3 ms·

I think Apple's HomeKit deserves a mention here.

by jmedwards 9y ago

pdpi 9y ago
I guess it does, yes. But then I expect a lot more from Apple that I do from Ikea on this market.
- baq 9y ago
  actually, i'd be surprised if apple had better ideas here than ikea. ikea is a home and furniture company and always has been. apple is neither, it's a luxury goods company at this point. apple can definitely execute, though. it just has to execute the right thing.
kbart 9y ago
Is it open protocol? If not, then it's pretty much useless anyway.
lawik 9y ago
It does? I honestly haven't heard much about HomeKit from a security perspective, so I guess it is either not used or working out well so far :) Has it been generally well received security-wise then?
- IshKebab 9y ago
  It's probably the most secure, but that's because they cheat and require a secure element in all products with a pre-shared key. Not a good solution in general.
  - lawik 9y ago
    You mean that HomeKit-compatible products all need to include some kind of HomeKit-chip with a pre-shared key or something? I'm completely unfamiliar and a quick search on homekit and pre-shared key didn't make me wiser :)
    - joezydeco 9y ago
      You don't even get to know what's inside HomeKit until you're an MFI-certified developer with Apple. And yes, there's a chip involved (again, which you can't even touch until you're an MFI licensee). The chip handles all the security protocols involved. https://mfi.apple.com/MFiWeb/getFAQ.action https://mfi.apple.com/MFiWeb/getFAQ.action
      - lawik 9y ago
        That doesn't sound in line with my preferences but quite Apple. So maybe high quality (hard to say?) but quite proprietary. Makes me curious about how that homebridge node thing makes it work.
        joezydeco 9y ago
        Well, it's pretty simple. If you want into Apple's ecosystem, you follow their rules. They've hardware-locked many other external things (dongles, charging cables, etc). Cynics will say it's a money grab, proponents will say it greatly reduces or eliminates the risk of buying something that will not work right. Apple sells itself on the ability of their things working right out of the box.
        Chaebixi 9y ago
        > proponents will say it greatly reduces or eliminates the risk of buying something that will not work right. IIRC, it's been shown that a massive percentage of the Apple chargers for sale on Amazon are difficult to spot counterfeits. Some of those use dangerous electronic designs.
        joezydeco 9y ago
        Yeah, unfortunately Apple can't stop everyone from making bad 5VDC bricks with USB sockets. Perhaps the "approved" cables have some kind of overvoltage protection in them, but otherwise that's always been a weak point.
MrBuddyCasino 9y ago
Indeed, they might even have exaggerated it. The computations are expensive and can take several seconds even on powerful MCUs. There are HomeKit chips that can accelerate this, but good luck getting your hands on one (or its manual).

I think Apple's HomeKit deserves a mention here.

pdpi 9y ago

I guess it does, yes. But then I expect a lot more from Apple that I do from Ikea on this market.

baq 9y ago
actually, i'd be surprised if apple had better ideas here than ikea. ikea is a home and furniture company and always has been. apple is neither, it's a luxury goods company at this point. apple can definitely execute, though. it just has to execute the right thing.

kbart 9y ago

Is it open protocol? If not, then it's pretty much useless anyway.

lawik 9y ago

It does? I honestly haven't heard much about HomeKit from a security perspective, so I guess it is either not used or working out well so far :) Has it been generally well received security-wise then?

IshKebab 9y ago
It's probably the most secure, but that's because they cheat and require a secure element in all products with a pre-shared key. Not a good solution in general.
- lawik 9y ago
  You mean that HomeKit-compatible products all need to include some kind of HomeKit-chip with a pre-shared key or something? I'm completely unfamiliar and a quick search on homekit and pre-shared key didn't make me wiser :)
  - joezydeco 9y ago
    You don't even get to know what's inside HomeKit until you're an MFI-certified developer with Apple. And yes, there's a chip involved (again, which you can't even touch until you're an MFI licensee). The chip handles all the security protocols involved. https://mfi.apple.com/MFiWeb/getFAQ.action https://mfi.apple.com/MFiWeb/getFAQ.action
    - lawik 9y ago
      That doesn't sound in line with my preferences but quite Apple. So maybe high quality (hard to say?) but quite proprietary. Makes me curious about how that homebridge node thing makes it work.
      - joezydeco 9y ago
        Well, it's pretty simple. If you want into Apple's ecosystem, you follow their rules. They've hardware-locked many other external things (dongles, charging cables, etc). Cynics will say it's a money grab, proponents will say it greatly reduces or eliminates the risk of buying something that will not work right. Apple sells itself on the ability of their things working right out of the box.
        Chaebixi 9y ago
        > proponents will say it greatly reduces or eliminates the risk of buying something that will not work right. IIRC, it's been shown that a massive percentage of the Apple chargers for sale on Amazon are difficult to spot counterfeits. Some of those use dangerous electronic designs.
        joezydeco 9y ago
        Yeah, unfortunately Apple can't stop everyone from making bad 5VDC bricks with USB sockets. Perhaps the "approved" cables have some kind of overvoltage protection in them, but otherwise that's always been a weak point.

MrBuddyCasino 9y ago

Indeed, they might even have exaggerated it. The computations are expensive and can take several seconds even on powerful MCUs. There are HomeKit chips that can accelerate this, but good luck getting your hands on one (or its manual).