The report doesn’t mention the possibility of the camera being used as a home surveillance solution, but the rumor is that the Siri speaker would incorporate HomeKit as well. Apple’s home automation framework currently lacks support for home security cameras, but the category has been growing in popularity lately and Apple’s privacy focus would make it a trustworthy handler of this data for potential customers.
If a Siri camera is announced and a video camera is included, however, the report’s explanation that it would be used to identify users and set preferences would be an interesting solution to a real problem. Sharing one Apple TV in a family environment is tricky enough, but asking a speaker with no visual user interface to play your music library would be even trickier. Profiles based on facial recognition would be impressive in this scenario.
The report adds, however, that the rumored Siri speaker may be targeted for the holiday quarter but could be pushed to sometime next year:
It’s worth considering, too, that Apple’s Macs, iPhones, and iPads have cameras (and Apple Watch 2 may as well) but lack facial recognition features, and including a camera with the Apple TV was once rumored but didn’t ship.
A separate report yesterday suggested that the rumored Siri speaker being discussed this week could actually be a next-gen Apple TV with an integrated speaker and far-field microphones. Currently the Apple TV relies on the Bluetooth-connected Siri Remote for manual voice input.
