Apple is preparing its most direct challenge yet to Amazon and Google in the connected home, lining up a new hub and a slate of security and climate devices developed with LG Electronics, according to people familiar with the plans. The products — a doorbell, deadbolt lock, thermostat, indoor camera, outdoor camera and floodlight camera — are designed to work with an Apple smart-home ecosystem the company has been rebuilding for years, Bloomberg News reported. The hardware is expected alongside a long-delayed smart-home hub, an updated HomePod mini and a new Apple TV, with an introduction targeted for October 13th. If the schedule holds, the launch would mark Apple’s first full-scale push into a category Amazon’s Ring and Alphabet’s Nest have dominated with doorbells, cameras, locks and thermostats. It would also be one of the first major product expansions under Chief Executive John Ternus, and a formal reboot of HomeKit, the platform Apple introduced in 2014 that never matched the reach of Alexa or Google Home. At the center of the effort is a tabletop hub, internally code-named J490, described as a roughly six-inch square display on a tiltable arm reminiscent of the early-2000s iMac G4. A wall-mountable variant, J491, is also in development. The device runs a new interface drawn from iOS, tvOS, and watchOS, built around Apple’s rather capable Siri AI. It is expected to handle device control, FaceTime, intercom, media and household personalization, using the front camera and voice recognition to switch the screen to the person standing in front of it. The LG-developed accessories are meant to give that hub something to control beyond lights and plugs. The deadbolt is said to support ultra wideband, so it can unlock as an authorized iPhone approaches — an extension of the proximity features Apple already uses in AirTag, car keys and Home Key. Cameras and the doorbell would put Apple in direct competition with Ring’s security lineup and Nest’s cameras and doorbells, categories where both rivals sell hardware and recurring cloud-storage plans. Apple has reasons to move now, and reasons the timing has reportedly been delayed several times. The hub was once expected in 2024, then spring 2026, and slipped again while Apple reworked Siri. Amazon and Google spent those years embedding newer assistants — Alexa+ and Gemini for Home — into speakers, displays and cameras, and both already support Matter and Thread, the interoperability standards Apple is also expected to lean on. Samsung’s SmartThings platform has a different advantage: televisions and appliances already in millions of homes. Apple’s counter is the installed base it already owns. iPhones, Apple TV devices, and HomePods can act as controllers, and the company has long sold privacy and on-device processing as the difference versus cloud-heavy rivals. The risk is price and breadth. Earlier reporting has put the hub near $350, well above typical Amazon Echo Show and Nest Hub prices, and HomeKit’s certified-device list remains far smaller than Alexa’s or Google’s. An iPhone is still expected to be required for setup. Apple has not commented on the reports. Until the expected October 13th event, the lineup remains unconfirmed, but, after a decade on the edge of the category, Apple is seemingly trying to turn the home into another place where its hardware, its assistant, and its services set the terms, rather than leaving that role to Amazon and Google. MacDailyNews Take: Breadth of devices is overrated: People only need a few smart doorbells, cameras, locks, plugs, sensors, and thermostats from which to choose, not fifty of each. Too many options just add confusion for average people who are just trying to make their homes smarter. Apple’s advantage is privacy, security, and ease-of-use, which includes the larger Apple ecosystem in which billions of users already operate. Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon. The post Amazon, Google face new smart home rival as Apple preps smart home blitz appeared first on MacDailyNews. Invite your friends and earn rewards
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