Apparently, there is a new smart home standard that has been agreed upon called “Matter” and it is intended in time to cover all aspects of the smart home. Currently, it is a bit limited and focused on several things. It is backed by Amazon, and Google amongst others and the initial tranche of smart home items includes lighting media devices and a few more. It seems that the idea is that designers will only have to develop to one standard. Whether this is good or not, I don’t have enough knowledge to hold an opinion. I am sure there are more knowledgeable forum members out there who know about these things.
I wonder, will Naim work to integrate their streamers etc into “Matter” compatibility? If they did would it be of any benefit to us or is it better to keep it separate all within the Naim-Focal ecosystem? Or did Naim-Focal know about this before the press launch on the 3rd Nov, held in Amsterdam and develop the new app to be compatible?
Amazon and Google are promoting control by Alexa etc. I suppose streaming from an AirPlay device or whatever would provide similar if you want it. When I am walking and playing using the Qobuz App I sometimes ask Siri what is playing. Not sure it’s up to playing albums. I can’t think deeper integration by Naim is needed.
I use SmartThings which is Samsungs answer and is gradually getting better. I think the price of the smart home will go up.
Changing the subject a bit, I now know how much energy the bits of my home consume thanks to smart outlets. I know all the ghost device now and the outlets I use each add about 2W! My Naim system adds about 90W doing nothing and the home WiFi network including BT Smarthub2, switch and 3 WiFi Disks 45W. It all adds up!
Anyone wanting energy meter for a radial could fit a £25 CT clamp which are probably accurate to 1%.
Matter is looking to standarise all these disperate systems though and provide delvery platform for everything , streaming audio, streaming video, home autmation as there are so many different standards.
There are 4 home eco systems not all products work with them all, and you cant integrate any of them with each other. One standard to adhere to makes it simpler and you can then just choose which controller eco system you prefer. It can also make for a univeral casting system for audio and video which currently there isnt one its either Chromecast or Apple. I cant chromecast to my samsung tv but can airplay but that requires me to have an apple phone. Same goes for a google tv you cant airplay to it so you cant cast Apple TV from an iPhone as it only supports Airplay. Its just a mess,
I can’t help wondering if the EU factored in the countless millions of redundant lightning cables all over the world that their new rule would generate.
Sometimes, although in my experience the cables only last about 80% of the life of Apple products. I’ve only ever had one charger brake, and that was a Mac book air charger after about 8 years. I do like the fact that they now don’t bind the cable to the charger.
iPhones are already supplied without a charger. which seems sensible enough given the proliferation of USB charge outlets on computers, wall sockets, cars, etc. etc. Having a convenient cable ready around each charge location you use is always handy, but next time you change your phone, the whole lot of these will be binned. Given how many iphone users there have been globally that probably means billions of redundant cables.
There are already billions of the cables and they only have a limited shelf life due to poor manufacturing processes. Guess the EU wanted to stop this from multiplying by just having one cable/plug that suits all. It’s not about changing what’s happened it’s about changing what will happen, the result should mean the need for multiple cables etc will reduce. I think it’s a valid idea and hopefully it’ll spread to other devices and appliances.
