LAS VEGAS — iDevices’ first HomeKit-compatible product will be a simple on-off switch that turns your iPhone into a remote control for lamps and appliances.
It’s name is simple too: Switch.
The $49.99 rectangular device plugs into an outlet. You plug a standard electrical device like a lamp or stereo into its convenient side outlet, and then you can turn that device on and off remotely. Switch comes in plain white, although a colored band of lights can be programmed to glow in custom colors to brighten up a dark hallway.
“You can change it to any color you like,” said Dan Cepa, iDevices’ senior director of sales, during CES International.
Compatibility with HomeKit, Apple’s ambitious new protocol for home automation, means you simply plug it in and use it — there’s no hub or other additional hardware needed. You can also say, “Hey Siri!” to flip the switch verbally rather than having to tap on your iPhone. Switch is a simple first step, but as more and more HomeKit-compatible devices hit the market, your options for controlling your life through your iOS device will radically expand.
Switch connects via Wi-Fi with Bluetooth backup. If you want to do more complex programming — to have lights come on at a certain time, for instance — you go into the simply named iDevices Connected app.
Using the app you can set up various presets or establish a master switch for each room in your house. For example, you might want to turn off all Switch-connected lamps at once or have your living room light up at 7 p.m. every Wednesday.
Turning lamps on and off, perhaps using a power strip so you don’t have to have a separate Switch for each one, is the most obvious and useful implementation of the device. “We all like lights,” Cepa told Cult of Mac.
In the future, Switch will let you track energy consumption to make smart choices about when you do a load of laundry or nudge you not to leave on a light you really don’t need.
“We can do it now,” Cepa said. “It just hasn’t been programmed into the app.”
The app will also work with HomeKit-compatible Schlage Sense smart locks and the Chamberlain MyQ garage door opener, which were both on display at the iDevices booth at CES.
As for Android users? They’ll be left in the dark when HomeKit gets rolling.
“Now it gives them a good reason to get an Apple,” Cepa said.
Lewis Wallace is the managing editor of Cult of Mac and author of our weekly newsletter, The Weekender.
He’s a San Francisco-based writer and editor specializing in technology and culture. He loves his iPhone, hates Siri, and appreciates any hardware that combines form and function.
Prior to Cult of Mac, he juggled words and ideas as culture editor at Wired.com, homepage editor at TechTV, news product manager at NBCi, copy editor at PC World, reporter at The (Hayward) Daily Review and editor in chief of EveryBody’s News in Cincinnati.
He earned a bachelor of general studies degree with a journalism certificate from the University of Cincinnati. While in school, he worked as the entertainment editor of The News Record and as editor in chief of Clifton Magazine.
He’s also a bass player, who’s recorded and performed around the United States with Those Darn Accordions, The Electric Boogie Dawgz and The Mad Maggies. When not writing, editing or laying down bass lines, he plays darts and serves on the board of the San Francisco Darts League.
8 responses to “iDevices’ HomeKit-compatible Switch lets Siri light up your house”
I love the idea of these things. When they hit $10 or so, Ill buy 50 of them and pimp out my house. $50 for an outlet is a bit high for my tastes.
I agree that the $50 price tag makes people think twice. When a manufacturer works out how to offer a sub $20 device, they will sell them in large numbers and become the de facto standard.
Home automation is a great concept and the time is right for wide scale adoption, but it works best when you have a lot of device controllers. Ten $50 devices would be something that most people have to think about before buying, while ten $10 to $20 devices could be more of an impulse purchase.
I spent a lot of money on X10 automation many years ago, but it was very troublesome as there was no way of knowing if buying and plugging in a new appliance would disrupt the network as some appliances can act as ‘signal suckers’. Our neighbour installed a new freezer in their garage while we were on holiday and our garden watering system failed to operate for three weeks during a heatwave. The modern method of using radio for controllers is vastly more reliable than sending signals down the mains wiring and of course also allows for battery powered sensors where mains power isn’t close by.
Funny you should mention x-10 as that was one of the companies I was thinking about. Talk about a company that completely missed an easy slide into the future of home automation. The other two I think of are of course Radio Shack and USPS. I still have X-10 stuff around. I use a bunch of it to control the lighting on my reef tank.
At first look 49.95 seems a bit too much but considering the app and programmability I get it. A power strip with multiple devices added into the mix and it makes it even better.
I don’t think a power strip is where this is going. I don’t want to be able to control 8 things from a power strip but rather 8 different things from one power strip individually. THAT would be impressive and worth $50 – $65. It will get there.
I used to build data centers for MCI back in the friends and family days and people laughed at me when I said one day these places will be useless because long distance will be free.
Oh I agree with you. I was just saying that for the current offering to be affordable. But the power strip with individually controllable receptacles in that price range is what we need.
Yep- that’s the one.
Haven’t Android users always been in the dark?