Samsung Adopts ‘Matter’ Smart Home Protocol for SmartThings and Galaxy
Samsung has begun integrating the Matter standard for smart device control. The open smart home application protocol created in a partnership of major smart home developers will soon count Samsung’s SmartThings and Galaxy devices among its adherents. Samsung revealed at its developer conference, just a week after Google Home started down a similar road.
SmartThings Matter
Matter was created by interested tech firms as a connectivity standard for the Internet of Things they could all agree to install. The long-term goal is for Matter to be the default smart home platform after it goes live next year to simplify smart home purchase decisions for consumers. Every device setup and connection should be very similar and require only one app. That way, customers won’t be stuck with an isolated smart device limited to a single voice assistant or other AI. Samsung was one of the founding members of the Matter group, originally called Project ChiP, but is now integrating the protocol designed with other smart home tech developers. Samsung SmartThings connecting to Matter will give users access to devices that couldn’t connect to the SmartThings app, and allow SmartThings devices to be used by Apple, Google, and other Matter-enabled smart home platforms. The range of products includes Samsung Galaxy devices, smart TVs as well as the actual SmartThings lineup.
“Samsung TVs, appliances and Galaxy devices are part of everyday life for millions of people around the world and integrating SmartThings hub functionality into these devices will make it easier for users to experience connected living without additional hardware purchase,” Samsung’s head of SmartThings Jaeyeon Jung said. “On top of that, adding Matter support into the SmartThings platform will only broaden the choices of devices to connect as Matter-enabled devices flood into the market next year. Matter will help drive a surge in smart home adoption, and with SmartThings, it will be easier for users to gain smart home experiences with seamless device onboarding, customized automation and a choice of voice assistants.”
Bixby Matters
The Matter adoption builds on some of Samsung’s other plans to connect SmartThings to more smart ecosystems. Google Nest’s integration with Samsung SmartThings was announced last year but took a big leap forward in January when SmartThings introduced a Google Nest app for its platform, giving extensive but incomplete control over Nest devices to SmartThings users. The app lets users add Nest devices to the SmartThings controls. Nest can integrate devices certified in the Works With SmartThings (WWST) program. With the new Google Home platform embracing Matter, the integration should be even smoother. Samsung is also using Matter as part of its latest upgrades to the Bixby voice assistant and the new Bixby Home Platform. Developers can use the Bixby Home Platform as a language processing filter that lets the AI consider the context of commands it is given with regards to connected smart devices.
“Smarter device control has been made possible by Bixby Home Platform, an intelligent layer which sits between Bixby Voice – which provides natural language understanding and issues commands – and SmartThings’ Internet of Things (IoT) layer – which provides connection and operation between devices,” AI Client Development Group principal engineer Joohwan Kim explained. “Commands that previously had to be made individually for separate devices can now be more efficiently undertaken using the Bixby Home Platform.”
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