Apple introduced HomeKit last year – a new platform where smart appliances in the home can communicate. We saw at CES technology fair in the meantime the effects: many manufacturers showcase their products with HomeKit support. This shows, according to The Verge, at least one thing: lots of HomeKit accessories require an Apple TV if you want to control them remotely using Siri.
With HomeKit you can control some devices in your home from your iPhone or iPad. This is in many cases directly through Siri. You can ask for the virtual assistant to turn off the light. If you are at home you connect your iDevice directly with HomeKit-enabled devices via Wi-Fi, but outside the door it is using an Apple TV. Your iOS device then connects via (mobile) internet with the Apple TV at home, which then communicates with HomeKit accessories.
Last year it turned out that the Apple TV has support for HomeKit, but the accessories at CES showed how this functionality is used in practice. It seems, however, a useful feature. Many smart accessories have its own station at the time that they connect to the Internet. For example, for the Philips Hue bulbs you need to connect the Hue Bridge on your network. By using the Apple TV, Apple prevents you have to put a new, separate unit in your living room. The Apple TV have already in many households a permanent place among the television.
The HomeKit accessories at CES were at the time still at an early stage. Apple’s licensing process for the devices would have only just begun, and many of the devices shown don’t quite work properly yet. Most companies also warn that their products may only be released in the second quarter of 2015.
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