Matter is now official after almost three years of waiting, and Kevin and I are super excited. Well, I am. Kevin is more measured, but we talk about what to expect and when to expect Matter to start changing your smart home. In related news, we discuss Google’s new doorbell, mesh router, and plans for the Home app. Google is also adding more sensing capabilities to the smart home through its existing hubs. In November, IKEA plans to launch its latest smart home hub, the Dirigera, which will cost about $60. This will replace the Trådfri hub, but will also let users bridge their older IKEA devices to the Matter protocol. Kevin gets to tell me that he told me so, as Amazon kills the Glow video-calling device for kids, and we lay out the five principles that are part of a new U.S. blueprint for legislation related to AI. We end by answering a question from a listener about using their SmartRent Hub as a secondary Z-wave controller.
Our guests this week are both from John Deere. We have Tracy Schrauben, manager, manufacturing emerging technologies at John Deere, who represents the operational technology side of the manufacturing plant. Also joining is Jason Wallin, principal architect at John Deere, who is handling IT. Both are on the show for an exclusive look at how the agricultural company is deploying the CBRS spectrum it purchased in 2020. In its Moline, Ill. plant, John Deere has deployed 14 microcells that today provide LTE connectivity to various pieces of equipment. But the plan is to get to an all-5G network as end devices become available. Our guests explain why they are unwiring the factory, some of the use cases, and what it’s like to build and manage your own private wireless network. This is a must-listen for folks who care about factory 5G.
I love that my Tradfri gateway could pair to non-ikea devices and bridge them to Alexa and google. Not the Homekit-stapo. I am hoping the Dirigera hub will continue but will as a matter device bridge those third party devices, third reality switches, Cree bulbs, or Seedan $10 RGBW bulbs to Apple Home, alexa and Google. #Matterishere
Will my Eero 6 Pros support Matter?
Yes. Eero has announced that its models that support Thread will support Matter.
https://support.eero.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000104706-What-is-Thread-
https://developer.amazon.com/en-US/blogs/alexa/device-makers/2021/11/support-for-matter-over-thread-coming-to-echo-and-eero-devices.html
The Dirigera hub from Ikea will be released in the US, BUT it will launch without Matter support. They’re saying “a few months,” but of course who knows?
The good news is that according to the verge it will be a Matter bridge eventually. so it will be able to be added to other company’s matter apps like Apple or SmartThings and bring some of its connected devices with it. IF everything goes as planned, of course.
“ Ikea has a long-term commitment to Matter and the first step that we are targeting now is for Dirigera to become a Matter bridge in a couple of months,” says Rebecca Töreman, Business Leader at Ikea Home smart. ”