Amazon has introduced support for the Matter standard of smart home devices, starting with 17 Echo devices and growing to 30 Echo and Eero products next year, representing more than 100 million devices. The business-to-business connectivity standard is also part of the new Works with Alexa (WWA) for Matter certification program, which complements the current WWA system Amazon uses to ensure Alexa-enabled devices meet its standards.
Alexa account
Matter was created by Amazon and a coalition of other tech companies working on the Internet of Things as a connectivity standard they could agree to share. The idea is to make Matter the default smart home platform so customers can feel safe buying smart home devices without having to verify that they match their current setup. Each device setup and connection will share enough features to simplify installation and only require one app to avoid an isolated smart device limited to a single voice assistant or other AI. Amazon devices will support Matter, and third-party devices that use Alexa will also meet Matter requirements through the WWA for Matter program. This means that devices in the current WWA system must be Matter certified, while new devices will need to meet both certification requirements.
“As a founding member and key contributor of Matter, we are extremely excited about the completion of the Matter SDK program and the launch of Matter. Matter will help simplify development and fuel innovation while reducing barriers to adoption for our mutual customers – a significant step forward that complements our smart home ethos of openness and collaboration,” Amazon’s Director of Smart Home Marja Koopmans explained in a blog post. Reliable, high-quality customer experience remains our top priority.We will continue to work hard behind the scenes to keep smart homes running smoothly so customers can spend their time focusing on what matters most to them. of Matter today is just the first step to making the smart home interoperable and easier.
Amazon also shared information about the Alexa Connect SDK Kit for Matter introduced earlier this year on Alexa Live, highlighting Sengled as the company building its next smart home devices with the new service. The new ACK’ provides Amazon’s cloud connections, over-the-air updates and back-end analytics to non-Alexa devices if they adhere to the Matter standard. The same goes for Alexa’s frustration-free setup feature. Samsung has also agreed to partner with Amazon to make it easier to use devices on the Alexa or Samsung SmartThings platforms. Matter devices will be able to work with both smart home systems with a single setup thanks to Matter’s multi-admin feature.
“SmartThings customers have long enjoyed using Alexa’s voice capabilities to give them more ways to control their home. We’re excited to be working with Amazon to help simplify the smart home experience and provide more choice to our joint customers over the types of devices and services they use at home,” said Jaeyeon Jung, Head of Samsung SmartThings. “This collaboration ultimately provides greater interoperability and will help ensure that the potential of Matter is fully realized.”
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