A little rumor leaked today (via 9to5mac): Apple is planning to announce a home automation platform in WWDC.

Coupled with past rumors of an Apple TV revamp, this got me thinking: what if the two efforts actually the same hardware box? Let me elaborate.

Most home automation alternatives require the user to have some sort of central hub. The hubs tasks are mostly non-UI, with a smartphone app controlling the system instead. So this begs the question: What popular Apple device you have plugged all the time, connected to your network, and mostly idle of processor intensive tasks?

A few Apple TVs idle on your living room and bedroom, with good conectivity (because you ensured that in order to watch streaming content) might make a nice Home Automation hub. They even come with a remote, which could be extended to provide more features.

The only drawback to my thought is that this could also be handled by a more utilitarian appliance, such as an Airport Extreme base station. They are less popular, but if Apple is to enter a market that can be an advantage as they would be poised to sell more of it.