Apple announced HomeKit, its smart home solution, exactly a year ago and the first products are finally arriving.
A pair of lighting kits from Lutron and a HomeKit-compatible hub for Insteon’s smart home system are available today, with a smart thermostat from Ecobee, a power outlet from iHome and a series of Elgato home sensors coming in July.
In case the concept has slipped from your mind in the intervening 12 months, HomeKit lets companies build apps that can interact with any other hardware using the standard.
Siri can also control those devices. However, you’ll need an Apple TV to help out if you want to command your stuff when you’re away from your house.
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Lutron’s lighting kits ($229.95) allow you to adjust your lights and turn them on and off. Insteon’s $149.99 Hub brings its existing connected switches, outlets, thermostats and light bulbs into the HomeKit ecosystem.
Ecobee’s $249 thermostat is a Nest competitor that can be controlled remotely, while iHome’s as-yet-unpriced Switch is a Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connected plug.
Elgato’s sensors are priced between $39.95 and $79.95 and connect with a central hub called Eve. They’ll let you do things like measure air quality, monitor the weather, check energy usage and see whether doors and windows are open.
You can expect to see a lot more HomeKit-enable products appearing over the next couple of months. And don’t be surprised if we get more news on Apple’s plans for the connected home at WWDC next week.
That rumored Apple TV refresh could have a part to play…
➤ Apple HomeKit [via The Verge]
Read next: The longer Apple’s HomeKit takes to arrive, the longer the ‘connected home’ suffers
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