Image rights from top: Google, Athom.
have already been cleared worldwide,
but leaves it open to interference
from both Wi–Fi and microwaves.
HOMEKIT
The HomeKit standard doesn’t use
its own bespoke wireless tech,
instead piggybacking its standard
onto Bluetooth Low–Energy or
traditional IP networks like Wi–Fi.
This means (in theory) that devices
are able to be simpler, using widely
available components and widely
understood protocols.
That would be Ľne were it not
for Apple’s insistence on heavy
licensing; you are free to muck about
with HomeKit if you’re creating
your own smart home devices, but
commercial use requires use of the
Apple Authentication Coprocessor
and full certiĽcation. This is a costly
extra, and one which severely limits
the HomeKit ecosystem.
Those tight controls do mean that
HomeKit devices are reliable and
slick, and HomeKit allows for deep
controls that meld perfectly with
Apple hardware. It’s so restrictive,
though; we’ve seen many
manufacturers release multiple
versions of a product, presumably
because a check in the HomeKit box
means forsaking certain features
that are Ľne on other standards.
deeper control, inter–device
connections, routines, and the like.
Advanced Echo devices like Echo
Plus include a Zigbee hub, so (in
theory) they can control and manage
Zigbee devices directly; this may free
up power sockets and Ethernet ports.
Smart assistants take away the
worry, and they’re the reason you
may not even have known about
Zigbee or Z-Wave before: the fact is,
you don’t need to know. Connecting
those devices and working with
them is made easier by having a
galaxy brain sorting everything out.
Siri is the only real outlier here;
while you may get it to trigger
devices outside of its speciĽc scope,
it’s really only happy when rubbing
up against HomeKit hardware.It wasn’t so long ago that Amazon put
together an interoperability group to
get multiple smart assistants working
on a single speaker. It attracted 30
members; crucially, none of these was
Google, Apple, or Samsung, the three
biggest non–Amazon smart assistant
creators. Standardizing things isn't easy.
Now there’s another effort, but one
which this time looks set to bear more
fruit. The Connected Home Over IP
Industry Working Group (aka CHOP) is
focused not on forced friendship but on
communication standards. Its aim is to
develop a single open standard that
operates over IP networking. That means
something that’s independent of any
particular radio, and available to anyone:
just what the smart home sector needs.
Already Google, Apple and Amazon
are onboard with CHOP, which looks set
to release a draft specification later this
year. We’re sceptical, of course. The
quote goes something like: “How do yousolve the problem of too many
standards? Another standard.” There’s
still going to be a place for non–IP
systems like Zigbee because they’ll
offer better range, and it’s hard to see
Apple giving any leeway over their
tightly controlled little hardware bubble.
But a single IP–based standard should
mean there’s no longer a need for
“Alexa–compatible” stickers — “Smart
home compatible” is the dream.What’s next?
BLUETOOTH
Bluetooth isn’t a speciĽc smart
home connection standard, but it’s
a common inclusion because it’s
readily available and, in the case of
Bluetooth LE, great on battery life.
If you see Bluetooth and nothing
else, it’s likely that a device is
making use of its own coding, so it
may be incompatible with anything
outside of its own circle of hardware.
Bluetooth is great if you’re close
by, but you won’t generally be able to
administer a Bluetooth–based smart
device if you’re not in its vicinity.
Z-Wave and Zigbee devices often use
bridging hubs to connect themselves
to an IP network, enabling remote
access; this isn’t common with
Bluetooth, but it’s not unheard of.ALEXA, SIRI, AND GOOGLE HOME
Smart assistants aren’t smart home
connectors in themselves, but they
do a great job of providing a method
of controlling those standards.
They’re usually fairly agnostic about
what they’ll work with, as long as
the manufacturer’s built support into
the device, and that device (or its
hub) is connected to an IP network.
Zigbee and Z–Wave might be the
“how” — Google Assistant, Siri,
Alexa and (to some extent) HomeKit
are the “what.” They’re what allowControllers come in all shapes and sizes, Homey’s
spherical approach to Z–Wave being one.Google's one of the
main players in
the CHOP proposal.maclife.com SEP 2020 65