«Matter» is the Name of the New Important Standard for Smart Home

«Matter» is the name of the universal standard for smart home devices supported by the largest players in the industry. The first products certified with the new standard should be available by the end of 2021.

Matters standard

Smart home products only feel really smart when all individual products also work together. That is what major tech companies such as Google, Samsung, Apple, Amazon and Comcast thought when they announced at the end of 2019 that there will be a universal standard for smart home products. Initially, the standard was still called Project CHIP, but now it is christened ‘Matter’, according to a press release.

Products certified with Matter work together thanks to an IP-based connectivity protocol. 1,700 individuals and 180 organizations are behind it, including brands such as IKEA and Signify. We can expect the first products from the end of this year: from smart thermostats to robotic lawn mowers and lamps. In short, all types of smart devices on the market today.

Existing technology

Matter will work with existing technologies such as: ethernet, wifi 802.11 and bluetooth low energy (BLE). There is also support for the voice assistants and services such as Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant and SmartThings. The standard is completely open-source and no company profits from certifying products.

The organization that oversees the standard, ‘The Zigbee Alliance’, also changes its name and is now called ‘Connectivity Standards Alliance’, or ‘CSA’ for short. The new name should help the organization to better fulfill its role when it comes to the future of the Internet of Things.