Smart home
Panasonic Launches Matter-Enabled Room Air Conditioners in India
Announcing its lineup of ACs, Fumiyasu Fujimori, Managing Director, PMIN, Panasonic Life Solutions India, said, “The new line-up of ACs, comprising of India’s first Matter-enabled RACs will not only provide inter-operability but is simple to use, reliable and secure. By seamlessly connecting with other Matter-certified devices and platforms, they will facilitate a smarter and more efficient use of energy, optimizing comfort while minimizing environmental impact.”
The Matter-enabled ACs can be connected through the company’s Miraie app, which also adopts the same connectivity standard. Users can also use any other Matter-enabled app to control the appliance. These new models are available across major offline outlets, e-commerce platforms and through the company website.
What is Matter, the universal standard of connectivity for smart home appliances
In recent years, a big focus in the consumer tech space has been on interoperability and unified solutions. Last year, Xiaomi launched its HyperOS, which replaced the MIUI system to bring a single interface to connect and unify all its IoT devices. On the hardware side, Apple finally ditched the Lightning port in the iPhone 15 series in favour of the USB Type-C port to comply with the European Union’s new rules of bringing a unified port for all consumer electronic devices.
Matter is a similar protocol for software unification and connectivity of smart home and IoT appliances. The universal standard was brought up by the Connectivity Standards Alliance (formerly known as Zigbee Alliance), a group of more than 500 companies. The first time this protocol made the headlines was in 2019 when Apple, Google, and Amazon joined hands with Zigbee Alliance to create a single unified connectivity system for smart homes.
It solves a core issue for smart home owners, which is managing multiple apps to control the various smart appliances in the house. The situation has become similar to the late 90s and early 2000s when users were forced to keep multiple remote controls to use their appliances till universal remotes came about. Matter aims to mirror a similar solution through a networking protocol to connect compatible devices and systems regardless of their brand, model, or origin of manufacturing.
The universal connectivity standard focuses on a four-pronged solution. First is interoperability, which will allow users to buy any smart home appliance, from a smart TV to smart lights, without worrying about downloading its companion app to control it. The second is simplicity, as it ditches complex setup processes and offers a simple UI to connect all the devices in your home via WiFi. The third issue it tackles is security, as Matter uses an encryption system to ensure the data shared between the different devices are protected from any outsider trying to hack the user. Finally, it also addresses the reliability problem as the protocol is designed to evolve and adapt to newer smart devices that might be invented in the future.
Apple TV Set Could Compete With Offerings From Popular TV Manufacturers
Gurman writes that Apple is “evaluating” the development of an “Apple-branded TV set” in his newsletter, which suggests that the company is at a very early stage. However, MacRumors points out that this is not the first time that word of Apple’s plans to make its own TV have surfaced online — the company was rumoured to be developing its own TV as early as 2009.
Apple’s purported TV set would arrive as part of several smart devices being developed by the company, according to Gurman. The journalist previously revealed that the first of these devices would be a wall-mounted smart home hub that could control other devices and offer support for features like video calling.
However, Gurman says that if the smart home hub fails, Apple could “rethink its smart home ambitions once again”. The company is said to be working on a more advanced version of the smart home hub, equipped with a robotic arm, that could arrive with a higher $1,000 (roughly Rs. 84,400) price tag.
If the company is thinking of developing its own TV set, the company would face competition from several manufacturers such as Sony, Samsung, LG, and Sharp — these firms offer a range of TVs across price models, while Apple can be expected to introduce a model with high-end specifications.
Apple’s TV set could also offer support for features available on its TV box that include Siri, HomeKit, and more. It’s currently unclear whether Apple will use the same operating system — tvOS — on the purported TV set.
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Apple’s Wall-Mounted Display Might Not Support Third-Party Apps
According to the report, Apple’s first smart home device powered by Apple Intelligence will comprise a 6-inch display that appears to resemble two iPhone units placed next to each other. It will reportedly be equipped with a camera and built-in speakers that enable support for video calls, and it can be used with optional bases that are equipped with speakers.
Apple is also developing a new operating system for the new wall-mounted display that is codenamed “Pebble”, according to Bloomberg. It will reportedly feature a customisable home screen that shows icons for various apps, while widgets will provide information at a glance.
The first-generation smart home device, codenamed J490, is expected to feature support for the company’s applications such as Apple News, Apple Music, FaceTime, and Safari, but it is unlikely to include an App Store, as per the report.
While the wall-mounted display is expected to operate independently, it will reportedly require an iPhone to be set up. There’s no word on the hardware powering the device, but we can expect to offer performance on par with Apple’s A17 Pro chip or an M1 chip, along with 8GB of RAM.
Apple has spent over three years on developing the new wall-mounted display and the company plans to launch the device in March 2025, according to the report. It could be available in black and silver colourways.
Meanwhile, another advanced smart home device that is equipped with a robotic arm that can move a display is reportedly in development. It is unclear when Apple plans to launch this device, but it could be priced as high as $1,000 (roughly Rs. 84,400). Meanwhile, the wall-mounted display is expected to have a much lower price tag, according to the report.
Apple Picks Goertek to Produce New Products Arriving in 2026
In a post on Medium, Kuo states that Apple is planning to launch its first smart home IP camera device in 2026, which will offer wireless connectivity with Apple’s other devices, as well as software integration with Siri and Apple Intelligence. According to supply chain analyst, the company is looking at a long-term goal of annual shipments of over 10 million, and has picked China-based Goertek to be the sole assembler for the product.
Apple’s second product will be an upgraded version of the company’s AirPods truly wireless stereo (TWS) earphones, Kuo claims. The analyst predicts that the company’s upcoming AirPods will also focus on health-related features, and that these earphones will be assembled by Goertek
Earlier this year, Apple announced that the AirPods Pro (2nd Generation) would be updated with support for using the headset as a hearing aid — the company received approval from the US FDA in September.
In 2023, a patent related to a wireless audio product was spotted online, that suggested Apple was working on AirPods sensors that could measure brain electrical activity, while another report claimed that Apple was designing a new AirPods Pro model that could monitor body temperature using inbuilt sensors.
Citing supply chain reports, Kuo claims that Goertek’s relationship has Apple has “normalised” in the second half of 2024, months after it lost many orders due to “supply compliance issues”. Goertek is expected to be the sole supplier for the smart home IP camera, and the primary supplier for the next-generation AirPods.
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