Matter to Allow Universal Video and Audio Streaming
The Matter smart home spec designed to foster interoperability between devices on multiple standards wil now support content streaming. According to The Verge, Matter is aiming to improve TV control via a new connectivity prototcol in an effort to become ‘platform agnostic’. The TV specification doesn’t have a name yet, but it will allow control of a TV’s core functions like volume, channel changing, and control of inputs and outputs. The biggest benefit, however, is in content streaming for a wide range of devices where there are at least 5 competing standards. Matter is expected to launch sometime in 2022.
The NPD Take:
- Matter is expected to benefit consumers by making it easier to bring interoperable smart home devices into the home- assuring users that new purchases will work seamlessly with those currently owned and installed. Adding similar support for content streaming will help promote the habit of casting from mobile devices to smart TVs and open the capability up to more hardware manufacturers. Support for Matter resides at the app level, so content services such as Hulu and Netflix would need adopt the technology and make their apps compatible.
Fire TV gets Smart Home Dashboard Fire TV users who own connected home products will now be able to access their devices directly from their smart TV home page. For users in the US and Canada, Amazon has launched the Smart Home Dashboard to make it easier to monitor security cameras and adjust connected lighting systems. The experience is similar to smart home device navigation on Amazon’s Echo Show 15, the company’s newest wall mounted tablet device. Connected devices have been controllable on the Fire TV via Amazon’s Fire TV Alexa remote, the addition of the dashboard ads a visual interface that some users might find helpful.
The NPD Take:
- This is another touchpoint for connected device control in the home and should appeal to users who are more likely to use their TVs to view their connected devices. Linking Amazon’s Fire TV products to its successful home automation play with Alexa will also help to unite these parts of Amazon’s ecosystem together. As smart home device ownership grows to less tech savy users, making Fire TV another avenue for home control will help make these products more accessible and usable.