Apple has been making ground-breaking changes in our lives by creating products such as the iPod, iPhone and iPad. According to Ingram (2014), iPhone can be considered as ‘a kind of centralized remote control for a wide range of devices, from televisions and stereo systems to intelligent light bulbs and thermostats’.
As reported on Monday by Financial Times, Apple is preparing to next week at the World Wide Developer Conference launch a new “Smart home” software platform that centres around the iPhone. This ‘Smart Home’ platform is assumed to be the centre of a user’s digital universe, since it will interface with Internet-connected devices, such as security systems, lights and household appliances.
The platform could use near-field communications (NFC) as the method of control, and the support for the technology is expected to be a part of new iPhone models (Financial Times 2014). Therefore, by giving a massive installed user base in iOS device owners, Apple could be in control of product certification, ensuring users a consistent and cohesive experience that thus far has not existed in the smart home segment. With the ‘Smart Home’ platform, Apple would have a great impact on manufacturers already fielding their own connected solutions.
