Matter: Apple supported smart home standard gets new name

by Jonny Evans · Published May 11, 2021 · Updated July 24, 2021

This could be something or nothing, but it is interesting the Apple-supported Project Connected Home over IP (CHIP) group, focused on building interoperable smart home standards, has changed its name to the far more brand-friendly, Matter – setting the scene for wide mass deployment.

Welcome to Matter

In a press release, we find the Zigbee Alliance (which is part of it), has rebranded to the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA).

“The newly developed Matter mark will serve as a seal of approval, assuring that any object built on this standard is reliable by nature, secure by design, and compatible at scale,” explained that release.

The proliferation of connected objects suffers the big challenge that disconnected platforms and disparate development paths have caused confusion for consumers and complicated processes for developers and innovators. The group wants these things to interoperate better, which is what Matter is all about.

Who is Matter?

Amazon, Apple, Comcast, Google, SmartThings, and the Connectivity Standards Alliance came together in 2019 to develop and promote this new standard, joined by fellow Alliance board member companies IKEA, Legrand, NXP Semiconductors, Resideo, Schneider Electric, Signify, Silicon Labs, Somfy and Wulian.

Look out for this branding on smart stuff

There are now over 180 member organizations working to develop Matter’s specification, reference implementations, testing tools and certification programs.

What is Matter?

The Matter mark will serve as a seal of approval, taking the guesswork out of purchasing so businesses and consumers can choose between numerous brands to create secure and connected homes and buildings.

Matter makes it easier for device manufacturers to build devices, and to ensure they are compatible with smart home and voice services such as Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s HomeKit with Siri, Google’s Assistant, SmartThings, and others. The first specification release of the Matter protocol will run on existing networking technologies such as Ethernet (802.3), Wi-Fi (802.11), and Thread (802.15.4) and for ease of commissioning, Bluetooth Low Energy.

Matter is a unified IP-based connectivity protocol that aims to deliver interoperable, secure IoT ecosystems. The royalty-free connectivity standard enables communications among a wide range of smart devices. Matter is also a seal of approval, assuring that any object built on this standard is reliable by nature, secure by design, and compatible at scale.

“We create marks of trust, and Matter is an important milestone for users in our long history of delivering unifying, secure, reliable and trustworthy standards for the IoT,” said Tobin Richardson, President and CEO of the Connectivity Standards Alliance.

But of course, we also have WWDC on the way…