The Connectivity Standards Alliance has released the final Matter 1.0 standard and announced that the certification program is now open. An official Matter launch event is scheduled for November 3rd, but the first Matter devices could show up any day now. Companies can start selling Matter devices or upgrading existing ones as soon as they’re certified.
When the idea of Matter was first floated in 2019, there were a lot of people who thought it would never happen. Apple, Google, Amazon, and Samsung sitting at a table together and coming up with a plan to fix the fractured smart home? Fierce competitors in the manufacturing space, such as lock makers Yale and Schlage and light makers Philips Hue and GE Lighting, developing a universal standard that would make their products work together in any ecosystem? It sounded like a pipe dream. And as the delays piled up, it sometimes felt like Matter would never arrive.
But Matter certification labs are up and running, the SDK is complete, and companies can start manufacturing, upgrading, and getting the official Matter stamp of approval for their devices.
A universal connectivity standard, Matter is designed to make smart home devices simpler. By giving your door lock and light bulb a way to talk directly to each other, either over Wi-Fi or a newer protocol called Thread, Matter should make the smart home faster and more responsive. It should also enable an easier setup process, with compatible devices automatically showing up on your smartphone to allow you to connect them.
Read more in The Verge.