http://www.maclife.com/article/news/apple_patents_home_automation_system_uses_data_devices_user
If the information from a new patent is correct, Apple's still doing more in the innovation department than investors may have realized. According to AppleInsider, the patent allows users to activate home devices through data on devices and objects such as iPhones, iPads, or even credit cards by alerting them of your approach, which would in turn affect climate control, on/off switches for lights, and much more.
TechCrunch points out of that the system works much like Reminders on iOS. The difference is that it can "essentially turn an entire household or office off and on, and prepare it for comfortable human occupancy."
Source: Tristen West
Indeed, what Apple describes in the patent is actually far more advanced than Reminders. The ultimate goal of the patent is to make sure that the household objects around you respond and activate without interaction from the actual user. Much of this involves predictions about a user's movements, gleaned with information from devices like iPhones and keycard receivers. As an example, one unit — let's say an air conditioner — might trigger once a user moves in range of a specific cell tower.
It sounds good in theory (although it no doubt also raises warning flags among those concerned about privacy), but the big question that remains is how much we as users will have to participate in the process and how much difficult it will be to get non-Apple devices to work with the process. The logistics involved thus mean we probably won't see such a system for years to come, but it's nevertheless a small promise that Apple has much bigger things planned for the iOS of the future.
Follow this article's writer, Leif Johnson, on Twitter.
No comments:
Post a Comment