Smarthome Alliance takes its time

Smarthome Alliance takes its time

New York, January 1, 2020

The three tech rivals Amazon, Apple and Google are working on a common smarthome standard for networking devices in the smart home. Members of the working group include Ikea, Samsung’s home networking company SmartThings, chip specialist NXP and the manufacturer of the networked „Hue“ lamps, the Philips spin-off Signify.
The alliance has set itself the goal of using a new open standard to simplify the connection of different devices in the networked home. Until now, networked lamps, thermostats, security cameras or door locks have sometimes only worked in system worlds of individual suppliers, but are often not compatible with each other.
The participating companies announced that the new standard should be based on the Internet protocol and be available to everyone without license fees.
Consumers who want to benefit from the new standard still have to be patient. The working group of the companies expects to be able to define the specifications and present a first reference implementation only at the end of 2020.
The working group explained that the idea is to create a complementary standard to current technologies. Amazon, Apple and Google also committed themselves to continue supporting existing devices.
Previously, the smart home platforms Homekit (Apple) and Alexa(Amazon) had already combined to form an important interface through which consumers can integrate and operate technology from different providers. In the new project, they are to be supported in the same way as Google’s Weave protocol and the already frequently used „dotdot“ standard of the Zigbee Alliance.