There’s already been numerous leaks of upcoming Philips Hue products which might be anticipated to be introduced subsequent week forward of IFA. However one factor that hasn’t been talked about was assist for Matter-over-Thread. Whereas there’s no affirmation that assist is coming, there’s compelling proof to recommend it is perhaps.
First off, packaging for 2 unannounced bulbs appeared on Amazon, with a Matter brand prominently displayed on the field. Whereas Hue units have been able to connecting through Matter utilizing the Hue Bridge as a intermediary, they’ve by no means supported the protocol instantly. That’s partially as a result of Matter solely works through Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and Thread; Hue has been a Zigbee and Bluetooth-only ecosystem for years.
Then there’s the since-removed FCC submitting found by HueBlog. A supposed screenshot of the doc reveals a label for a brand new Hue White lightbulb with a Matter setup code underneath the acquainted Bluetooth and Zigbee logos. This nearly actually means the lightbulb will join instantly through Matter. Wired Ethernet would clearly be an odd alternative. Wi-Fi is a chance, however the extra logical choice can be Thread, which is low-power and may create self-healing mesh networks.
The one challenge is, there’s no point out of Thread or Wi-Fi within the FCC submitting anyplace, solely Bluetooth and Zigbee. In response to HueBlog, nonetheless, one doc learn (earlier than it was eliminated), “This product solely helps BLE 125k/500k/1M/2Mbps:2402-2480MHz, Zigbee:2405-2480MHz. The opposite features, bands and modes was [sic] disabled to make use of by producer [sic] within the software program.” What are these different features, bands, and modes? It’s not laid out in any doc I might discover, nevertheless it’s affordable to imagine the checklist would possibly embody Thread which, like Zigbee, makes use of the two.4GHz band.
Philips isn’t about to desert Zigbee for Thread in a single day, however this may give customers direct entry to Hue bulbs from any Matter controller, with the Bridge solely wanted for some superior options, like dynamic lighting effects. Plus there’s a rising momentum behind Matter-over-Thread, with Ikea not too long ago saying over 20 merchandise supporting it.