The internet keeps an eagle-eye on Apple’s patent submissions and as such, many or pretty straight forward design tweaks. However, few of us would have seen this one coming.
Though Apple has its own HomeKit that allows iOS to communicate with a user’s home, this one might be a step forward – Apple’s latest patent submission looks like they want to start including sensors in iPhones – sensors which could enable them to become smoke detectors.
The patent describes “Wireless device networks with smoke detection capabilities” and was originally filed all the way back in May 2013.
A diagram submitted as part of the patent
Sensors would be applied to the device, potentially near a speaker port or another opening on the device that could then sense smoke. The idea would then be to send a simple alert to a user, activate fire systems (potentially using HomeKit) or even communicate directly with fire services.
Though the world of home automation has gone a bit quiet on Apple’s end in the last year or so as Health and the Watch launch have dominated their time, new features like these are certainly intriguing enough to reignite interest.
Source: Apple Insider