CES 2015 has given us a deluge of new HomeKit announcements. Thus far, we’ve seen several smart outlets, a garage door opener, light bulb adapters, a door lock, and a power strip from vendors such as iDevices, iHome, GridConnect, Chamberlain, Schlage, and Incipio. Elgato announced an entire range of HomeKit sensors while Insteon introduced a full-on hub that bridges HomeKit-compatible devices with Insteon’s vast catalog of otherwise incompatible smart home accessories.

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Each new Wi-Fi device also shares one common trait: an Apple TV is required if you want to control them with Siri while away from home.

Apple is not positioning its little hobby device as a home automation hub

So, while commands like "Siri, turn off the lights in the living room" will always work while connected to your home Wi-Fi network, they won’t from the airport unless you have an Apple TV. But that’s it — you can still switch off the lights with an app, no Apple TV required. This behavior has been confirmed by a source close to HomeKit’s development as well as two launch partners who wish to remain anonymous. Only third-generation or later Apple TVs running software 7.0 or later will support HomeKit.

AppleInsider reported back in October that Apple TV Software beta 2 included support for testing HomeKit with iOS apps. While that would seemingly suggest a prominent role for Apple TV, we’ve been reliably informed that Apple is not positioning its little hobby device as a home automation hub. It's not something you need to buy if you want a HomeKit automated home, but if you have one then you get the additional feature of remote Siri commands.

Here at CES we’ve seen a wide variety of HomeKit-compatible controllers of variable quality. Demonstrations ran fine for the most part: lights turned on, power strips popped to life, and fans blew. But any deviation from the script risked crashes, lockups, and embarrassment in front of a throng of eager onlookers.

"It isn’t fully baked yet," said one HomeKit partner looking wistfully at an unresponsive light bulb. "Apple still has work to do."

"It isn’t fully baked yet."

One "demonstration" consisted of a product manager swiping through a stack of gallery images while holding a device labeled "not working."

If Apple had its way, none of the dozen or so HomeKit devices would have been at CES since none of them are MFI (Made for iPhone/iPod/iPad) certified. In fact, the licensing program for HomeKit devices is just getting started, we’ve been told.

HomeKit is clearly a work in progress. That’s why HomeKit partners only announced vague timelines for their respective releases. While some companies are hoping to release in Q1, other more cautious partners are hedging with a Q2 date. "We’ll put our products up for sale just as soon as Apple gets its act together," said one partner.

Regardless, the HomeKit ecosystem is starting to look complete enough for most home automation needs. It might only be on paper for now, but the entrenched Z-Wave and Zigbee incumbents would be wise not to bet against Apple.