With Matter Rollout, Your Smart Home Devices Will Play Nice With Each Other

The Connectivity Standards Alliance this week released Matter 1.0, a new connectivity standard that aims to seamlessly connect smart home products.

The open-source global standard promises to allow internet-connected devices from different manufacturers to easily and securely share data.

"What began as a mission to unravel the complexities of connectivity has led to Matter, a single global IP-based protocol that will revolutionize the IoT," said Tobin Richardson, president and CEO of the Connectivity Standards Alliance. It will open in a new window) .

Matter promises to make it easier for manufacturers to create devices compatible with Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, Google Assistant and other smart home and voice services, hoping to improve device performance regardless of brand.

"This release is the first step for our community and industry to make IoT easier, safer and more valuable, no matter who you are or where you live," said Richardson. “The launch of Matter 1.0 with global support from companies large and small is a milestone for our organization and our partners; it is a celebration of the possible."

Matter 1.0 launches with eight authorized testing labs for companies planning to purchase. In the first release, Matter will work over Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Thread network protocol using Bluetooth Low Energy, which supports several common smart home products. such as lighting and electrical equipment, HVAC controls, blinds and curtains, safety and security sensors, door locks, multimedia devices and bridges.

In terms of security, Matter relies on distributed ledger technology and public key infrastructure to verify the certification and provenance of devices, enabling users to connect authentic, certified and state-of-the-art devices to their homes and networks.

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Matter is the result of the Connected Home Over IP (CHIP Project) launched in 2019 by Amazon, Apple, Google and other major smart home players together with the Zigbee Alliance. The latter has since changed its name to the Connectivity Standards Alliance and has been renamed Project CHIP Matter. More than 280 companies participated in the development, including Amazon, Belkin Wemo, Comcast, Ikea, GE Lighting, Google, LG Electronics, Nanoleaf, Philips Hue, Samsung SmartThings and Texas Instruments.

Many existing smart home products will soon be supported by Matter via software updates, although support depends on the carrier and device, and not everyone will be able to get the update. Google said Tuesday that Matter "will be available by default on billions of Android devices" later this year. And at WWDC, Apple announced plans to add Matter support to iOS 16 this fall.

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