Panasonic unveils India's first Matter-enabled air conditioners; here's what 'Matter' smart home standard is all about

Panasonic Life Solutions India (PLSIND) has unveiled India's first Matter-Enabled Room Air Conditioners (RACs), powered by MirAIe platform. The Panasonic range, equipped with the Matter protocol, is slated to hit shelves across major outlets and e-commerce platforms in India starting February 2024, well ahead of the impending summer season.

Chairman of Panasonic Life Solutions India and South Asia, Manish Sharma, underscored the company's commitment to consumer-centric technology, stating, "To enhance convenience for our consumers, we've integrated Matter, an open, universal standard, with our MirAIe platform."

Chief Innovation Officer, Manish Misra, emphasised Panasonic's vision of enhancing consumers' daily lives through intelligent technology. He highlighted the evolution of their MirAIe platform, launched in 2020, noting that 70% of their Air Conditioner consumers actively use the platform. The integration of Matter compatibility represents a stride towards simplifying usage while ensuring interoperability, reliability, and security within the upgraded MirAIe platform.

Fumiyasu Fujimori, Managing Director of PMIN at Panasonic Life Solutions India, echoed the company's ethos of innovation, sustainability, and customer-centricity. He described the new line of Matter-enabled Air Conditioners as a testament to this commitment, offering futuristic and efficient solutions. By seamlessly connecting with other Matter-certified devices and platforms, they intend to optimise energy usage, thereby enhancing comfort levels while minimising environmental impact.

Evolution of Matter

The genesis of Matter can be traced back to 2019 when Apple, Google, Amazon, and the Zigbee Alliance joined forces. Their shared vision was to enhance device compatibility and security in smart homes. The result? A unified, open-source connectivity standard—Matter. This standard is designed to facilitate seamless communication between various devices regardless of their brand, fostering interoperability and easing the setup process for users.

What is Matter and How Does It Work?

Matter is essentially a networking protocol that operates on IP (Internet Protocol), facilitating communication between devices over the Internet. It aims to eliminate the current issue of fragmentation in the smart home industry, where devices from different manufacturers often operate on incompatible protocols, making it challenging for users to integrate and control them.

Its core principle lies in simplifying the smart home setup, allowing devices such as smart lights, thermostats, locks, and more, to communicate effortlessly with one another, regardless of the brand or manufacturer. This means that a Matter-certified device can seamlessly connect and interact with other Matter-certified devices, enhancing compatibility and ease of use for consumers.

Benefits of Matter

1. Interoperability:
Matter's primary focus is to create a unified ecosystem, enabling devices from various manufacturers to communicate flawlessly. This interoperability ensures that consumers have more choices without worrying about compatibility issues.

2. Enhanced Security:
Security is a paramount concern in smart homes. Matter employs state-of-the-art encryption methods to ensure that data transmitted between devices remains secure and protected from potential cyber threats, prioritising user privacy.

3. Simplified Setup:
Gone are the days of complex setup processes. Matter aims to streamline device installation and configuration, making it user-friendly, even for those less tech-savvy.

4. Future-Proofing:
As technology advances, Matter is designed to evolve and adapt, ensuring that it remains compatible with new devices and innovations, thereby future-proofing your smart home setup.

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