Smart Devices to work better together

New working group to develop open standard

- ALEX SUMMERSBY

THE LEADING COMPANIES in the Smart Home market — including Apple, Amazon, Google, and the Zigbee Alliance — are getting together to develop an open–source Smart Home standard. The goal of the new working group, Project Connected Home over IP, is to make it easier for manufacturers to create devices that work together, securely, reliably, and seamlessly.

A Google Nest spokesman said: “Developers and consumers will benefit from this new universal Smart Home connectivity standard. For developers, it simplifies product development and reduces costs by giving them one standard for building their products. [Consumers] will then have the power to choose how you want to control your homes, independent of which Smart Home technology you choose. Smart Home devices will be compatible with various platforms, so you can choose between Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, or other platforms.”