Apple Files With The FCC For Secretive Wireless Device

Apple may have something new up its sleeves if a filing with the Federal Communications Commission is any indication.

According to a report, on the heels of the launch of the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus and the Apple Watch Series 2, a wireless Apple device “passed through” the FCC. The mysterious wireless device, according to the report, doesn’t appear to mesh with any known Apple devices. The report noted the device is referred to as a wireless device with model number A1844 in the filing. The product does include Bluetooth and NFC functionality, is low-powered and rated to draw between 100mA and 700mA and between 5.5V and 13.2V.

Additionally, the report noted the filing shows “only two torx screws visible on the bottom plate of the device where the regulatory markings are shown, the positioning of which seem to hint at a rather small Apple TV-size device, although exact dimensions aren’t shown.” Given Apple’s well-documented secretive nature, the filing didn’t have many details.

Rumors surrounding what Apple will next unveil seemed to reach fever pitch on Friday. Earlier in the day, Bloomberg reported Apple is reportedly moving ahead with developing a smart-home device based on its Siri voice assistant tool, taking a page from Amazon, which has been successful with Echo, the speaker that houses Alexa, its personal assistant.

According to a report by Bloomberg, which cited people familiar with the matter, development started longer than two years ago but has now exited the research and development lab and entered into prototype testing. The idea behind the smart-home device is that it will control appliances, locks, lights and even curtains via voice activation. The device could still be canceled since Apple hasn’t finalized the plans for it, Bloomberg reported.