Eclipse Foundation’s Sparkplug IIoT spec becomes ISO standard

The Eclipse Foundation announced Tuesday that its Sparkplug specification for industrial IoT (IIoT) connectivity has been published as an ISO/IEC international standard, a move that should accelerate its adoption.

Sparkplug, which enables different industrial systems to seamlessly share data, is now known as ISO/IEC 20237. It passed through the ISO fast-track process for standards developed externally. The Eclipse Foundation will continue to maintain Sparkplug.

“The...

7 November 2023 | Connectivity

Matter creator CSA announces healthcare working group

The Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) has announced the creation of a working group focused on accelerating the adoption of Matter for healthcare purposes.

Matter was released by the CSA last year with the promise of providing an interoperable standard that will finally unlock the full potential of the smart home.

The CSA’s member list is nearing 600 organisations – including Apple, Google, Amazon, Huawei, Samsung, IKEA, Schneider Electric, Signify, Bosch,...

10 February 2023 | Applications

SwitchBot jumps on the Matter train with Hub 2

SwitchBot has added support for the Matter smart home standard with its new Hub 2.

Announced at this year’s CES, the Hub 2 is a WiFi-based bridge that enables SwitchBot’s popular Bluetooth devices to work with other ecosystems.

The new hub now features a simple display that shows information such as temperature and humidity in the air. However, those features are secondary to its main function.

With the Hub 2, users of SwitchBot’s devices can use the...

4 January 2023 | Applications

Z-Wave Source Code project is ‘complete’

The Z-Wave Alliance has announced that its Source Code project is “complete” and now available to members.

By opening development, the alliance says it will enable members to contribute code that will shape the future of the IoT protocol.

Smart home standard Matter has stolen the spotlight over the past year due to its backing from major ecosystem players, including Apple, Google, Samsung, IKEA, Signify, and more. The standard has boosted hopes that the smart...

15 December 2022 | Connectivity

Smart home IoT standard Matter officially launches

Matter has officially launched with the arrival of the 1.0 release of the smart home IoT standard.

The Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) is responsible for creating, evolving, and managing the Matter standard. Today, the CSA and its members released the Matter 1.0 standard and certification program.

“What started as a mission to unravel the complexities of connectivity has resulted in Matter, a single, global IP-based protocol that will fundamentally change the...

5 October 2022 | Connectivity

Matter gets closer to becoming the ubiquitous smart home standard

Matter is getting closer to becoming the ubiquitous standard for the smart home with two big updates from Apple and Google.

From Apple, we saw the release of the iOS and iPadOS 16.1 developer betas bring a new option for “Matter Accessories” in the Settings for each operating system:

Apple first announced that iOS 16 would support Matter back at WWDC, but now we’re beginning to see the first signs of real-world integration.

Selecting the new option...

15 September 2022 | Connectivity

IKEA announces Matter-ready smart home hub

IKEA is ramping up its smart home ambitions with the launch of a Matter-ready hub.

Many IoT standards have come and gone over the years. Most of these standards have promised interoperability to break down barriers but consumers have still ended up being left with numerous hubs to support their various products.

Matter promises to change that. The royalty-free standard was launched and introduced by Amazon, Apple, Google, Comcast, and the Zigbee Alliance. With that kind...

25 May 2022 | Connectivity

Samsung SmartThings adds support for the Matter protocol

Samsung’s smart home platform SmartThings has added support for the industry-changing Matter protocol.

Matter is a new IoT standard that’s backed by more than 180 companies (even Apple!) and is guided by the Connectivity Standards Alliance (formerly Zigbee Alliance) whose members span various industries.

Michelle Mindala-Freeman, Head of Marketing for the Connectivity Standards Alliance, said:

“We truly believe that Matter is the foundation and future of...

28 October 2021 | Consumer IoT & Wearables

FIDO’s new open IoT standard for device onboarding helps tackle security issues

A new open IoT standard called FIDO Device Onboard (FDO) aims to address the security issues with adding devices to both cloud and on-premise management platforms.

FDO was announced by the FIDO Alliance today to address “challenges of security, cost, and complexity tied to IoT device deployment at scale”.

Touted benefits of the FIDO Device Onboard standard include:

Simplicity – Businesses no longer have to pay more for the lengthy and highly technical...

20 April 2021 | Enterprise