Next week, Apple will host its Worldwide Developers Conference and the rumors about what to expect are running rampant across the Internet. But this latest bit of info seems to fall directly inline with the conference’s agenda and doesn’t mention word of the iPhone 6.
Home automation represents the next big wave of ‘connected’ devices and Apple wants to compete in this market as well. The idea is quite simple: allow your iOS devices to control all aspects of your home - and that’s exactly what the Financial Times is reporting that Apple will announce next week.
The platform will work with third parties and allow them to certify their devices with Apple to build out a suite of connected products and services. Think of the platform much like you would of Airplay or even iBeacons; it’s simply another extension of the iOS suite of services offered by Apple.
Further, Apple is excepted to push out an updated Apple TV hardware too in the near future that will also link into the home-automation scheme, but whether or not this hardware will be announced at WWDC is not known.
Why is this important to you? Well, home automation is a huge market for Microsoft, Google (who bought Nest) and many other competitors and is sometimes referred to as part of the ‘Internet of things’. Apple’s vision is important because they have a colossal, well funded hammer that can typically break into any market. If Apple is able to successfully build out the platform and prove its worth, it could be the next billion-dollar segment for the company.
Next week, Apple is also expected to unveil the next iteration of iOS and OS X as well. Both platforms have traditionally seen new updates announced at the June conference with the final builds being pushed out to users later in the Summer for OS X and early fall for iOS when the next generation iPhone is typically released.
Source: Financial Times