Apple wants to Control Your Home! Well That Might be a Good Thing

Wow Apple is serious about making the TV the centerpiece of a so-called iHouse or a iApartment.

Apple is evolving into an ecosystem, a network that connects to and controls everything from your home to your car to your office. This has the potential to be as impactful as the iPhone and iPad. Today I use iOS apps to control my stereo system (the Sonos) and central air (the Nest). Both work beautifully, and there are more iThings on the way like this incredible door lock.

It seems that the iTV coming out later this year might be the centerpiece of this new way of life:

Most of all, I want my television to be part of that Apple ecosystem: a thin glass hub integrating cable series, movies, endless utility and gaming apps, YouTube videos, music, photos, e-mails, FaceTime, social media feeds, and more. I want the TV to be my alarm clock, turning from 'Sleep' mode to awaken me with sweet music, a weather report and news, through an app like the newly launched Winston (which is already optimized for Airplay).

It would be very cool to have an iTV wake me up with music and then tell me what my stocks are doing and maybe a little news on each company if I want that. Something like "This just in from the Street.com JP Morgan is interested in buying out US Bankcorp do you want to hear more?" Then you say Yes and it reads the article to you.

Maybe you could have a toaster App that connects to the iTV that automatically cooks a bagel for you. All you have to do it take it out of the toaster and put cream cheese on it. You find that you are out of cream cheese and the iTV asks if you want to add it to your iOS reminder app. If you want you can link it to Amazon Prime and once your list reaches a certain size you can have it automatically buy the cream cheese along with several other things you want.

Another cool feature I would like to see the iTV do is answer questions you have on what you are watching. Like you see Sheldon wearing a cool T-shirt on Big Bang Theory. You just say "iTV where can I get a shirt like the one Sheldon is currently wearing?" Then it links you to the Hot Topic site in a small popup window and asks if you want to purchase it. You say "yes buy it in Large and send it my apartment" and the order is placed after you confirm it with a code word you type into an iPad. Or maybe it will use voice recognition software to prevent other people from buying things if your iTV is on.