Home could be Smarter with ‘HomeKit’ – Linked Devices
Siri started its sale of products that could make your home smarter. Those devices are be controlled by iPhones or iPads or even with Apple Watches with the application in it called HomeKit. HomeKit is the smart home application developed by Apple to control certain devices that are being used common in many households. Those devices include air monitors, light dimmers, thermostat and so on.
The sale of these smart products, which can be controlled by voice commands started last day. Two companies got their products in the market. The first one is the Lutron with a pair of lighting kits and another company is Insteon with their own smart home system. Another three more companies announced their joining to the folk by July. Among them Ecobee will be launching a smart thermostat, iHome will come with a power outlet and Elgato will be coming with home sensors that checks quality of air, changes over the weather, monitoring over energy usage, checking whether the doors are opened or closed.
The launch of these products comes exactly one year after Apple’s declaration of smart home app – HomeKit. It is a software that is included in iOS 8 that allows the users to have a control over smart households. HomeKit is just an App, but more than that it acts as an interface that allows the household devices to communicate with each other. HomeKit permits any manufacturer of smart home devices to develop an App that enable connection with any other company’s smart products. In short it allows the owner of the devices to set various settings for each household device according to the nature of its functioning.
Electronic markets across the world will soon be flooded with smart home devices soon. The lighting kit from Lutron will allow the users to turn on or off the lights and also turn them dim whenever they want with the help of HomeKit. Another company is Ecobee which launches thermostat which has enery properties similar to that of Nest and can be controlled by iPhones or iPads or Apple smartwatches. Power Outlet from iHome allows the user to operate the device by controlling the power to the device. Elgato launches a number of sensors that are linked to a hub called as Eve. Another company called Insteon propounded a HomeKit allowed bridge that may establish connection with existing system of smart home products that can interconnect with the help of numerous wireless standards.
The sale of these smart products has already been started online. These products are also made available on Apple Stores and also via Apple online store. Lighting Kit from Lutron is available on online stores from the last day onwards for a price of $229.95. Elgato’s Eve and sensors are priced from $39.95 upto $79.95. Thermostat sold by Ecobee will be costing $249, will be available on stores by the beginning of July.
Users may think that these are simple products that are used in every household. But remember every great leap starts with a small step. Likewise, automation of household devices will start from simple devices and in future it will ultimately transform to an ecosystem of automated devices that can be controlled by your own voices via your own smartphones or just by tapping on your smartphones. We can also hope that more products will join the folk that can establish link with HomeKit and make our life easier and comfort.
