Report: Apple To Unveil "Smart Home" System

An anonymous reader writes "According to a report Apple will be unveiling a new smart home system at the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference. The system will allow users to control security systems, appliances and lighting with their iPhones. A "select number" of device makers will be certified to offer products that work with Apple's upcoming system, according to the report, which didn't name any of the manufacturers."

no thank you apple

[Anonymous Coward]

and no thank you google

plenty of options exist that are already very mature products no need for a vendor lock in with constantly changing terms. open solutions exist many commercially available and or inter-operable with commercially available stuff

Re:no thank you apple

[melchoir55]

www.openremote.com

Re:no thank you apple

[thechink]

Remember how Apple was going to open up FaceTime? Lots of people are still waiting for that one.

Opening FaceTime didn't happened because if a lawsuit. They were sued by VirnetX and Apple lost.

http://www.imore.com/ask-imore-wheres-facetime-android

Re:If iPods/iPhones Have Taught Me Anything...

[tlhIngan]

So I'll have to rewire my house every couple of years when they change from one proprietary cable standard to another?

iPod: Firewire. Buy lots of firewire connectors.
Newer iPod/iPhone: Dock connector. Toss all of your firewire accessories and move to dock connectors.
Newer iPhones: Lightning connector. Toss all of your dock connector accessories, move to lightning.

Everyone else gets to stick with USB that doesn't carry a $10 premium per cable/device because Apple just invented another proprietary standard.

And USB has changed standards 3 times since then as well.

Firewire - well, we had USB 1.1 and the gigantic USB B connector. (2001)

Dock connector - we still have gigantic USB B connector. Dock connector adds USB support as well. (2003).

Meanwhile, USB introduces USB mini-B connector. Sees Firewire, goes beserk and introduces USB OTG and USB mini-A and mini-AB connectors.

Somewhere along here, Apple deprecates Firewire as a data interface, but keeps it as a charging interface.

USB sees people using mini-A and mini-AB connectors without implementing full USB OTG spec and deprecates connectors. At same time, USB introduces USB micro A, AB and B connectors.

Apple deprecates Firewire charging now.

Apple decides Dock connector is too full of legacy for its needs, introduces new lightning connector and adapters, 2012.

USB sees Lightning has many advantages of Micro B, introduces USB 3.1 universal connector.

So the dock connector had a good run - it's over 10 years old, doesn't support what people want these days (no HDMI, for example) and been stable. In the meantime, USB decides to change the cables it uses several times over.

I still have piles of USB A-B, USB A-mini-B and am slowly building up a collection of SB A-micro-B cables. But USB 3.1 will introduce a new incompatible set of cables, requiring more adapters. Sorta like how Apple has lightning to dock adapters (which if you only need USB, are stupidly cheap at like $3-4).

I even ignore USB 3.0's expanded and incompatible cables - you can't plug a USB 3.0 cable into anything that doesn't support USB 3.0. You can plug USB pre-3.0 cables into USB 3.0 devices though. The saving grace is that USB 3.0 cables are rarer so you're far more likely to pull a USB 2.0 cable than a USB 3.0 one.

USB has gone through more changes in its plugs than Apple in the same period. And it's a standard.