Amazon has finally laid out its plans for adopting the new Matter smart home connectivity standard, which is launching sometime next year.
In a post to developers today, the company announced that it plans to bring Matter support to its vast lineup of Echo and Eero devices ahead of the new smart home standard’s rollout in 2022. Matter will make it possible for devices made by different companies to work seamlessly together — or at least that’s the goal.
The fourth-generation Echo smart speaker will be the first to work with Matter, with support for additional Echo devices arriving later. Amazon said over the summer that it would upgrade most of its Echo devices for Matter, including the Echo Studio, Echo Show, Echo Plus, Echo Flex, and a majority of its Echo and Echo Dot speakers.
Amazon’s mesh wifi networking router brand, Eero, is already prepped for Matter with its built-in Thread chip. We already know the Eero Pro, Eero Beacon, Eero Pro 6, and Eero 6 devices will act as border routers for Thread devices to connect. They’ll be essential in driving the adoption of the Matter standard within Alexa-controlled households.
“By adding support for Matter, over Thread and wifi, we are continuing our efforts to ensure customers can use Alexa with as many devices as possible while allowing device makers to build with their preferred protocols,” Eero technology strategist Gabe Kassel said in the company’s blog post.
Along with Matter support, Amazon is planning to bring its frustration-free setup to Matter-compatible devices and the ability to connect to devices locally.
The leading supporters of Matter have assembled in time for the protocol’s official launch in 2022. Amazon seemed like the last holdout after Google, Apple, Samsung, Signify (which develops Philips Hue), and even Amazon’s Eero had all separately announced their respective support for the standard.
But now Amazon is barreling full speed ahead, investing in Matter and building out its ecosystem around the standard. Like Google and Samsung, Amazon is also joining the Thread Group board of directors, upgrading its status after serving as a contributor for five years. It spells good news for the internet of things and folks who have built out their smart homes using Alexa.