The move to incorporate smarter technology into our homes is finally here, and the field looks to be largely dominated by two tech giants. The two giants–Apple and Google both made moves to acquire smaller companies that specifically aim to improve your home life via technology. It’s worth noting that Gartner Research predicts “smart home” technology will add $1.9 trillion to the global economy by 2020.
At Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference that took place in early June, they announced the development of software kits. One of these kits was dubbed “HomeKit.” HomeKit is a step toward turning your smartphone into a remote control for the connected devices in your home. Apple’s website has this to say about it, “HomeKit is a new framework for communicating with and controlling connected devices in a user’s home. Apps can enable users to discover devices in their home and configure them, or you can create actions to control those devices. Users can group actions together and trigger them using Siri.” Apple said their goal is to provide users with a centralized platform that can connect all smart home devices on one application. Apple plans on using existing products such as the iPhone and the iPad as the remotes.
In comparison, Google has also begun to dabble in smart home technology as they recently acquired the smart thermostat and fire alarm company, Nest. Nest was purchased for $3.2 billion. Reports have been made that Google is also looking into the startup Dropcam, which makes cameras that are connected by Wi-Fi and share their data to the cloud.
With these two behemoths showing interest in the smart home space, naturally other companies are intrigued. Nest–the company mentioned above–and six other companies (including another tech giant, Samsung) have come together to launch a new wireless network to aid the smart home revolution. The network is named “Thread” and is similar to Bluetooth in ways such as you won’t have to pay for it. The main goal for Thread, as the new generation of smart home technology grows, is to create a low-powered network that allows all devices to communicate without draining the devices’ batteries.
So…..will you live in an Apple smart home or a Google smart home?