Apple Watch lawnmower app shows how far IoT has come

In what might, in future, be viewed as a key milestone in the evolution of the internet of things, Swedish company Husqvarna has released an Apple watch app that lets you remotely control your lawnmower.

Husqvarna specialises in outdoor power products and is a pioneer in robotic lawn mowers, which seem to operate a bit like those robotic vacuum cleaners that trundle around your house automatically cleaning so you can concentrate on fun things. The new Automower Connect app removes even the residual hassle of having to make direct contact with the mower.

“21 years ago Husqvarna set the first robotic mower on the market, and we have been pushing the technological frontier ever since,” said Olle Markusson, robotic category manager at Husqvarna. “With Automower Connect for Apple Watch, Husqvarna takes the user experience to yet another level and strengthens its innovation lead in the growing robotic mower market.”

Not only can you remotely control your mower from the comfort of your own wrist via commands such as ‘start’, ‘stop’ and ‘park’, you can configure the mower’s settings and even track its position if a jealous neighbour should give in to temptation and make off with it.

While most IoT innovation these days seems mainly aimed at industry, it’s good to see the consumer branch still going strong. It’s surely just a matter of time before the connected fridge concept is perfected and we’re freed from the bondage of shopping lists and trips to Sainsbury’s. The Automower Connect app marks an important moment in the history of first-world problem solving that will surely culminate in the kind of utopia envisaged by the film The Fifth Element.