Gurman: Apple smart home hub postponed

Apple is delaying Siri’s AI features and that will reportedly spill over to at least one product launch. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple has put its smart hub device (code-named J490) on hold and will postpone its launch, which was rumored to take place in March.

Speculative render for Apple's smart home hub device

Siri’s new AI features which include improvements to conversation mode, personal context awareness and the App Intents framework, are an integral part of the project. Seeing how the updated Siri is still postponed, Apple's smart home hub device is also getting delayed for an unspecified amount of time. As per previous reports, the device would boot a customized version of iPadOS and allow users to control smart home devices, attend video conferences and serve as a home security monitor

Apple has set up an internal testing program with some employees getting to test out the device at home. Apple’s smart home hub device will go against Amazon Echo and Google Nest Hub home hubs, once it eventually launches.

Source (paywall)