The smart home at CES 2023 has been a lot of Matter and for good reason. Matter is finally one smart home protocol to rule them all and it’s as “simple” as an OTA upgrade for many devices.
At CES this year Amazon has announced that their Echo devices will start receiving Matter-over-Thread in Q2 2023. Not only that but Amazon will expand its support of the new smart home standard to more device types including thermostats, blinds and sensors.
Last year Amazon began rolling out updates to Echo devices to make them Matter controllers, but this new update will make them fully compatible with Matter.
This will result in you being able to use any Matter device on any Matter platform – finally we can “all get along.” Those Eve Apple Home-only devices? Yes, you’ll be able to use those on Amazon Alexa, Google Home or Samsung SmartThings and be controlled by any of these platform’s digital assistants.
We have seen a lot of Matter announcements at CES this year but as yet we have seen very few Matter devices able to be purchased. Now that all the big Matter players – Apple, Google, Samsung and Amazon – have rolled out, or are in the process of rolling out as with Amazon, full Matter support for their controllers.
Now that we are just about at that stage expect to not only see more Matter devices for sale, but a lot of your smart home devices begin to get OTA updates themselves to support Matter.
Keep an eye out for your smart home getting upgraded to support Matter and if you are buying smart home products, for future compatibility, ensure that they will support Matter either now or down the line.
Scott is our resident open technology expert. If you can mod it, or want to use it your way, Scott has probably done it. From Laptops to phones, headphones and game consoles, he’s played with it and wants to see the next generation.
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