The upcoming standard for smart homes that will unify Google, Apple and Amazon's distinct smart home systems has been delayed to 2022, Connectivity Standards Alliance CEO Tobin Richardson announced via a blog post.Although Matter has developed a complete specification of features, the group must still finish the SDK development and the certification program that will allow developers to officially label existing and new hardware as Matter-approved. The original goal was for much of this work to be completed by 2021. However, the new schedule pushes it out to sometime in the first half 2022.There are still chances of Matter updates in 2022 for existing products such as Philips Hue, which has already committed to full support for the standard for its smart lights. However, Stacey Higginbotham, a smart home expert, says that the delay will mean that the first Matter-enabled devices won't arrive until the second half of 2022.Higginbotham reported that Richardson explained the delay to several factors. These included adding more companies and Matter to the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic, the new Delta variant-fueled wave in the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, and the simple fact it is difficult to create a multi-device, complex connectivity standard.This is not the first matter delay. Matter was originally announced in 2019 with a goal for a late 2020 release. This was changed to a goal for a full launch in 2021. Then, it was delayed once again until the end of 2021.It is easy to see why the Matter team is slowing down, given the complexity and number of players involved in building a system that unites smart home products not only from Apple, Google, Amazon, but also from more than 200 other companies. It also means that those who hope that the standard will simplify their smart-home setup will need to wait at least a few months before they can start rolling out.
