Episode 11: HomeKit certification comes at a big cost for consumers and device makers.

This week Apple disappointed the smart home aficionados at its WWDC conference by not mentioning much in the way of new HomeKit news and new devices. But Kevin Tofel and I discussed the challenges that Apple’s HomeKit partners faced trying to accommodate Apple’s security and hardware needs. This includes the Ecobee CEO’s response to criticism about his older thermostats not being upgradable to HomeKit.

The ring connected doorbell.
The ring connected doorbell.

Since we don’t have a guest this week, we spent the rest of the show discussing a new, $1,500 oven from June and what the heck is happening with Wink. The Wink platform is for sale and Quirky, the product development group that created Wink, is getting out of the manufacturing business. Finally, we cover the Ring connected doorbell in our 5-minute review segment. Despite my enthusiasm for the connected doorbell, I learned that my doorbell isn’t in the right spot on the to make the device as useful.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel

  • Not much HomeKit at Apple’s WWDC
  • We do get some cool watch features in the upgrade for the Apple Watch
  • Would you buy this connected oven?
  • What’s up with Wink?
  • The 5-minute review: Ring connected doorbell

Published by

Stacey Higginbotham

I am a journalist who has covered technology for over a decade at publications such as Fortune, PCMag, Gigaom, The Deal and BusinessWeek.

2 thoughts on “Episode 11: HomeKit certification comes at a big cost for consumers and device makers.”

  1. Hi Stacey and Kevin—
    I enjoy listening to your podcasts. I wanted to give you my experiences on the Ring doorbell as my husband and I bought one a few months ago. It was great the first two months and worked well. A couple of weeks ago, it stopped working. We did some research and found out that it apparently isn’t waterproof (nice description of the issue at http://www.duppeditten.com/blog/ring-video-doorbell). This is a big problem for someone living in New England. We sent email to Ring and received an auto-response that they would get back to us in 4 hours. It has been 6 days with no reply. We tried to call, were put on hold for ten minutes or so and then got an answering machine. If your doorbell is inside a covered area where it can avoid the elements you may be good to go but for everyone else fair warning. It’s a great idea but it needs more work.

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