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Apple is rumored to be working on a new smart home product. Mark Gurman at Bloomberg<\/em> <\/a> that the company is developing a wall-mounted display for controlling appliances, interacting with Siri and videoconferencing. The tablet is said to look “like a square iPad” with “a roughly 6-inch screen.” It would have a camera at the top as well as internal speakers and a built-in rechargeable battery. His sources said this smart home display could be officially announced as soon as March following three years in development.<\/p>\n This description sounds a lot like the <\/a>, which came out in 2018, or the <\/a>, which is already up to its eighth iteration. If Apple wants to be a serious competitor in this smart home space, it’ll have to prove to customers that it has something to offer that these more established brands and products don’t.<\/p>\n Right now, the only distinguishing feature is likely <\/a>, which finally began rolling out to users in late October, and the upcoming <\/a> system for controlling software programs with AI. But Apple may be looking farther ahead toward something more extravagant than just a smart device control panel. Gurman reported that Apple is already working on a version with a robotic arm that could move the tablet around. It should be interesting to see exactly what Apple does formally launch and when.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n