Apple has hired Greg Duffy, co-founder of Dropcam, the Web-connected security camera company purchased by Google’s Nest Group three years ago.
Duffy’s new title and area of focus are unclear, according to The Information, which first reported the news Wednesday.
His name may be familiar because of the dustup he got into with Nest co-founder Tony Fadell last March. Nest had struggled after the acquisition and Fadell blamed Dropcam. Duffy took exception to Fadell’s characterization of the Dropcam team as inexperienced in a blog post and the spat went very public.
Apple (AAPL) confirmed Duffy’s hire to Coins2Day, but didn’t provide details on his new duties.
For more on Google Home, watch:
Given the success Amazon (AMZN) has seen with its Alexa home-based virtual personal assistant—and now being challenged by Google (GOOGL) Home— Apple is reportedly working on its own connected home offering. Duffy could come in handy there given his Dropcam and Nest experience.
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Apple entered the connected home market in 2015 with the release of HomeKit, a software toolset that lets companies tie their own connected home products into Siri, the virtual public assistant popularized in Apple’s iPhone. Several companies showed off HomeKit-compliant products at the CES gadget expo in Las Vegas earlier this month.
