Showing posts with label smart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label smart. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Apples assault on the smart home Does HomeKit have what it takes to win the market
Apples assault on the smart home Does HomeKit have what it takes to win the market
With the first devices that work with Apples HomeKit now hitting the market, can Apple dominate the smart home as it did the smartphone?
Ecobees HomeKit-enabled thermostat. Image: Ecobee
Along with HealthKit, one of the marquee features announced with the launch of iOS 8 was Apples HomeKit, a home automation framework designed to get separate smart home devices talking to each other, all controlled centrally by a iPhone or iPad.
With the home automation market set to be worth $71bn by 2018, according to Juniper Research, its no surprise that Apple is interested in staking its claim to the smart home in the same way it has the smartphone.
But for a long time after HomeKit launched, there was little sign of an ecosystem building around it or high profile supporters. There were also rumours of delays to its release, and speculation that a new Apple TV would be launched to double as a HomeKit hub, suggesting home automation might be anything but a home run for Apple.
Now, however, the first wave of HomeKit hardware products by third-party manufacturers are beginning to hit the shelves: the last couple of weeks have seen Philips launch its HomeKit Hue Bridge for controlling home lighting, while August has unveiled a HomeKit-connected door lock. These products join a handful of others from companies including Ecobee, Honeywell, Incipio, Insteon, and Lutron.
With partners taking care of the hardware, Apple recently tackled the software side of HomeKit, giving it a few more useful features in iOS 9: a more user-friendly set-up procedure, for example, and the introductions of scenes, where devices can be activated together - opening the garage door and turning on the front porch light at the same time, say. Its also brought HomeKit-compatibility with the latest WatchOS update, so you can control your home from your wrist.
With the software in place and hardware now trickling out, are we seeing the first coming of HomeKit - or a platform thats yet to, and may never, catch on?
NextMarket Insights is predicting the former, with 180 million HomeKit devices shipped by 2020. "Apples track record of creating excitement for nascent markets is unparalleled," Michael Wolf, the companys chief analyst, wrote in a recent blog. "HomeKit will create awareness about the smart home among average consumers and will accelerate development in the category among home system, appliance, and service providers."
But, as Wolf highlights, the smart home is an area rich with competition: Googles Brillo, Nests Weave, and Samsungs SmartThings are just three of the high-profile efforts by tech companies to make their own ecosystems the heart of the smart home.
For Ecobee, whose smart thermostat is HomeKit-compatible, when deciding which software partners to work with, the size of the potential ecosystem is a key factor.
"The phone you have in your pocket will be key to the connected devices you end up buying," Ecobee CEO Stuart Lombard told ZDNet. "As a manufacturer, theres lots of opportunity to be a part of many ecosystems. We want to focus on the ecosystem that really resonates with the consumer. The Apple installed base, the brand, and its gravitational pull are really important."
Joe Dada, CEO of Insteon, which makes a HomeKit-enabled device hub, agrees. "In the end, it comes down to simple math - do we think theyre going to get significant penetration? Just being a big player doesnt guarantee anything, and a lot of efforts into this space have failed. We have to read the minds of the leaders inside these organisations and try to get a feeling for where theyre going to go with this. Is this going to be a serious initiative theyre going to stick with, or is there a chance theyre not going to be serious about it?... Theres a difference between [companies taking] a leadership role and we dont want to be left behind."
Apple, the companies believe, is indeed serious about the industry, and the demography overlap between smart home enthusiasts and Apple users is clear: both are characterised by tech-savvy consumers with a higher than average income.
But while consumers may be happy to tie themselves into a single ecosystem with their smartphone, the decision to do the same with their home is more problematic - there could be a mixture of mobile operating systems running under a single roof, potentially leading to all sorts of compatibility problems. For those opting for a particular ecosystem, be it Apple or anything else, they need to make sure that framework not only works with their own, and their partners and familys, smartphone operating system, but that its also compatible with all the other home automation gear they already have.
And with Apple yet to release its own HomeKit app (though a trademark for an app called Home may suggest one is on the way), that leaves consumers having to deal with various third-party apps with differing set-up processes and attitudes to managing other players HomeKit hardware.
For buyers, it may seem like smart home is still in the Wild West phase, with both consumers and manufacturers waiting to see who wins the 20-man bar fight. For now, hardware makers are hoping to keep everyone happy by working with multiple partners: Philips Hue bulbs work with the Hue Android app as well as its HomeKit-enabled Bridge, while the majority of Insteons many hardware devices can be managed by their respective Apple, Android, and Windows Phone apps.
"We think it will be one size fits all. If you have to figure out which ecosystem works with what, and that [hardware] doesnt work with this [ecosystem] but it does with that, then thats not a great customer experience," Ecobees Lombard said.
For Insteons Dada, "consumers will rule the day" - companies that offer the sorts of compatibility that buyers want, whatever those may be, "consumers will reward them with purchases".
As it does with iOS apps looking to get onto the App Store, Apple has to certify all the hardware that wants to offer itself as HomeKit-compatible. The smartphone world may give us some indication as to whether Apples more closed approach will prove popular with consumers. Look at it one way, and there are hundreds of millions of iPhone users happy with Apples somewhat walled garden. Look at it the other way, and there are hundreds of millions more who prefer Androids arguably more open attitude.
Theres no doubt that Apple will end up with a sizeable part of the smart home market but, as with mobile, its unlikely to be the most popular player.
As NextMarket Insights Wolf sums it up: "While HomeKit will certainly see traction, its ability to coalesce consumers and product manufacturers around a single unifying effort faces an uphill battle. Competing offerings from Google with Weave, Samsungs SmartThings, and industry-driven efforts such as AllSeen and UPnP are also jockeying to establish themselves with manufacturers and consumers alike. While HomeKit could soon be one of the leading platforms in smart home, it will by no means be the only platform."
Available link for download
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Anvi Smart Defender Pro 2 4 0 Full Version Free Download
Anvi Smart Defender Pro 2 4 0 Full Version Free Download
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Particularly guard against adware install or the other potential risks whereas youre looking on-line
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Available link for download
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
Acer Smart Power Manager
Acer Smart Power Manager
Finally some useful software from Acer
Please note: Different Power Smart Manager is meant for different configuration.
Some Power Smart Manager supports Radeon Switchable meant for laptops with ATi Radeon Specification.
So to get the best fit, look for the latest Acer Laptop with specification as close to yours as possible.
Acer Smart PowerManager
Download here
Conserve Power On the Go.
Installable on most Acer/Packard Bell/Gateway/Emachine Laptops (Even on Laptops that doesnt came with this originally).
When you install it on a (eg. Packard Bell) Computer the software calls itself Packard Bell Power Save!
Optical Drive PowerManager
Download here
Conserve Power On the Go.
Installable on most Acer Laptops (Even on Laptops that doesnt came with this originally).
Software originally meant for Acer Aspire Timelines but work on Non Timelines as well.
Conserve Power On the Go.
Installable on most Acer Laptops (Even on Laptops that doesnt came with this originally).
Software originally meant for Acer Aspire Timelines but work on Non Timelines as well.
Available link for download
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