Apple sees the light in push for Jetsons-style home automation
May 26, 2014 3:33 pm
Apple sees the light in push for Jetsons-style home
automation
By Tim Bradshaw in San Francisco
Apple is readying a new software platform that would turn
the iPhone into a remote control for lights, security systems and other
household appliances, as part of a move into the “internet of things”.
Apple plans to take on rivals Google and Samsung and make
a “big play” in the world of smart home technology at its Worldwide Developer
Conference on June 2 in San Francisco, according to people familiar with the
matter.
This will reinforce the view, held by some in Silicon
Valley, that Jetsons-style home automation is the next frontier in technology
as growth in smartphone sales begins to slow in developed markets.
Apple’s coming move follows Google’s $3.2bn acquisition in
January of Nest Labs, makers of internet-connected thermostats and smoke
alarms, and Samsung’s recent debut of its Smart Home range of refrigerators,
washing machines and TVs that can be controlled from its smartphones and
watches.
Apple’s integrated system will make it easier to set up
and control new “smart home” devices. For example, a home’s lights might
automatically come on when the owner enters the house, using their iPhone to
wirelessly signal their arrival. Such a system was outlined in an Apple patent
filing, published in November last year.
The connected-home system will give Apple customers more
reasons to buy several devices in its iOS family, by using the iPhone or iPad
in conjunction with its Apple TV box, an upgraded version of which is expected
to be released later this year, to control other domestic devices.
Apple has been talking to a select group of other device
makers whose smart home products will be certified to work with its forthcoming
new system and then be sold in its retail stores.
The scheme will be similar to Apple’s existing “Made for
iPhone” label, given to compatible headphones, speakers and other accessories,
but with a new brand and logo. Apple may also provide additional checks and
assurances that certified products are not vulnerable to hackers.
The Cupertino-based company was likely to emphasise the
privacy protections built into its smart home system, one person familiar with
Apple’s plans told the FT, given heightened sensitivity about technology
companies’ access to personal information amid revelations about US
intelligence agencies’ online surveillance programmes.
Apple considers privacy a key advantage over Google, the
person said, since Google relies on targeted advertising as its main source of
income. In a regulatory filing last week, Google said it was preparing for a
“multi-device future” where “we and other companies could be serving ads and
other content on refrigerators, car dashboards, thermostats, glasses, and
watches”.
An Apple spokesperson declined to comment. The company
has been known to change its plans for WWDC at the very last minute.
As it hunts for new sources of growth, Apple has in the
past year launched CarPlay, which lets drivers show iPhone apps on a screen in
their vehicle’s dashboard, and iBeacon, an indoor positioning system used by
retailers, event venues and marketers to send messages based on location.
CarPlay, iBeacon and the older AirPlay system, for
beaming music to wireless speakers, all use Bluetooth technology to connect the
iOS operating system to other nearby devices that are not made by Apple.
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A similar set of technologies will soon be extended to
other parts of the home such as security systems, lighting and appliances –
perhaps with the addition of a new component, near-field communication.
Analysts expect NFC to be built into the next iPhone, as part of Apple’s
rumoured plans for a new payments service.
Apple’s retail stores will also play a key role in its
plans for the internet of things. Its new retail chief, Angela Ahrendts, joined
from fashion brand Burberry at the beginning of May with a broad mandate to
overhaul its high-street and online presence.
Apple stores already sell several smart home products in
the $50 to $250 price range, including Nest thermostats, Dropcam wireless
cameras, Philips Hue lightbulbs and Belkin WeMo switches, each of which is
controlled by a separate iPhone app.
As the smart home market is still in its very early days,
Apple may face challenges in convincing consumers and technologists to use its
platform. But Apple’s longstanding promise that its products “just work” when
used together, thanks to its tight integration of hardware, software and cloud
services, could give the iPhone maker an advantage over its rivals.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2014.
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