Smart Matter home automation devices are set to flood the Australian market next year with Eve one of the first to roll out a new range, that has the new standard already built in, they are also set to make their traditional Apple products available for Android users.
Unlike many of the Asian home automation systems being sold in Australia Eve is a German based developer of smart house technology.
Sold by JB Hi Fi the Eve range of Matter certified products, include an Energy smart plug, Eve Motion sensors and Eve Door & Window contact sensor with the CE retailer set to get the new Matter range early in 2023.
In addition, all Eve Thead products are set to get a firmware update to support the Matter standard.
Eve claims that all of their 14 smart devices will eventually get the update.
Consumers in Australia who already own an Eve product will have the choice of whether they upgrade their existing Eve products to be Matter certified.
Up until now Eve Systems has only supported the Apple Home standard which means you need to own Apple gear to operate the current range of products.
Current users will need to have iOS/iPad 16.2 installed on their iPhone and iPad in order to upgrade their HomeKit devices.
In the future Android users will also be able operate an Eve product via Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings.
A statement from the Company claims “The latest models of the smart plug Eve Energy, the contact sensor Eve Door & Window and the motion sensor Eve Motion have completed Matter certification. Starting December 12, iPhone users can upgrade those devices for free in the Eve app to grant every family member local and direct access from their preferred smartphone or voice assistant”.
They added “The entire line-up of now 14 Thread-enabled Eve devices will receive free Matter firmware updates over time. Availability of Matter-certified Eve products in retail will start in first quarter of 2023. The Eve app, which has been available exclusively for iOS, will be complemented by a sister version for Android in the same period.”
Matter is a new smart home standard conceived by Project Connected Home Over IP (Project Chip) in 2019.
It’s now maintained by the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), formerly known as the Zigbee Alliance.
The standard is royalty-free and encourages interoperability between devices and platforms, the sting is that Australian brands wanting to use the Matter logo are set to have to pay thousands in licence fees.