Apple, Google, Amazon teaming up to build open smart home
What's the story
In a major move, Apple, Google, and Amazon are teaming up for a project to create open smart homes. The effort, dubbed Connected Home over IP, will see the tech giants (and some other industry leaders) develop an open-source and royalty-free connectivity standard allowing IoT platforms and devices to work together, irrespective of the brand. Here's all about it.
Compatibility issues
Currently, the smart home category is scattered
Currently, the smart home ecosystem revolves around three main players - Apple, Google, and Amazon - which forces IoT device makers and buyers to pick a side. So, for instance, if you are using an Alexa-powered Echo speaker at home, you'd have to buy compatible devices supporting Alexa or the entire idea of building a smart home would get defeated.
Project
Connected Home over IP will create open smart homes
Now, to tackle this problem, Google, Amazon, and Apple are striving to create the Connected Home over IP standard. They hope that the unified, open-source protocol will make it easier for IoT manufacturers to come up with smart home products that would work with other devices/apps, even those developed by different companies, while also ensuring user security at the same time.
Advantage
How this would be useful for consumers?
The end consumer won't have to worry about picking a specific ecosystem. "Customers can be confident that their device of choice will work in their home and that they will be able to setup...with their preferred system," the companies said while detailing the protocol. So, basically, the next-generation smart home devices would work with Google Assistant, Alexa, Siri and other platforms.
Other companies
Other companies will also join the effort
Further, the Zigbee Alliance, whose board members are from Ikea, Samsung SmartThings, Legrand, NXP Semiconductors, and Signify (behind Philips Hue), will also work on the standard. The initial draft of the targeted unified standard will be presented in late 2020, with eventual launch and integration with devices in the coming years. Evidently, it will reduce the cost of product development for manufacturers.