“Is the Smart Home Market Ready for a Makeover?”
The Matter protocol could transform the smart home — and the industry.
The smart home has existed – at least in theory – for many years and yet we’re still struggling to bring the concept to life. We want products that make our lives easier but having a high-tech home can be far from straightforward.
If we buy smart light bulbs, speakers, cameras, or appliances from different brands and each one comes with a corresponding app, connecting, controlling, managing, and updating all the devices can be frustrating. The mishmash of devices and apps we’re left with often means we fail to realize the potential of the technologies. We give up, and too many products gather dust in basements or fill recycling bins when they should be enhancing our environments.
Industry leaders have realized they have an opportunity to streamline the smart home experience. The Connectivity Standards Alliance has spent the past three years working with well-known brands to develop a new protocol, now called Matter, that changes the way devices are connected and configured so they can communicate with each other, as well as with apps and the cloud. It also improves the speed, security, and reliability of the connection.