A report today said Apple is delaying the launch of its home automation platform, HomeKit, from early summer to early fall.
Fortune said it talked to sources around the time of CES in January who said that Apple planned to turn on HomeKit in May or June. The publication said today that sources participating in HomeKit now say the platform will be turned on in August or September.
Apple released a statement early Thursday afternoon saying that the Fortune story is false and that there is no delay in the launch.
“HomeKit has been available for just a few months and we already have dozens of partners who have committed to bringing HomeKit accessories to market and we’re looking forward to the first ones coming next month,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
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Actually, there probably won’t be some splashy HomeKit launch. Apple points out that HomeKit is enabled in iOS 8 and that chip and accessory makers have already been making announcements about being certified. The first wave of HomeKit-certified products and apps will begin hitting the market shortly.
Broadcom just yesterday announced that its new WICED Internet of Things platform would be closely integrated with HomeKit.
HomeKit is a framework in iOS 8 for communicating with and controlling connected accessories in a user’s home. The cloud platform will let users discover HomeKit devices in their home and configure them, according to Apple. Users can also group actions together and trigger them using Siri.
Updated 5/14 1:25 p.m. PST with Apple denial and statement.
