Apple's HomeKit: So, you know, it exists and all that. Oookay ... Apple didn't so much launch as absent-mindedly punt its HomeKit smart home tech this week at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). In a near two-hour keynote presentation, the Internet of Things hub that Apple hopes will put it in the forefront of the smart house got less than 30 seconds – and a pretty …
Perhaps you do not have to spend enough time recharging flat batteries without it to help you create some more? Many things simply work better without a goon playing remote control god, 'because they can' well at least until the battery goes down.
Perhaps this is a plot to sell more back up batteries/generators to keep the home running,e.g. ensuring door locks working during power cuts?
It's big in the US, people have holiday homes and they can control them remotely, switch on lights, access security cameras etc. People have caught criminals breaking in due to alerts sent to smartphones.
People such as yourself with a lack of imagination were obviously the same who dismissed the iPad.
AC. re big in america, you realise most CCTV systems and cameras support just that sort of stuff out of the box?
Motion detector in CCTV software detects movement out of hours, sends MMS/video link in email, whatever. CCTV system hooks up to a seperate relay that controls lights, etc. Burglar gets the shit scared out of them, cops can be called and site attended to by neighbour. You can hook this up via a UPS and a mobile data connection and have it run without mains power, easily.
That's nothing to do with full blown home automation, which is also already available using X-10 networking, and has allowed far more sophisticated setups and Homekit would seem to allow.
When Homekit lets you build an Emergency Party Button, then it might be halfway useful.
Choices...
1. Reach out and press light switch, conveniently placed next to the door, as you walk into room.
2. Reach into pocket, take out phone, unlock it, open app, choose room, choose lights, choose "big light", turn on, close app, lock phone, place in pocket.
or, make it all auto-magic.
1. Stand up, walk into kitchen, via the hall, open fridge door, take out beer, return to room sit down. No lights turned on or off, I know where the fridge is.
2. Stand up, walk into hall, hall lights turn on, walk into kitchen, kitchen lights turn on, hall lights off, get beverage, walk back into hall, kitchen lights off, hall lights back on, into room, hall lights off, room lights on, take out phone, unlock it, open app, choose room, choose lights, choose "big light", turn off, close app, lock phone, place in pocket.
Realise you have the munchies.. and repeat...
Then there's...
1. Walk into room where kids were playing earlier, turn on light, so you can avoid the minefield of toys scattered around.
2. Walk into room, ahh... you don't like turning lights on when you walk around at night, I'm learning, so I'm not going to turn any lights on now... cue going arse over tit as you trip around in the darkness, cursing because that stupid bloody home automation system always gets it wrong. Take out phone, unlock it, open app, choose room, choose lights, choose "big light", turn off, close app, lock phone, wipe blood off the screen, place in pocket.
Now, that's progress.
Home automation overkill, there's just too many protocols around. It used to be simple with just X10.
Anyway, everyone needs to put a friendly easy to use layer on top of existing protocols. It can't be that hard to produce a simple to use interface.
My Zwave system is okay, but the set up is tedious and having to enter 1 or 0 for some features is lame.
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