“Our residences are long overdue for a technological makeover. More and more electronics have, over the years, found their way into houses and apartments: Everything from thermostats to ovens and washing machines are, for all intents and purposes, run by small computers,” Marco Tabini writes for Macworld. “To boot, many dwellings are now completely covered by wireless networks that can carry very significant amounts of data, without requiring expensive wiring.”
“It stands to reason, then, that all the pieces are finally in place for home automation to go from an ill-fitting luxury that only few can afford to a commonplace aspect of every home,” Tabini writes. “What’s missing is a ‘unifying technology’ that can bring every appliance under a common umbrella where they can communicate with each other.
Tabini writes, “While Apple hasn’t announced any specific plans in this space, it has been quietly busy putting into place technologies that could well turn iOS into the hub around which our homes will revolve in the not-so-distant future.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Bring it on!
The unifying tech could be a headless Mac.
the matrix in works
When TV arrived it was expensive for a hobby, but once they reduced it to the puck-sized device, the essence of it was basically an interface to networkable content.
My sense is, if Apple combined the TV, Time Capsule, Airport and the Mac mini into a headless Macintosh, it would serve us very well. If it also supported CableCARD (DRM ) it would serve the needs of the content providers as well, by removing an analog hole.
A headless Macintosh for the living room wouldn’t be called a computer at all to avoid any pushback from current computer aficionados, who think they’d have no use for another computer in the home.
It might be marketed as a networkable hub for the entire home, including your thermostats and appliances but is also capable of delivering entertainment from the internet and our external storage devices.
Combining several SKUs into a single homogenous device like an iServer could reduce logistical and inventory issues but more importantly, would allow Apple to focus many of its current services into a unifying device like a headless Mac.
Of course the 99-dollar SKU is out. The new device would triple in price but I suspect it would serve as a good start for a new TV, complete with television tuner and perhaps an AM/FM radio.
PCI-e cards could provide additional services for those requiring medical and business networks to backend infrastructures.
I believe Apple now possesses the knowledge to rebuild the Mac mini into something way more appealing, that would operate using a hybrid iOS/OS X combination capable of addressing all of our appliances in the home, including our vehicles.
Too much integration is NOT a good thing. You’re describing a $1XXX.99 device, not something that most consumers would even look at. MS has enough problems selling its unified console, and it’s got more gaming and disc-playing capabilities than Apple ever offered.
Moreover, Apple has practically no interest in AM/FM radio nor any content that can’t be sold via iTunes. Just as Microsoft attempted for two decades to tie everything to Windows, Apple is now trying to tie everyone to iTunes. So no, Apple isn’t going to start support cable companies’ DRM.
Finally, Apple has publicly stated it has no plans for a “hybrid iOS/OS X”, thank goodness. The flat ugliness that was inserted into Mavericks is bad enough. Stop dumbing down OS X!!!
You definitely think inside the box.
None of what you have said is original and your kind of rhetoric is always dragged out mouth breathers such as yourself.
Knuckle dragger…
Hopefully with a Apple OS we won’t have a “Unlock the front door HAL” moment.
Don’t need iOS for that — if you have a spouse.
I like the idea of multiple remote screens for your iPhone. Currently the iPhone can externalise its screen to the AppleTV and CarPlay, soon wearable devices, so why not plug in your iPhone into each device and give everything an up-to-date control screen with internet access – better than having a wireless device built into everything.
If you could plug your iPhone in once at home and control all these devices remotely at once, then even better!
I love listening to guys talk tech …it’s so sexy ..kinda. ok, here’s a girl talking tech …I have TWC for tv, internet …i cancelled their phone, so, every month ….I pay an extortion fee of roughly $16 rent on the internet modem and tv cable box, an extra $200/year …dirty hands in my purse is what it is and I don’t even watch that much tv. What’s a girl to do. I thought about canceling their tv service and getting netflix. Whatever complicated convoluted agreements Apple has to make with all these entities …whatever hardware they create ….I’d take it in a heartbeat. Hey, Capital man, btw …if you’re out there, these caps are for you.
You might try this: purchase your own TWC compatible cable modem (for example: Arris Motorola SB6141 $80 USD) to replace the leased modem from TWC. You save your $6/month lease fee and it will pay for the modem in just over a year. Buy an Apple TV 3 for $99 or wait for new ATV model. With an Apple TV, subscribe to Netflix $9/month. Return your cable box to save your lease fee…and see if you really miss all those cable channels! Good luck with that!
hhmmm. thx. I rather like the idea of returning my cable box and getting everything through Apple TV. I’ve been wanting to ..just haven’t ..don’t know why …probably cuz I just needed a guy to tell me. haha. thx.
Get a Tivo, better and cheaper than a cable box.
I believe Apple is doing all it can to get into the living room. But I fear that it is too little too late.