Ikea rolls out Matter support for its Dirigera smart home hub

Ikea already had a surprisingly robust smart home catalog, offering smart blinds, light switches, air purifiers, and a handful of other popular gadgets. It’s now grown even more enticing, as the Dirigera Hub that drives most of the action now offers full Matter support. As of September 11, all products connected to the Dirigera Hub will work with the interoperability standard. That’s a big win for Ikea, allowing its gadgets to interact with those from other platforms like Apple Home and Google Home. To achieve this, Dirigera is being updated to become a Matter Bridge, allowing it to work with all other Matter products. According to Ikea, “products within lighting, sound, air purification, remote controllers, and sensors” will work with the new Matter update. “With the introduction of Matter support on Dirigera, we are taking a significant step towards creating a more seamless and interoperable smart home experience,” said Damir Smrkovic, Platform and Technology leader at Ikea of Sweden. “Users no longer need to worry about compatibility — everything will just work together, easily and efficiently.” Ikea is a member of the Connectivity Standards Alliance — the organization responsible for Matter. It’s great to see the system now supported by Dirigera, as this gives users a quick and easy way to sync them up with the rest of their homes. Connected devices can be controlled by the Ikea mobile app, remote controls, a shortcut button, or via voice and motion. Matter continues to push its way into the market, gaining a larger foothold every year. Along with rollouts from companies like Ikea, Matter itself has gained additional functionality over time, offering support for new types of gadgets and making it easier for homes to implement Matter into their daily lives. Expect to see it keep growing in the future, as several upcoming products shown off at IFA 2024 make full use of the technology. Say goodbye to (some) smart home woes. New user-facing features are coming to Matter that will make it easier than ever to set up your smart home and circumvent some of the more finicky, frustrating parts of adding new devices. The features come as part of the 1.4.1 specification announced today by the Connectivity Standards Alliance. The most useful feature of this update is Multi-Device Setup QR Code. Some smart devices (like a pack of lightbulbs) currently require you to scan each bulb individually and set it up in-app before moving on to the next. Not only is this time-consuming, but you often have to scan the code while the device is powered on. Since the QR code is usually found at the base of a device, it can be a tricky proposition. Aqara has been busy as of late. The company announced Matter support for 50 new device types earlier this month, and now it’s launching three new products — the Aqara M100 Hub, Climate Sensor W100, and Camera Protect Kit Y100. All three are now available for purchase. If you’re interested in syncing all your smart devices together, the Aqara Smart Hub M100 is bound to be the most exciting of the bunch. The next-gen smart hub is designed for seamless Matter compatibility, allowing you to set up complex automations between Aqara products and Matter-enabled products from other platforms. Roku might be known for its streaming sticks and smart TVs, but the brand also has a strong presence in the smart home market. From video doorbells and smart lights to plugs and motion sensors, Roku’s smart home catalog is surprisingly robust. The catalog is set to expand in the coming months, as Roku has officially revealed two upcoming security cameras — the Roku Battery Camera and Roku Battery Camera Plus. The Roku Battery Camera Plus is the most enticing of the two, as it can get up to two years of battery life on a single charge (the Battery Camera gets up to six months). They can also be combined with an optional solar panel to extend their battery life. Beyond that, most specs are shared — including 1080p resolutions, color night vision, and the option to receive motion alerts when activity is detected around your home.