Amazons Alexa Ambient Experience Brings Matter Into The Mix At CES 2023

Smart home devices get less media coverage than they did five years ago, but that's because they're no longer a novelty, but part of the fabric of the home. Penetration of smart homes in Western countries may soon reach 50%.

Amazon showcased its ambient smart home technologies in the Amazon Experience Area at CES 2023. It announced that the first three features of the Alexa Ambient Home Developer Kit (AAHDK) – trust sharing, group sync and two-way device sync – will be launched in preview. for developers this month. As announced at the event (and discussed on my podcast at the time), AAHDK is a development kit for integrating services and APIs into Amazon's Alexa ecosystem.

AAHDK also follows Amazon's recent adoption of the Matter industry standard for smart homes. As described in Moore Insights and Strategy's research paper on How Matter Makes Smart Homes Smarter, Matter is "a universal language for smart home device communication that leverages the networks already available in most homes. Amazon says it has the first phase of Matter- deployment complete on your smart home devices Let's take a look at why supporting Amazon's Matter is so important to the smart home space.

Although Matter is a relatively new standard, Amazon has been building its ecosystem of smart home devices for years. Given Amazon's mature Alexa ecosystem, the company already provides Matter support for more than 100 million Echo devices in customers. As with e-commerce, Amazon's strategy is to build an ecosystem of Internet of Things (IoT) devices for the home, where developers and consumers can build their own products on the Alexa platform. These new AAHDK features enable home device developers to do just that.

While it's good for Amazon's entire smart home ecosystem to now work seamlessly with Matter-enabled devices, it's also important that the introduction of Matter devices doesn't dilute Amazon's existing technology. Note that Amazon has its own Alexa devices, such as the Ring and Echo, and an Alexa ecosystem of devices from developers and partners. It is important for the Amazon Alexa ecosystem to connect with Matter-enabled devices while maintaining the unity, security and simplicity of the Alexa ecosystem.

Credential sharing in AAHDK makes it easy to configure Matter on devices using the Thread IoT networking protocol to easily share Thread credentials between Alexa and development apps. Customers who choose to share credentials do not need to manually enter streaming credentials when setting up a new Matter device. Amazon says it helps customers maintain a single-stream network in their home, giving customers a more reliable experience with greater coverage. I can't tell you how many times another smart home platform wouldn't let me turn off the lights if I was in another room because I was on a different Wi-Fi range. Credential sharing not only consolidates, but from a security perspective, it makes it easier to maintain a secure connection between Alexa and developer apps.

Amazon says the new group sync feature makes it easy for customers to set up and manage their smart home without manually duplicating their groups across different apps. Group sync should also add simplicity to Alexa's smart home ecosystem, and I think it could open up new possibilities for devices as well. For example, if the app allows the lights in a room to turn on or change color every time an alarm goes off, the group synchronization feature allows the app to determine the correct lighting in any home. Likewise, two-way device sync allows departments and customers to support the smart home ecosystem by keeping important device information in sync. These new sync features should provide a more seamless experience for Matter Over Thread devices and an additional level of control and service for the Alexa ecosystem.

the end

Amazon is focusing on the Alexa ecosystem to create an immersive experience. This environment helps create a smart home ecosystem that "just works," and with support for Matter devices that open the smart home to a new level of interaction, Amazon makes the gatekeeper mindset. Yes, Amazon is all about that, but thanks to AAHDK, Amazon can now have its cake and eat it too.

I don't think Amazon sees it the way Google or Samsung or Apple do. I think those companies bring their devices up to the Matter standard, but Amazon does it differently by allowing Matter-enabled devices into its ecosystem. Although these views may seem similar, the difference is that Amazon's approach supports the strategy of creating an ecosystem of IoT home devices, where developers and consumers can build their products to work on the platform - from Alexa. The difference is that it is still on the Amazon Alexa platform, but with greater reach, as it covers devices with Material.

Note: Jacob Freiman, a partner at Moore Insights & Strategy, contributed to this article.

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