“According to a patent granted to Apple on Tuesday, iPhones, iPads and other branded equipment could one day sport onboard smoke detection hardware to alert users, and interested parties, of a potentially dangerous situation,” Mikey Campbell reports for AppleInsider.
“Apple’s U.S. Patent No. 9,123,221 for ‘Wireless device networks with smoke detection capabilities,’ as issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, sounds a lot like similar network-connected products like Nest’s Protect,” Campbell reports. “However, the solution described by Apple offers a number of benefits over today’s fixed location setups, advantages that would make iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and other devices personal, portable fire safety systems.”
“There are no clear plans for Apple to incorporate smoke detection technology into a next-generation iOS device, though the company is becoming a more aggressive player in the home automation space,” Campbell reports. “Perhaps offering a hint as to Apple’s ambitions, today’s patent grant includes claim modifications to an application published last November. Specifically, all major claims now refer to a ‘cellular phone’ rather than an ‘electronic device.'”
Read more, and see Apple’s patent application illustrations and diagrams, in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Why waste your money on a smoke alarm company (with recall issues) when you know you can sell hundreds of millions of potential smoke alarms if you so choose?
BTW, if you want a dedicated smoke alarm, a Nest is the last smoke alarm you want. You want a quality HomeKit-compatible smoke alarm, for example:
SEE ALSO:
Apple pulls Google’s Nest thermostat from stores with launch of HomeKit-compatible Ecobee 3 – July 23, 2015
First Apple-certified HomeKit-compliant devices launch – June 2, 2015
Google engineer trashes Tony Fadell’s precious Nest smoke alarm – February 19, 2015
With HomeKit and Honeywell’s Lyric, a Nest acquisition by Apple would have been foolish – June 18, 2014
Will Apple’s Internet of Things vision hurt a beautiful idea? With HomeKit, Apple promises easy home automation – June 6, 2014
Smart thermostat war heats up as Apple-partner Honeywell takes aim at Google’s Nest – June 13, 2014
Honeywell takes dead aim at Google’s Nest with new iPhone-compatible Lyric smart thermostat – June 10, 2014
Google to SEC: We could serve ads on thermostats, refrigerators, car dashboards, and more – May 21, 2014
Dead to me: Apple’s Schiller ‘unfollows’ Tony Fadell and Nest after Google acquisition – January 18, 2014
