They had been delayed, but finally it seems that everything is progressing as it should be and the first Project CHIP compatible devices will arrive this year 2021. Products that will make use of a new standard designed to change the experience in everything related to home automation. And it is that, from now on, it should be much easier to achieve communication between smart devices regardless of the chosen platform.
Hi Project CHIP!
In late 2019 Project CHIP (now known as Project CHIP) was announced. Matter officially), an initiative where Amazon, Google and Apple would be surrounded by around 170 other companies to build a new way of communication between smart devices.
This new technology or standard known by Project Connected Home over IP or Project CHIP It would be based on three main technologies, two of which are already known by all and the third has begun to take its first steps. These are Bluetooth, WiFi and Thread.
About Bluetooth and WiFi it is not necessary to say much because they are things that most users use in their day to day and they are clear about what each of them are for, their advantages and disadvantages. Thread For its part, it is somewhat more recent, but it has already begun to see the first compatible devices. Some of them with Apple's HomePod mini, the new Google Nest Hub or Eero routers, among others.
Well, with this union of technologies and the consensual work of so many companies, some bases have been defined that will allow smart home devices to understand each other in a much easier way and regardless of which platform was used at the time. .
In other words, if you decide to set up all the home automation under the Google platforms and its Google Assistant, you will have no problem if in the future you decide to make the leap to Alexa or Siri and Apple HomeKit. Because all you have to do is get a speaker or device that allows you to control them through voice commands or your application. Well, that and migrating all the settings, but no buying new accessories like Zigbee bridges or any other standard to get around limitations.
So knowing all this, the interesting thing is that, after some delays that prevented its launch months before, the first devices with Project CHIP will arrive during this 2021. So that desired unification in home automation will begin to be a reality and a great benefit for all those who try to make their home smarter and more efficient.
Goodbye to Zigbee and Z-Wave
Within the changes and improvements that Project CHIP will bring to home automation, two of the victims will be Zigbee and Z-Wave standards. And yes, it is true that when talking about home automation, they are usually the most recommended communication options between devices. Because they avoid saturation in WiFi networks, because they improve the range, etc.
Therefore, it might seem that Project CHIP is bad news if it possibly ends up eliminating these two standards, but there is no need to be alarmist because it is something that its own managers assume. What's more, the theory says that it will be more beneficial than both and that they already work to allow their old products to work without problem with the newest ones.
How they will do it is easy: through adapters that will allow devices that use different technologies to communicate. And yes, it is true that this is what Project CHIP is trying to eradicate, but for a few years we will have to live together until it is time to replace many of the connected devices that you may already have at home and are compatible with Zigbee (the standard that use the Philips Hue bulbs) or Z-Wave.
Whatever your situation may be, what must be clear is that Project CHIP and Thread are going to mark a good part of the future of home automation and the connected home. So if you're interested, this whole world gets interesting.