Which Tech Giant Will Come Out on Top in Home Automation?

As Amazon, Apple and Google all make major investments in smart home technology partnerships with the nation’s largest builders, BUILDER Magazine’s John McManus anticipates the future of home automation – and asks readers to think about which of the tech giants might get there first.

“Welcome to what one day soon we may think back on as the pre-evolved days of machine learning-enabled technology’s convergence with living in our homes,” McManus says. “In this primitive moment in time, devices sit on counters, or mount on the wall, or hang from ceilings… [But soon], smart home technologies and their nodes of connection with people in those homes will be integrated “inside-the-walls,” as part of the building envelope and systems, like electric, plumbing, heating and ventilation.”

McManus highlights Amazon, which recently made a $6.7 million Series A investment in housing startup, for its “friction-free access to goods and services we want or need to buy.” Apple aims to provide “trust that our digital connections, hardware devices and solutions can go on with a sense of security and well-being,” while for Google, “a fluid, constant all-direction exchange of knowledge—creating dynamic moments or platforms of value—as we carry out daily routines in our homes, is power.”