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      I was wrong to ignore Zigbee and Z-Wave. They’re the best part of my smart home.

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Monday, 12 February - 12:30 · 1 minute

    Hue hub in stark relief against wood desk

    Enlarge / Where it all started for the author, even if he didn't know it at the time. (credit: Getty Images)

    I've set up dozens of smart home gadgets across two homes and two apartments over the last five years. I have a mental list of brands I revere and brands from which nothing shall ever be purchased again. In my current abode, you can stand in one place and be subject to six different signal types bouncing around, keeping up the chatter between devices.

    What can I say? I'm a sucker for a certain kind of preparedness and creativity. The kind that's completely irrelevant if the power goes out.

    When I started at Ars in the summer of 2022, the next generation of smart home standards was on the way . Matter, an interoperable device setup and management system, and Thread, a radio network that would provide secure, far-reaching connectivity optimized for tiny batteries. Together, they would offer a home that, while well-connected, could also work entirely inside a home network and switch between controlling ecosystems with ease. I knew this tech wouldn't show up immediately, but I thought it was a good time to start looking to the future, to leave behind the old standards and coalesce into something new.

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      Matter was more of a nice smart home concept than useful reality in 2023

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Saturday, 23 December - 12:35 · 1 minute

    Illustration of Matter protocol simplifying a home network

    Enlarge / The Matter standard's illustration of how the standard should align a home and all its smart devices. (credit: CSA)

    Matter, as a smart home standard , would make everything about owning a smart home better. Devices could be set up with any phone, for either remote or local control, put onto any major platform (like Alexa, Google, or HomeKit) or combinations of them, and avoid being orphaned if their device maker goes out of business. Less fragmentation, more security, fewer junked devices: win, win, win.

    Matter, as it exists in late 2023, more than a year after its 1.0 specification was published and just under a year after the first devices came online, is more like the xkcd scenario that lots of people might have expected. It's another home automation standard at the moment, and one that isn't particularly better than the others, at least how it works today. I wish it was not so.

    Setting up a Matter device isn't easy, nor is making it work across home systems. Lots of devices with Matter support still require you to download their maker's specific app to get full functionality. Even if you were an early adopting, Matter-T-shirt-wearing enthusiast, you're still buying devices that don't work quite as well, and still generally require a major tech company's gear to act as your bridge or router.

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      Apple’s full-size HomePod is back with new features

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Wednesday, 18 January, 2023 - 18:38

    As previously rumored , Apple today announced the release of a new second-generation, $299 HomePod smart speaker in a similar design to the first-generation HomePod from 2018.

    This new model is a comeback for the HomePod, which was discontinued in 2021 after it struggled in the marketplace despite a price cut.

    Critics and consumers felt that while the HomePod delivered outstanding audio quality and great ease of use within the Apple ecosystem, its inability to elegantly play back non-Apple content, the limitations of Siri compared to Alexa or Google Assistant, and the speaker's steep price made it unappealing compared to more affordable smart speakers from Sonos, Amazon, or Google.

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      The state of Matter smart home gear, post-CES 2023

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Monday, 16 January, 2023 - 21:01 · 1 minute

    Mui wooden board on a wall, with backlit icons underneath reaching hand

    Enlarge / Mui Labs' Mui Board 2nd Gen embodies the loftiest promise of Matter: a wooden board, from a company you've likely never heard of, controlling devices made by many different companies, even if they're already connected to other apps. (credit: Mui)

    First came the specification , then the release , and then CES 2023—it has been a busy few months for Matter, the smart home connectivity standard. You can't quite fill your home just yet with Matter-ready devices, but there are some intriguing options in development. Here's a look at some of the most practical, quirky, and viable gear coming soon (or soon-ish).

    Some parts of Matter are already here

    If you wanted to start your smart home off fresh this year with a focus on Matter-powered universal compatibility, you already have a couple pieces of the puzzle ready for you. Let's go bit by bit, starting with your phone.

    Your phone, whether iOS or Android , can, right now, scan the QR code or read the Bluetooth signal of a Matter-certified device. Most platforms support adding devices to a controller through an Android app, but only Apple's HomeKit and Samsung's SmartThings have support for iOS device enrollment . Amazon has said it plans to add iOS enrollment for Thread-based devices this spring but already supports devices over Wi-Fi.

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      Google Nest and Android devices are now Matter controllers (for future devices)

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Thursday, 15 December, 2022 - 18:36 · 1 minute

    Google devices shown with a Matter logo

    Enlarge / A whole bunch of Google devices, including Android phones, can now control Matter devices. Those devices will be here at some point, perhaps soon. (credit: Google)

    The promise of Matter —the future where smart-home devices easily nestle into your home, regardless of what other devices or speakers you use—just got a bit closer today. Google announced that Nest and Android devices are Matter-enabled, allowing them to set up and control other Matter devices—that mostly don't exist yet.

    If your Android device runs version 8.1 or higher and has Google Play Service 22.48.14 or newer, you can use it to pair a Matter-compatible device with other Matter products and controllers. In these early post-launch Matter days , that means you can pair a few Eve devices that got their Matter firmware update three days ago. Or you can wait on a few Nanoleaf bulbs, some Level smart locks, or whatever else is to come. Nest devices that have quietly received their latest firmware updates can now be used to control that same (quite limited) set of devices.

    The appeal of the moment is that you could, technically, use an Android phone to put an Eve device onto your Matter network, then use an iOS Home app, Samsung's SmartThings, or an Alexa speaker (when those are updated in early 2023) to actually control that device. Alternatively, devices you brought onto the network with an iOS device could be controlled from a Google Nest Hub or speaker or other Nest device.

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      A realistic roundup of what today’s Matter launch means for your smart home

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Thursday, 3 November, 2022 - 18:31 · 1 minute

    Companies like Nanoleaf have products coming soon with Matter support, but your ability to actually integrate them into any system, using any phone, is still a hazy promise.

    Enlarge / Companies like Nanoleaf have products coming soon with Matter support, but your ability to actually integrate them into any system, using any phone, is still a hazy promise.

    It's not too often that there's an international launch event for an interoperability standard with a nearly 900-page spec manual . But there are big hopes pinned to Matter , an industry-wide effort to make smart home devices easier to shop for and set up without compatibility concerns.

    Companies brought their Matter-ready devices to Amsterdam overnight for the Connectivity Standards Alliance's (CSA) Matter Launch Event. The CSA states that 190 devices have been certified for Matter since the standard was finalized in early October. Those devices include motion blinds, smart plugs, HVAC controls, door locks, lighting, hubs and gateways, and certain kinds of sensors. More device categories, including vacuums, cameras, and large appliances, are due next.

    Matter's launch video.

    There were charts with smart home growth projections , talk from executives about what Matter means for the future of everything, and lots more light revelry and broad pontification. We'll focus here on what this actually means, in the short-term, for people who might be aiming to upgrade their home setup—or avoid doing so at all costs.

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      IoT harmony? What Matter and Thread really mean for your smart home

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Thursday, 6 October, 2022 - 14:37 · 1 minute

    Matter promises to make smart home devices work with any control system you want to use, securely. This marketing image also seems to promise an intriguing future involving smart mid-century modern chairs and smart statement globes.

    Enlarge / Matter promises to make smart home devices work with any control system you want to use, securely. This marketing image also seems to promise an intriguing future involving smart mid-century modern chairs and smart statement globes. (credit: CSA)

    The specification for Matter 1.0 was released on Tuesday—all 899 pages of it . More importantly, smart home manufacturers and software makers can now apply for this cross-compatibility standard, have their products certified for it, and release them. What does that mean for you, the person who actually buys and deals with this stuff?

    At the moment, not much. If you have smart home devices set up, some of them might start working with Matter soon, either through firmware upgrades to devices or hubs. If you're deciding whether to buy something now, you might want to wait to see if it's slated to work with Matter. The first devices with a Matter logo on the box could appear in as little as a month. Amazon, Google, Apple, and Samsung's SmartThings division have all said they're ready to update their core products with Matter compatibility when they can.

    That's how Matter will arrive, but what does Matter do? You have questions, and we've got... well, not definitive answers, but information and scenarios. This is a gigantic standards working group trying to keep things moving across both the world's largest multinational companies and esoteric manufacturers of tiny circuit boards. It's a whole thing. But we'll try to answer some self-directed questions to provide some clarity.

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      SmartDry’s useful laundry sensor to be cloud-bricked next month

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Tuesday, 30 August, 2022 - 17:14

    The SmartDry laundry sensor was widely regarded as a useful smart home gadget that saved money and time. When its owners' servers go dark at the end of September, users face a useless device or a notable DIY journey.

    Enlarge / The SmartDry laundry sensor was widely regarded as a useful smart home gadget that saved money and time. When its owners' servers go dark at the end of September, users face a useless device or a notable DIY journey. (credit: Getty Images)

    SmartDry was a smart home product that did something useful: tell you when your clothes in your dryer were actually dry.

    A small pack mounted inside nearly any dryer drum could prevent clothes from shrinking, save you energy costs (at least $60 per year, the marketing claimed), and even warn you about clogged vents causing high heat—or, much worse, gas buildup. A second-generation version could even turn off your gas dryer automatically. Reviewers greatly preferred it to their own dryers' unpredictable dryness sensors.

    The problem is that SmartDry alerted you to dry clothing by connecting to your home's Wi-Fi; the device sent a message to parent company Connected Life's servers and then relayed that message to your smartphone. But Connected Life Labs is closing, discontinuing SmartDry, and shutting down its servers on September 30. After that, "cloud services will cease operations and the product apps will no longer be supported."

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      Wemo’s confused Smart Dimmer shows how hard standardizing IoT may be

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Thursday, 4 August, 2022 - 17:13

    Wemo’s confused Smart Dimmer shows how hard standardizing IoT may be

    Enlarge (credit: Wemo )

    When the smart home compatibility standard Matter finally arrives , it promises to simplify and improve the connections and compatibility between different device brands, using Thread as its secure, low-energy backbone.

    Until then, let devices like Wemo's new Smart Dimmer with Thread serve as a warning: Matter runs on Thread, but not all Thread devices will give you a Matter experience. Belkin's new dimmer is a prime example of a device "with Thread" that is far from universally accessible—and likely confusing to buyers.

    Wemo's new dimmer doesn't require the onerous Wi-Fi setup you might remember from switches of old, instead connecting to your smartphone by Bluetooth or an NFC tap. To use it outside of Bluetooth range, you'll need a Thread network in your home. But here's where it gets tricky: This smart dimmer is controlled exclusively through HomeKit, so you'll specifically need a HomePod Mini or second-generation Apple TV 4K within a reasonable range of the switch. Those more robust devices can act as "border routers" in a Thread network, allowing more single-purpose devices like a dimmer to connect to a Thread mesh and access the Internet.

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