Amazon, Google, Apple, and the Zigbee Alliance announced a new partnership called Project Connected Home over IP. It will create a new smart home standard so their products can work together. Sadly, we won’t see a draft specification until late next year. But the good news is that the partnership is announced and there will be a spec and open source materials, too.
Amazon turned the smart home space (aka the Internet of Things, or IoT) on its head with the advent of its Echo line of products. Alexa Voice Services compatibility is a “must have” capability for any smart home product and so, in practice, the de facto standard is simply being Alexa compatible.
However, tighter integrations would be beneficial to the entire ecosystem. For consumers, this standard should provide the illusive “plug it in and it works” feature that every DIYer craves.
September stats from IDC say the “worldwide market for smart home devices is expected to grow 23.5% year over year in 2019 to nearly 815 million device shipments.” If Project Connected Home over IP reaches its promised potential, that number will dramatically increase.
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Author’s note: This is not a sponsored post. I am the author of this article and it expresses my own opinions. I am not, nor is my company, receiving compensation for it.