The infrastructure behind
At Apple's developers conference in June, Apple announced its program for hooking up smart home devices seamlessly in iOS with Bluetooth and Wifi. But in order for device makers to get on board, they have to go through one thing: Apple certification. And one part of the certification process for device makers is that they have to buy their Bluetooth and Wifi chips from Apple-approved chipmakers--
These chipmakers have begun shipping their chips loaded with HomeKit firmware to device manufacturers, Broadcom and Texas Instruments have confirmed to me. That means we could begin seeing HomeKit-certified devices show up on store shelves sometime soon. Although Apple hasn't officially launched HomeKit yet, device makers can at least start putting together their gadgets now that they have the wireless chip armed with the HomeKit firmware.
“Everyone's getting ready,” said Brian Bedrosian, senior director of embedded wireless in the mobile and wireless group at Broadcom. “Expect to see new product launches in the next cycle of product releases.”
The HomeKit protocol determines how devices are identified in iOS based on clearly defined device categories and what sorts of actions can be taken with them--turn on or off a light, for example. This will hopefully allow the interactions between devices to be more consistent and reliable than with previous wireless interactions in home automation technology.
Because Apple is still finalizing the protocol, the firmware on the chips coming out will likely have to continue to be updated. The firmware is mostly just beta versions of HomeKit, said Broadcom's Bedrosian. But the device manufacturers will be able to update the firmware remotely as the HomeKit software evolves.
So far, Broadcom has been shipping its Bluetooth-Wifi combo chip loaded with HomeKit firmware to many device makers, including makers of connected climate controls, lighting, security cameras and door locks.
Broadcom already gets plenty of business selling its wireless chips to Apple--you can find its silicon in the iPhone and the upcoming Apple Watch. And now that Apple is getting into the smart home business, Broadcom is expecting more growth in selling its connectivity chips for hardware makers in this still-young industry.
For device makers that manage to get certified, Apple's entrance could be a boon for them too. By labeling and marketing a connected thermostat or lightbulb as Apple friendly, companies could promise an easier installation process and more interoperability between devices.
"It's been a real fragmented market for a long time," said Bedrosian about the smart home industry. "It's critical to certify the interoperability of devices and make sure everything can join to a network. One thing HomeKit provides is the bridging protocols for various devices to connect simply by Wifi to the cloud."
Apple has announced only around a dozen official hardware partners in its HomeKit announcement at the June developers conference, but it's been making the HomeKit protocols more available to players in this industry, said Bedrosian.
"Apple is widening access to their ecosystem and we'll see more and more products," he said. "The goal is to create a better consumer experience for the iOS ecosystem and provide a simplified and unified approach to control home devices. We're just starting to see the first wave of many products."
