The long-awaited Matter smart home standard has finally been released. Samsung, Google, Apple and Amazon are among those who are backing this new technology.
Matter, the unifier of smart home devices has been released after multiple delays throughout the year. The announcement comes from The Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) in their official release statement. In the release, they mention that the product certification program is also open, so manufacturers can fully support the new Matter 1.0 standard.
What is Matter? Well in a nutshell and according to the CSA website;
One protocol to connect compatible devices and systems with one another. Smart home devices should be secure, reliable, and seamless to use. And with Matter, they are.
The Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA)
Matter relies on several technologies such as Bluetooth, WiFi and Thread mesh networking. What’s the point? Well, this gives all Matter-supported devices the ability to connect with one another seamlessly and use very little power to do so. The Matter standard also has a “self-healing” capability that gets stronger and more reliable as your mesh grows. And of course, we can’t forget better security and full compatibility with popular voice assistants such as Amazon Echo, Google Assistant, and Siri.
How do you get the new Matter Standard?
Well, some of your current devices may already support the standard. If they do, the manufacturers will surely push out an update to enable it. This may take a while however depending on the brand. Your big brands who are already starting are Google, Amazon, Apple, Philips Hue and Samsung. You may have to check their websites to see which hardware will be supported.
What to expect with the Matter 1.0 release
This is the first official public release, so it is best not to expect everything to work right away. Like with any new software, it will take a bit of time for things to really come together. The Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) did make it very clear that the 1.0 release is an “initial release”. However, once Matter does become mainstream, planning and upgrading your smart home will be much easier as long as the products you choose support Matter. Time will tell!
