One of the largest and open smart home platforms out there is Z-Wave, spanning dozens of companies and a huge library of products, all of which can interact with each other using various bridge and/or app solutions. With so many heavy players supporting it, like Samsung, Vera, Nexia, GE, Wink, Insteon and more; there are plenty of controller/bridge/hub solutions on the market that allows you to bring all of your Z-Wave devices together, creating rich scenes and cross-platform interaction.
Now, the next generation is here, known as Z-Wave 700 and based on the Wireless Gecko platform by Silicon Labs. With the new platform, they are promising stronger security, better performance (based on an ARM processor with large on-chip memory) and improvements in energy efficiency. The new platform promises to deliver a 10-year coin-cell battery life, allowing for enhanced capabilities for wireless devices. On top of this, Z-Wave 700 delivers longer RF capabilities, which means less need for repeaters (which isn’t always an issue anyway since plenty of Z-Wave devices also double as a repeater to help extend the signal to each other).
The idea is to give device developers the ability to create even smaller devices that can reach further with a more stable connection (like anything). They claim the new platform is more cost effective as well.
“With the worldwide smart home market expected to grow to 1.3 billion devices shipped annually by 2022, much of that adoption and growth will be driven by sensors that enable AI and edge computing applications, which can deliver smart experiences in new verticals such as security, aging-in-place, energy, voice control and insurance,” said Adam Wright, IDC Senior Analyst, Consumer IoT. “Advances in wireless technology, such as Z-Wave 700, are driving the battery-powered sensor trend and making these devices easier to install and deploy.”
Z-Wave 700 is making its way out to developers now in beta form and will be working its way into full scale availability int he first quarter of 2019. So we probably won’t see anything on the consumer side until the second half of the year or later, but it does promise a strong future for Z-Wave. Especially with having such a strong backing by so many companies, who are all part of the Z-Wave Alliance.
