TAIPEI, Taiwan — Google and Apple are two tech giant in penetrating smart home market, HomeKit and Thread are two major protocols and frameworks that Google and Apple are behind it, respectively. Taiwanese firms have made their choices in choosing the battle for the smart home. For example MediaTek, RealTek, Alpha Networks and D-Link fight for HomeKit’s certification, while others make an effort to become Thread members.
Allegedly, HTC, Wistron NeWeb Co. and Lite-On Technology have sided with Thread, it is widely circulated that the battle for smart home will start from the third quarter of this year.
Additionally, Thread is an IPv6 based protocol for smart household devices to communicate on a network. In July 2014 Google’s Nest Labs announced a working group with the companies Samsung, ARM Holdings, Freescale, Silicon Labs, Big Ass Fans and the lock company Yale in an attempt to have Thread become the industry standard by providing Thread Certification for products. Other protocols currently in use include ZigBee, Bluetooth Smart and HomeKit.
Moreover, Thread uses 6LoWPAN, which in turns uses the IEEE 802.15.4 wireless protocol with mesh communication, as does ZigBee and other systems. Thread however is IP-addressable, with cloud access and AES encryption. It has support for over 250 devices on a network.
Meanwhile, Apple unveiled the Homekit home automation project as a way to connect iPhones and iPads to smart home devices like light bulbs and appliances.
