Currently, the smart home has a problem and it is called interface. To control home devices you have to have an application, speak to a voice assistant that is not always efficient and interact with a screen that has more name than touch features. With this in mind, it is not strange that Apple tries to solve these problems… despite having had their Home Kit for almost a decade. With little success.
Next year, according to Bloomberg, the company will launch an “AI wall tablet for home monitoring” and is said to be developing more devices for the home (including cameras, a tabletop robot and maybe even a TV ). Among other functions, such as video calls, this new smart display will supposedly be a hub for Apple’s home automation platformApple Home, providing a common home interface to control smart devices such as lights, locks, security systems and cameras.
That said: It’s about time Apple got serious about the smart home, after letting HomeKit languish. The first problem is that, until now, carrying a smart home control panel, a video calling device, a camera surveillance systema digital photo frame, a calendar, an alarm clock and even a kitchen TV on a low-power touch screen and programming glued to a voice-activated speaker has not been a great success.
Can Apple do better? According to reports, the product will have a six-inch square tablet format that can be mounted on a wall or attached to a speaker. It will have a built-in security camera and sensors that adjust the screen as you approach to show a more detailed interface. And of course It will play music, act as a video intercom, stream security camera footage, and control smart home devices (like all smart screens on the market).
The second problem is that current touch screens (Echo Show and Nest Hub, for example) were Designed as voice devices with slow touch control added as an afterthought.
Apple needs to bring its signature simplicity to this space.or: you need to make everything work. To be successful, it has a history that supports it: it has always followed what other brands were doing (MP3, smartphones, voice assistants…) and once it was able to set foot on solid ground, it launched its product.
The key is in create an effective interface that combines voice and touchthatEasily connect with different devices from different brands and make Siri much smarter.