablet screens referenced in the article will then be fairly inexpensive, because they don't need the computing power of even an iPad mini; they'll always be networked to the central hub which will do the heavy lifting and report results back to the tablet device, just as it will to HomePods. 

avon b7 said:

mkrayewsky said:

This seems like a waste of time and energy on Apples part. If the depictions are correct, this is nothing more than a glorified iPad, which we all have. Putting it on a Homepod is ridiculous. No one is going to walk over to your Homepod to make a home change, plus it would distort the Homepod sound due to this think (aka. The display) in the way. Really ! What am I missing ?

Michael

'Control' should be ubiquitous. No one device should be a 'master' as it were.

It's all about authentication so any device (or combination of devices) that can securely authenticate a user would be enough. 

That could be a glorified iPad or a dumbed down iPad, car, TV, watch, HomePod, phone etc. Or even dedicated puck style devices. 

You should be able to use any device that you have to hand.

...If this vision resembles at all what Apple has planned, it makes total sense that they'll hold the hardware until the AI/Siri software is ready to go. The idea is to finally roll out a home device ecosystem that nobody has achieved thus far. A new hub and screens could be introduced and make existing HomeKit setups suddenly become the thing that just works with either screen taps or conversational commands issued from anywhere in the home.

IMO, what they're trying to imitate is the Google Home ecosystem, without as extensive first-party hardware. I currently have multiple Google-branded speakers, two Google Home compatible mobile speakers, three Home Hub displays, a Sonos audio system, lighting in every room, a split air-conditioning system, 13 security cameras, two televisions, a Home security system, and probably something I've forgotten, all controllable by verbal commands, physical interaction with a smartphone, or via Home Hub's on-screen command center. None of those, including the lights, require a separate non-Google hub.

As far as I can tell, that's essentially that's what Apple is trying to replicate, correct? 

Angmoh said:

wood1208 said:

Apple rather make it 99% right than put in market with 90% right. Few months here or there does not make much difference for a product in new category. Apple is now so big that they can continue working on many products/projects simultaneously with different schedule to release. Most large enterprises do that. 

HomeKit/Matter/Thread is as per today very immature. Same for competitors. Google Home is more stable, but far less capable.

I have a Nest Hub and the screen is effectively useless for anything else than being a clock. 
 

Google Home is "far less capable" than what? Granted the system may be different on iOS than on Android, but chalk that up to Apple system limitations AFAIK. So again, which home control and monitoring system are you claiming more capable? I'm not aware of any, but I haven't tried much else..