There’s already been a lot of leaks of upcoming Philips Hue merchandise which can be anticipated to be introduced subsequent week forward of IFA. However one factor that hasn’t been talked about was help for Matter-over-Thread. Whereas there’s no affirmation that help is coming, there’s compelling proof to counsel it is likely to be.
First off, packaging for 2 unannounced bulbs appeared on Amazon, with a Matter emblem prominently displayed on the field. Whereas Hue units have been able to connecting by way of 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 by way of 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 exhibits a label for a brand new Hue White lightbulb with a Matter setup code beneath the acquainted Bluetooth and Zigbee logos. This virtually definitely means the lightbulb will join instantly by way of Matter. Wired Ethernet would clearly be an odd alternative. Wi-Fi is a risk, however the extra logical choice can be Thread, which is low-power and might create self-healing mesh networks.
The one subject is, there’s no point out of Thread or Wi-Fi within the FCC submitting wherever, 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 capabilities, bands and modes was [sic] disabled to make use of by producer [sic] within the software program.” What are these different capabilities, bands, and modes? It’s not laid out in any doc I may discover, however it’s affordable to imagine the record would possibly embrace 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 might give customers direct entry to Hue bulbs from any Matter controller, with the Bridge solely wanted for some superior options, like dynamic lighting results. Plus there’s a rising momentum behind Matter-over-Thread, with Ikea lately saying over 20 merchandise supporting it.