Amazon Promises Most Echo Speakers Will Support the Matter Smart Home Platform

Today, Amaon said it will be upgrading almost every plug-in Echo smart speaker to support Matter, a cross-platform open-source standard coming later this year. This includes most Echo and Echo Dot speakers and every Echo Studio, Echo Show, Echo Plus, and Echo Flex. "In fact, the only Echo smart speakers that won't get upgraded to Matter are the first-gen Echo, first-gen Echo Dot and Echo Tap," reports The Verge. From the report: While the company doesn't provide a timeline for those upgrades, the general idea is that Matter will launch by late 2021, so it shouldn't be long until Amazon's newest and / or more popular devices receive the capability. A bigger question is whether any of them will work as Matter hubs. Google announced in May that in addition to upgrading its Nest devices to Matter, it would allow its devices that support the Thread protocol (like the Nest Wi-Fi, Nest Hub Max, and second-gen Nest Hub) to double as connection hubs for Matter, too, not simply as a voice assistant to control Matter gadgets. But while Amazon's Eero routers were early to adopt Thread, Amazon's Echo smart speakers were not.

Mind over Matter

[Ken_g6]

If you mind having a device spying on you all the time, then this news doesn't really matter.

Re:

[cusco]

Just out of curiosity, why do you think that you're so important that AWS would devote resources and risk their reputation in order to "spy on you all the time"?

FYI, the way the thing works is it has enough capability to listen for a wake word (and a few other things like barking or breaking glass). When it gets the wake word it buffers the next sentence and then sends it to AWS for analysis. When the response comes back it is executed locally. That's it. If you want you can run a WireShark analysis on

There is a Preferable Alternative

[theshowmecanuck]

I would rather use the 'get off your ass and turn it on yourself' method instead of the let nosey multinationals spy on you 24x7 automation. No one needs this shit unless you are a quadriplegic.

Re: There is a Preferable Alternative

[NWicketts]

Yeah but... It's awesome! There's even a setting so you can say "computer, lights" just like Picard

Re:

[cusco]

Need? No, but it is convenient. I can turn on the lights without moving the pile of dogs sleeping on my lap. I can use the antique lamp with the really stupid cord switch in the bedroom without moving the dresser. I can run the fishpond pump to keep it aerated even though we're at our cottage an hour away, and set a timer so that it turns off (burned out the previous one when I forgot and the pond drained). I can turn on/off the lights at the cottage and play music even though we're not there. We stre

Matter Protocol

[crow]

With Matter being an open standard, does this mean that we could write a open source system to manage smart devices without relying on any outside server? So someone could market a smart speaker that does the voice recognition locally, controls smart devices, and doesn't need or use an external Internet connection?

That would be awesome!

And likewise, if all my smart devices use a standard protocol, does that mean I no longer have to worry about the devices being bricked if the vendor goes out of business?

No thanks

[J.L. Pettimore]

I'll stick to the Clapper.

"Smart Speaker"?

[ShoulderOfOrion]

You have to admire the evil genius of the marketing department flunkie who invented this term. My dumb speakers require no engagement at all other than powering on my receiver when I want to listen to something. The only protocol they support is analog pair. I believe the proper term for the product discussed in this news item is "Audio Bug".

Re:

[cusco]

If you just have a small space where you listen to music/podcasts/whatever then that's fine. A smart speaker lets us take music out into the yard, into another room without running wires, or on a picnic. Is it necessary? No. Is it convenient? You bet.

Is Matter open source?

[comodoro]

Wikipedia says:

Matter, formerly Project Connected Home over IP (CHIP), is a proprietary, royalty-free home automation connectivity standard.
[...]
Although the Matter code repository is open-source under the Apache license, the Matter specification is licensed by CSA.

I didn't know it was possible to license specifications or what it even means, can the protocol be called open source?

Translations

[Pierre Pants]

"Smart speaker" - Always-online eavesdropping microphone with a speaker. "Smart home platform" - Always under surveillance, broadly monitored enclosed space (soon with Radar technology)

Reliability

[Thelasko]

Let me know when there's a smart home system with the same reliability as a standard light switch. Otherwise, I'll pass on all of it.

Re:

[cusco]

Show me a light switch that can stream music.

re:

[MarkUltraBlack]

I've never really understood the concept of a smart home, to be honest. Moreover, I have never seen a working smart home live. To be honest, I would like to try it, but I rarely use the Internet and at the level of a beginner. Last time I used Google to search for specialists in finishing baths. If you are interested, I can share a link with you. You can click here [azreglazing.com]. My son taught me how to insert links.