More from All the smart home news, reviews, and gadgets you need to know about
At its developer conference today, the company announced support for the latest version of the Matter spec, which includes EV chargers, ovens, cooktops, microwaves, tumble dryers, extractor hoods, water sensors, and water valves — along with energy reporting.
There aren’t Matter devices available in these categories yet, but this news might mean we’ll see some soon. Though not Samsung appliances, which don’t support Matter yet.
The open-source smart home platform has joined the Z-Wave Alliance board to help shape the direction of the protocol alongside companies like Ring, ADT, and Assa Abloy.
Founder Paulus Schoutsen said that around one-tenth of Home Assistant households use Z-Wave, “accounting for an estimated 1.7 million Z-Wave devices.” They’re also seeing increased interest in the protocol, which has faced questions about its future since the arrival of Matter.
In another WSJ report about Amazon’s struggles to reinvent Alexa with AI, the newspaper says it’s now going backward:
In some tests, for example, it lost the ability to turn on the lights with 90%-plus reliability.
Merging the new with the old was always going to be a challenge. Amazon has now charged one of Alexa’s creators, Rohit Prasad, with solving this mess.
9
Verge Score
With more storage, a (slightly) faster processor, and some proper smart home chops, Google’s new take on the Chromecast is its best attempt at a streaming device yet.
An upcoming Galaxy Ring and SmartThings integration enables the smart ring to trigger smart home automations.
A giant super-sized model of the wearable was at IFA this week to demo how your home can respond to biometric signals.
It showed the ring sensing the wearer had fallen asleep or woken up and then starting a sleep routine or a good morning routine. Now that’s an effortless interface.
At IFA this week, Roborock and SharkNinja showed off robot vacuums that can lift themselves up to get over high room transitions, but Dreame went “a step” further.
It demoed its new ProLeap system, which uses retractable legs to navigate very low steps, as this video from The Ambient shows.
The tech is still in development but the company says it should arrive on its product line soon.
I love a good tactile dial and a sleek touchscreen for controlling my smart home gadgets, so Aqara’s new Panel Hub S1 Plus and Touchscreen Dial V1 caught my eye.
Both hardwire to existing light fixtures and can control other devices wirelessly — and that physical dial is so nice!
They’re launching in Europe and Aqara says U.S. versions could arrive next year.
