The aim is to give Apple a device

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The smart doorbell camera would use Face ID to unlock users’ doors, Bloomberg News’ Mark Gurman wrote in his Power On newsletter Sunday (Dec. 22). This camera could be released by the end of next year at the soonest, Gurman wrote. According to the report, the lock would work in the same fashion as an iPhone, unlocking automatically when it scans a user’s face. Gurman posited that this device would likely work with existing third-party HomeKit smart locks and that Apple could also collaborate with a smart lock company to offer a complete system on day one.

The camera, Gurman said, would likely use phone number japanese Apple’s in-house Proxima combination Wi-Fi/Bluetooth chip that’s said to be rolling out for new HomePod Mini and Apple TV devices in the new year. PYMNTS has contacted Apple for comment but has not yet gotten a reply. The news follows a report from last month that Apple was at work on a device for a new product category, one combining artificial intelligence (AI), apps and smart home functions. The device, which is code-named J490 and could debut as early as March of next year, will be equipped with Siri, Apple Intelligence and a touch interface.

that can compete with the likes of Amazon’s Echo products and Google’s Nest Hub, an earlier Bloomberg report said, with the company hoping to sell multiple units to consumers so they can have them in a variety of rooms and use them as an intercom system. As PYMNTS wrote soon after that report, Apple’s plans could indicate a broader ambition to capture a larger share of the smart home market, as consumers look for centralized control of their connected devices and seamless ways to make purchases via voice commands and touchscreen interfaces.